Lecture 1 The Concept of Action Research

What is Action Research?

• Action research is “learning by doing”
  A group of people identify a problem, do something to resolve it, see how successful their efforts were, and if not satisfied, try again.

• Action research is situational. It is concerned with diagnosing a problem in a specific context and attempting to solve it in that context.

• Action research is usually collaborative teams of researchers and practitioners work together on a project.

• Action research is participatory. Team members themselves take part directly or indirectly by implementing the research.

• Action research is self-evaluative. Action research is open ended. It does not begin with a fixed hypothesis. It begins with an idea that you develop. The research process is the developmental process of following through the idea, seeing how it goes, and continually checking whether it is in line with what you wish to happen.

• Action research is a self reflective process. It refers to the way of looking at your own work to check that it is as you would like it to be.

• A reflective process of progressive problem solving by individuals working with others in teams to improve the way they address issues and solve problems.
  

• Action research is an interactive inquiry process that balances problem solving actions implemented in a collaborative context with data-driven collaborative analysis or research to understand underlying causes enabling future predictions about personal and organizational change.

• The objectives of the individuals who are involved in action research are to improve the strategies, practices, and knowledge of the environments within which they practice.

• Action research aims to contribute both to the practical concerns of people in an immediate problematic situation and to further the goals of social science. Thus, there is a dual commitment in action research to study a system and concurrently to collaborate with members of the system in changing it in what is together regarded as a desirable direction. Accomplishing this twin goal requires the active collaboration of researcher and client, and thus it stresses the importance of co-learning as a primary aspect of the research process.

In short, within all these definitions there are four basic themes: empowerment of participants, collaboration through participation, acquisition of knowledge and social change.



The Action Research Cycle
Basically, action research involves a spiral or cycle of planning, action, monitoring and reflection.

Five Phases in Action Research
1. Selecting an area or focus

2. Collecting data

3. Organizing data

4. Analyzing and interpreting data

5. Taking action

1-5 Repeat

The differences of Action Research from other researches

1. It is not the usual thing teachers do when think about their teaching. Action research is more systematic and collaborative in collecting evidence on which to base rigorous group reflection.
2. It is not simply problem solving. Action research involves problem –solving, not just problem solving. It motivated by a quest to improve and understand the word by changing it and learning how to improve it from the effects of changes made.
3. It is not research done on other people. Action research is research by particular people on their own work, to help them improve what they do, including how they work with and for others. Action research treats people as autonomous, responsible agents who participate actively in making their own practices to be more effective. It does not treat people as objects for research , but encourages people to work together as knowing subjects and agents of change and improvement.
4. It is not ‘the scientific method’ applied to teaching. Action research is not just about hypotheses-testing or about using data to come to conclusions. Action research is not just about hypotheses-testing or about using data to come to conclusions. Action research is concerned with changing situations, not just interpreting them like in historical sciences. Action research is systematically evolving, a living process changing both the researcher and the situations in which he/she acts; neither the natural sciences nor the historical sciences have their double aim.