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Conducting Research Projects Guide: Action Research

Guidance is provided to students engaging in empirical research projects for internships and post-graduate study

Introduction to action research

Action research is based on real world problems.  It seeks to involve participants in developing, implementing and evaluating a strategy to deal with the identified issue.  Action research has two parts: action and research.  The purpose of the action is to improve the quality of the service or situation being studied by implementing a strategy change which is then trialed and evaluated. If the trial fails, the strategy may be adapted and trialed again.  This cycle can be ongoing until the desired outcomes are reached.

This method is generally used in social science research.

(Kumar, 2014).

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Strengths of action research

Strengths of action research include:

  • allows practitioners to reflect on their own practice
  • enables practitioners to explore the link between theory and practice
  • enables practitioners to conduct their own research rather than relying on others
  • allows practitioners to develop research informed practice
  • can have a positive benefits in terms of developing practice, the profession, and the organisation.
  • problem-focused
  • looks to the future
  • specific to the context of the research
  • aimed at improving
  • interlinks research, action and evaluation
  • participants are involved in changing the situation

(Costello, 2003; Karim, 2013)).

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Limitations of action research

Some limitations of action research are:

  • it is dependent on the relationship between the researcher and the participants
  • the rigour is questionable because of the power of the researcher in drawing conclusions
  • difficult to generalise the findings due to the specificity of the context
  • there may be constraints on the implementation of any change recommended
  • researcher is reliant on the cooperation of the participants and the organisation

(Karim, 2001)

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