CSS 506

1. CSS 506 AQUAGROUP ACTION RESEARCH

2. Introduction • History and evolution • Attributes • Methodology • Disciplines involved • Strengths and weaknesses • Two examples

3. “Thinking on your feet”

4. ACTION RESEARCH • Has always been linked with social change for social justice (McNiff and Whitehead, 2006). • Asks the question: How can the situation be understood, and how can it be changed?

5. Action Research • John Collier – Commissioner of Bureau of Indian Affairs in 1930s: First to examine group work and explore ways to achieve better results. • Kurt Lewin – 1940s: People are more motivated to work when they are involved in the decision-making process. Coined phrase “Action Research.” • Began as an approach to management (and manager) development

6. Action Research • Stephen M. Corey (1950’s) • “The teacher had only one year experience… Which she repeated for thirty years.” (Corey, 1954) • Early work devoted to Education: -Action Research to Improve School Practices. Corey, Stephen, 1953. Teachers College, Columbia University, NY. -Children’s Social Values. Foshay, A. and Kenneth D. Wann, 1954. Teachers College, Columbia University, NY.

7. Action Research • Donald ShÖn (1960’s and 70’s) • SchÖn’s central argument was that ‘change’ was a fundamental feature of modern life and that it is necessary to develop social systems that could learn and adapt. • Used the term “thinking on your feet.”

8. Action Research: Cycle of Steps • Observe • Reflect • Act • Evaluate • Modify

9. Action Research Cycle

10. Attributes of Action Research • Shared ownership of research projects • Community-based analysis of social problems • Orientation towards community action • Value-laden • Led by “practitioners” • Open-ended

11. Action Research • Goal of Action Research: perceived functionality of chosen actions to produce desirable consequences for an organization. • Action Research facilitates the development of techniques on how to review, revise and redefine the effort in which we are a part.

12. Common Names for Action Research • Action Research • Action Science • Participatory Action Research • Collaborative Action Research • Advocacy Participatory Research • Transformative Emancipatory Research • Practice-Directed Research • Participatory Research • Participatory Inquiry

13. Context of Development • Aloof scientists, irrelevant research and disconnected practitioners. • Existence of obvious social problems and a desire to act/for action, but unsure how to act. • Recognize situational, non-discrete systems within systems and need for integrated approach and enduring resolution (unlike small scale biophysical systems).

14. Current Methodology • All are scientists/co-researchers • Connected practitioners and public • Complex problems requires lots of resources, not just “experts.” • Relevance – stakeholder involvement, planning/collaboration incorporates desires or negotiated outcomes, reduces long-term conflict. More of an interdependent approach.

15. Methodologies Two schools of Action Research; both disassociate themselves with traditional research: • Practice-directed Research • Emancipatory Action Research

16. Methodologies Action Research is not defined by its methodology but by the engagement of the participants. • Those driven by the “researcher’s” agenda to those driven by participants • Those motivated by goal attainment to those motivated by personal, organizational, or societal transformation • 1st-person research – my research on my own actions, aimed at personal change • 2nd-person research – our research on our group, aimed at improving the group • 3rd-person research – “scholarly” research, aimed at theoretical generalization and large scale change.

17. Techniques • Interviews • Mapping • Participatory Planning • Conducting research, then taking action v. taking action and collecting data

18. Fields of Use • Education • Health Care • Community/Rural Development • Agriculture and Natural Resources • Geography • Architecture/Landscape Architecture • Planning

19. “If small rural communities improve their leadership systems, then these communities will be able to take action on poverty reduction.”

20. Examples in CSS: Windward Islands Ecotourism Development • Stakeholders included environmental groups, representatives of local governments, community organizations, women’s and youth groups, farmers, private business owners • Two action researchers from Toronto were hired to facilitate process • A conference was organized on each island with the stakeholders • The outcome of these was a set of recommendations for carrying out nature tourism oriented projects at the local community level • Regular regional meetings were held for evaluations and to ensure that the process continued • Three of the four islands were relatively successful. The fourth was stifled by the local government who felt that power relationships were changing.

21. Strengths • User-friendly and accessible to professional practitioners and laypeople • Can improve and enhance quality of life for participants • Inclusive • Extends knowledge base • May alleviate interconnected problems • May transform power systems

22. Criticisms: Methodologies • Rigor • Validity • Action Research is a “poor reporter” • Methodology in Action Research lags behind its development in practice • Inability to capture the “richness of events: the dynamics, encounters, emotions and shifts. • “Double-challenge” of time: pressure for more “real time” discovery on the one hand, and long-term, “evidence based” learning on the other. • Nuances of cases are difficult to debate, learn from, generalize and diffuse.

23. Criticisms: Approaches • Is participation always good? • Is participation always empowering? • “Consultation Fatigue” • Techniques may reinforce informal social structures that are potentially negative • Participation is rarely fully employed

24. Summary • Action Research is cyclical • Paradigm of Praxis? • Methodology(ies) continue to evolve

25. Walmart • Introductions • Decision Making Impact • How are you going to discover the impact that Walmart will have on your community? What are specific methods you will use to gain this information?