Action Research

Action research within the field of work and organization has, for several decades, struggled with the problem of concentrating its efforts on a few workplaces versus distributing them on many. The Swedish programme ‘Work environment in health care’ was an effort to reach out broadly in this sector of working life, although with limited resources. The article presents and discusses an approach based on using dialogically structured encounters to support a number of local developments at the same time as an effort was made to turn these encounters into a permanent infrastructure for development.

The article is a first- and second-person inquiry into power relations between action researchers and participants based on a dialogic action research project with a group of managers at Bang & Olufsen, Denmark. It focuses on discrepancies between our espoused values of dialogue and our theories-in-use characterized by self-referentiality. This concept emerged during the process and describes a non-dialogic way of transforming the perspectives of the other into your own a priori categories and ways of relating. It denotes a power mechanism imposing our regime of truth on participants so that their reality does not count. First- and second-person reflection on self-referentiality is a process of mutual vulnerability and seems to enhance the quality of third-person action and research.

Community-based action research has received increased attention in health research as an important vehicle for both knowledge creation and community capacity-building. This approach to research is value-driven, attuned to power issues, committed to stakeholder participation, and action-oriented. Efforts to build capacity within the health research community to engage collaboratively with communities in action research projects must be predicated on a framework that delineates the preferred knowledge base/core concepts, skill sets, and the combination of classroom-based, academic learning, and supervised field learning that is required. In this article we propose a praxis framework that integrates the core concepts, core competencies, and training processes for graduate education in community health action research. We review current opportunities for training in this approach in Canada and illustrate how two graduate programs in different disciplines currently operationalize the elements of the proposed framework.

This article describes the life and writing of Gregory Bateson, whose centennial is being celebrated in 2004 and who Fritjof Capra has described as ‘One of the most influential thinkers of our time’. The article then describes the influence of Bateson’s work on the fields of organization development and action research, with particular reference to: organizational culture, organizational learning and knowledge management, systemic thinking and the importance of an environmental perspective. The article ends by showing how Bateson was setting out a new paradigm for our times that transcends the differently blinkered approaches of science and religion.

Recent action research books are reviewed. I give attention to books on appreciative inquiry, action science, systems approaches and action learning. Community, health, education and organizational applications are included. Major action research journals are noted. Based on this literature I identify a number of current trends: the growth of action research and especially appreciative inquiry; an increasing sense of community among action researchers; and growing attention to the practical details of participation and involvement. I question the absence of more material on building theory from action research, and on action research and complexity.