Action research: A design with potential
Action research: A design with potential
This paper discusses the main challenges posed by action research. These include issues related to definition, researcher role, collaboration, ethics and resources. We argue that action research has the potential simultaneously to contribute to the development of knowledge as well as to facilitate and evaluate change. The central tenets of action research are described and we use our research on the development of communities of practice as a means of illustrating these elements. We conclude that while the lack of precise definition may have led to suspicion about the robustness and scientific merit of action research, different and imaginative ways of employing it as an approach are proving that it is both a legitimate and highly contemporary research design for the exploration of health and social care issues and the development of practice.
Action research, Communities of practice, Knowledge management
502-509
le May, A.
d31b0269-60f6-47cd-a844-f0bc522662ab
Lathlean, J.
98a74375-c265-47d2-b75b-5f0f3e14c1a9
2001
le May, A.
d31b0269-60f6-47cd-a844-f0bc522662ab
Lathlean, J.
98a74375-c265-47d2-b75b-5f0f3e14c1a9
le May, A. and Lathlean, J.
(2001)
Action research: A design with potential.
Journal of Research in Nursing, 6 (1), .
(doi:10.1177/136140960100600105).
Abstract
This paper discusses the main challenges posed by action research. These include issues related to definition, researcher role, collaboration, ethics and resources. We argue that action research has the potential simultaneously to contribute to the development of knowledge as well as to facilitate and evaluate change. The central tenets of action research are described and we use our research on the development of communities of practice as a means of illustrating these elements. We conclude that while the lack of precise definition may have led to suspicion about the robustness and scientific merit of action research, different and imaginative ways of employing it as an approach are proving that it is both a legitimate and highly contemporary research design for the exploration of health and social care issues and the development of practice.
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Published date: 2001
Keywords:
Action research, Communities of practice, Knowledge management
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Local EPrints ID: 9011
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/9011
PURE UUID: 5919efec-4acb-4d3b-9eed-f57fc53cb2ef
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Date deposited: 15 Sep 2004
Last modified: 15 Mar 2024 04:53
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Author:
A. le May
Author:
J. Lathlean
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