Iron
4.2 Methodologies
4.2.1 Action research
Action research is defined by Carr and Kemmis (1986: 162) as “a form of self- reflective enquiry undertaken by participants in social situations in order to improve the rationality and justice of their own practices, their understanding of these practices, and the situations in which the practices are carried out”. It is research that participates in solving real world, locally relevant problems and aims at transformation through improved choices and action (McKernan 2008). The researcher, who takes up the position of an involved participant, adopts both action and research roles (Malone 2006). Importantly research is not done ‘on’ or ‘for’ people but rather ‘with’ people and addresses locally relevant issues, questions and concerns (Reason & Bradbury 2008). In many cases, local people are invited to become co-researchers in a process of collective inquiry (Reason & Bradbury 2007). It is thus a reflexive form of practice that aims at developing contextual knowledge and understanding to guide action and choices for positive transformation (McKernan 2008).
Critical Theory
Case Study
Interpretivism Action Research
The action research methodology addresses some of the perceived weaknesses of traditional western science approaches, which include the elitist position of scientists, the extractive nature of research, the often inadequate sharing of accessible results with local people (Fals-Borda & Rahman 1991), the ‘objective’ representation of the world (McKernan 2008), and the detached and objective position adopted by the researcher, which can easily dehumanise people (Malone 2006).
From the outset of the research process, my responsibility was to initiate and manage an environmental education process that would contribute to transformation of the Boksburg Lake system for increased social-ecological resilience. I consequently adopted the role of a reflexive practitioner, as is customary in action research. My aim was to reflect on the environmental education initiative so that it could improve on an ongoing basis. Research was designed to understand the situation better and obtain feedback for improved practice. Rather than a detached research position, this was a particular role that I adopted within the community, of which I became a part. The action research process was a collaborative one, where I worked closely with local people to realise locally desired actions.
4.2.2 Case study research
Case study research is conducted in a real situation that is based on an entity of interest, be it an educational activity, an institution, child, community or social- ecological system (Bassey 1999). According to Cohen et al. (2000: 181) “contexts are unique and dynamic, hence case studies investigate and report the complex dynamic and unfolding interactions of events, human relationships and other factors in a unique instance”. Their value is that the research issue is studied in its complex, embedded and real-life context (Gillham 2000).
A case study is of a bounded system with designated localised spatial and temporal boundaries (Bassey 1999). There were two temporal aspects to the Boksburg Lake case study. Firstly, the time frame of the environmental education intervention provided a bounded unit where an interpretivist methodology (see section 4.2.3) was used to explore local people’s experiences of this attempted change process. Secondly, an historical vantage point was adopted, where a content analysis of the local newspaper archives was undertaken to identify generative mechanisms causing the unsustainability of the Boksburg Lake social-ecological system.
There are different kinds of case study approaches, depending on the underlying philosophical framework and the purpose of research (Schudel 2012). A case study may be for evaluative purposes (Bassey 1999); for improvement of action within the case, i.e. action research case studies (Stenhouse 1979); for testing or developing a theory (Sake 1998; Bassey 1999); or for providing rich descriptions of a particular context (Bassey 1999). It may also be of a collective nature where one works across a number of cases to make generalisations (Stake 1998; Stark & Torrance 2005) or nested, where a number of smaller cases are situated within a bigger case (Lotz-Sisitka
& Raven 2004).
The Boksburg Lake case study was conducted for three main reasons, namely 1) evaluation of the environmental education strategy; 2) improving action to transform the Boksburg Lake system; and 3) developing theory on social-ecological systems.
The Boksburg Lake case study examined specific and detailed empirical outcomes that emerged through the environmental education process. However, the aim was to then identify the underlying generative mechanisms, and to provide insights on generative mechanisms operating in more generalised modern social-ecological systems. The identification of these generative mechanisms can further develop applicable theory and thus supported my third main reason for conducting case study research. Price (2007) has argued for the more generalised applicability of findings from case study research by drawing on the metaphor of a hologram. In a hologram, each part is a reflection of the whole (Bohm 1985). Price (2007: 100) stated that this
metaphor could significantly imply that no matter how small the piece of the world we analyse, it contains the image of the whole, although as the pieces get smaller, the picture gets hazier. This is not the same as saying that what one finds out in a small case study is easily and directly applicable to other situations, but rather that the case in point could only be as it is because of the whole, and therefore it is also a reflection of the whole … this means that instead of seeing my research as limited to its specific context, it can, through its integral process of explanation, offer insights into a broader world.
4.2.3 Interpretivist methodology
An interpretivist methodology was adopted in exploring the case study of the Boksburg Lake social-ecological system. According to Neuman (2003: 76) it allows for the systematic exploration “of socially meaningful action through the direct detailed observation of people in natural settings in order to arrive at understandings and interpretations of how people create and maintain their social worlds”. An important
aspect of an interpretivist methodology is that is an in-depth exploration of individual and social situations and searches for the meanings that people create (Bhaskar 1998;
Carter & New 2004; Davies 2007). The focus is on description rather than explanation, and the aim is to understand participants’ reality, their personal feelings and experience
“through an empathetic identification with the other, a grasping of their subjective experience” (Connole 1998: 13). Data collection is therefore not for measurement “for meanings cannot be measured, only understood” (Bhaskar 1998: 46), but rather for understanding. Understanding the context, making connections and seeing relationships are important (Neuman 2003; Madsen & Adriansen 2004). Qualitative methods are generally used to collect data, often in the form of words, pictures, objects and direct quotations (Madsen & Adriansen 2004). These methods are better suited to obtaining detailed descriptions of situations, people and places (Patton 1980; Ervin 2000; Neuman 2003), and the meanings people attach to their world (Sullivan &
Brockington 2004).
The interpretivist methodology creates a space of engagement as the researcher is encouraged to listen, observe, discuss and learn from the people within the research case study (Assmo 1999; Neuman 2003). The researcher can thus be described as a well-informed outsider in a position to gain a fuller understanding of the social reality of participants and the cultural meanings they create (Berg 1998; Assmo 1999;
Neuman 2003). The research process is more cyclical than linear, and the means of data analysis is rarely known at the beginning of the research process (Neuman 2003).
In the Boksburg Lake case study, data was collected to understand local people’s subjective experience of the Boksburg Lake social-ecological system and the process of attempting to transform it through the SSE initiative and the meanings they attached to it.
4.2.4 Critical methodology
A methodology rooted in critical theory was used to explore the case study of the Boksburg Lake social-ecological system. Critical theory argues that global society is built on social structures that privilege a few to the detriment of the majority (Malone 2006). The aim is to use research as social critique to “disrupt and challenge the status quo” (Kincheloe & McLaren 2008: 260) and address social injustice (Horkheimer 1972). Critical research does not shy away from a political agenda and is “unafraid to consummate a relationship with an emancipatory consciousness” (Kincheloe &
McLaren 2008: 264). Knowledge becomes emancipatory when it exposes distortions in
human actions and structures (Connole 1998) and “the contradictions of [a] world of appearances accepted by the dominant culture as natural and inviolable” (Kincheloe &
McLaren 2008: 265).
Critical methodology has clear links to Critical Realism, because of its emphasis on understanding underlying oppressive factors and “ideological binds” (Malone 2006).
My research, based on a concrete case study, aimed to bring to the surface the structures and mechanisms that were supporting the degradation of the Boksburg Lake social-ecological system and explore possibilities for transformation. This formed the basis of a critique of more generalised western social-ecological relations, which has clear links to a critical methodology.