Action research

Like experimental research in general, action research in fact, is more a egy or approach to research rather than a specific methodology. Within a strat-egy or approach of action research the researcher may use a wide variety of methodologies including, for example, observational research, questioning and surveys and even laboratory experimentation. Although considered a variant of the quasi-experimental research approach, in some ways perhaps action research can be considered as different and important enough in its own right to represent a separate branch of methodology. We need not concern ourselves though with these arguments regarding where it is placed in the gamut of research methodologies, but we certainly need to consider what action research is, how it is used and its relevance and value to organizational research in

general and the process of executive development and consultancy research in particular. So what is action research?

Unfortunately, virtually every protagonist of, or writer on, action research seems to have their own perspective on precisely what action research is and what it entails (Schon 1995; Alvesson and Wilmott 1996; Dickens and Watkin 1999; McNiff 2000). However, thankfully, there are some broad measures of gen-eral agreement regarding the nature and purpose of action research. Based on these, here is what is felt to be a good interpretation of the meaning and pur-pose of action research.

Action research involves practical hands-on field research in an organization where the researcher has the objective of solving practical, real-world problems in the organization.

(An) approach to design (that) involves a planned intervention by a researcher, or more often a consultant, into some naturally occurring events. The effects of that intervention are then monitored and evalu-ated with the aim of discerning whether or not that action has pro-duced the expected consequences, in other words, the researcher acts upon his, or her, beliefs or theories.

. . . action researchers intend not only to contribute to existing knowl-edge but also to help resolve some of the practical concerns of the people, or clients who are trying to deal with a problematic situation.

Source: Gill and Johnson (1997) p. 59.

We can immediately see from this explanation how relevant action research is in the context of consultancy-based research in an organization. In fact, action research essentially is a consultancy or rather at least an approach to conduct-ing consultancy. In one of the earliest and most significant discussions of action research, Lewin (1946) although not proposing any comprehensive definition of the term, described action research as being essentially ‘problem centred research’ which in turn involved some kind of action and research on the effects of that action in the organization. But what does action research entail and what are the characteristics of action research?

● Problem centred: As already outlined, action research centres on investigating and addressing practical issues and problems in organizations with a view to trying to address these.

● Participation: In action research the researcher actively participates in the organization and in addressing the problems identified. The researcher is active rather than passive. The researcher also participates in implementing proposed solutions to problems and in turn assessing the outcomes and effec-tiveness, and so on, of any actions taken.

● Cyclical: Related to the above, action research involves a feedback loop in which changes are implemented and then evaluated with a view to further research and change processes.

● Co-operation/partnerships: Where research is conducted for a client, as in many consultancy projects of course, both consultant and client co-operate as partners in the research itself, implementing proposals and taking fur-ther action.

● Professional development: Action research is also aimed at helping individu-als develop as better managers. In other words, unlike much academic research, which focuses almost exclusively on the development of theoreti-cal and scientific knowledge, action research is also aimed at developing the individual through implementing and evaluating action programmes in organizations.

The development of action research in some ways stemmed from an aware-ness of the limitations of most traditional academic approaches to research and particularly where this was based on using the more traditional and classical experimental methods of research when it came to researching social phe-nomena including, of course, organizations and management. In a sense then, action research evolved from a feeling of dissatisfaction with the artificiality of laboratory-type research which was examined earlier. Action researchers felt that the disadvantages of less control and unscientific methodologies that to some extent are inherent in action research, were offset by much more problem-centred real-world approaches to research and problems in organizations.

Action research, then, is virtually akin to conventional managerial consultancy approaches rather than the more academic research approaches associated with the social scientist. Having said this, action research has more often than not been used by academics in their research into organizations and management.

Where action research is used for academic purposes in this way, there can be issues with regard to, for example, who owns the research, and related to this, the use and publication of the research findings. There are also issues related to the extent to which the research should only focus on solutions to organi-zational and management problems as opposed to the development of knowl-edge in its own right. Again, we need not concern ourselves with these issues here. More relevant issues with regard to this text concerning action research relate to the following:

● Consultancy or academic research: This issue with regard to action research concerns the fact that action research, being centred on real organizational problems, and implementing actions in an attempt to resolve these, very much fits the consultancy mode of approach. On the other hand, action research is also used in the context of developing knowledge and theories about organizations and their functioning. In this case, although addressing practical organizational problems is still the focus, the main aim of the researcher is to develop broader theoretical knowledge. In fact, these two aims or objectives for action research are not mutually exclusive, nor need they necessarily conflict. Some of the most useful additions to our theories of management and organizations have stemmed from consultancy-type problem-centred action research. So long as both researcher and client agree

upon the objectives and remit for the action research at the start, then this should pose no problems.

● Who chooses the problem to be addressed: Related to the issue of consultancy versus academic research is the issue of who decides which organizational issues or problems are to be addressed. In much consultancy research, at the entry stage, or the start of the consultancy process, it is the client that pres-ents problems and defines goals. In action research, however, it may be that the researcher presents the problem. For example, an organizational researcher might be interested in exploring the area of the effect of internal mar-keting on an organization and elects to use an action-based research method-ology to explore this. Here then the researcher takes the problem to the client.

Again, this apparent dilemma between who chooses the problem to be addressed can best be resolved where irrespective of who presents the prob-lem in the first instance, both client and consultant mutually agree upon the goals for the research and how these will be approached.

● Who owns the problem: Yet again, there is an issue that stems from action research as an academic exercise versus action research as a consultancy exercise. This issue is concerned with the extent to which action research results and findings are made available to the wider organizational and aca-demic community. In a conventional consultancy exercise, any findings including prescriptions for action normally belong to the client organiza-tion, as for example, any suggestions for improvement as a result of action research findings would not be expected to be made available outside of the organization. Because, however, action research is often undertaken by academics, albeit in a consultancy-type mode, very often the idea is to make any important findings about an organizational issue or problem revealed through the action research available to the wider academic community, often in published form. Again, the solution to this dilemma is for researcher and client to agree upon at the outset who owns the problem and the extent to which results and findings can be made available or published on a wider basis.

There is no doubt that in management research, action research is a particu-larly valuable and useful tool where the research is organizational/problem-based and where the researcher, to a great extent, approaches this as a consultant.

Moreover, the very nature of action research allows both organization and researcher to implement actions and observe the results of these interventions at first hand. Ideas, theories and techniques can be actioned in response to an identified problem and the effects monitored and evaluated. In some ways, then, action research is akin to real-life experimentation.

Activity 9.3. Identify a hypothetical organizational issue or problem that might usefully be addressed through an action research approach.

What would be, in your view, the advantages of using an action-based research approach to your identified problem or issue?

9.5 Concluding comments

In this chapter we have investigated the experimental approach to collecting primary data and conducting research in organizations. We have considered the nature and purpose of experimental research designs and the problems of the application of these in the social sciences and in management/consultancy research in particular. We have seen that although there are problems in apply-ing this approach, in fact experimental research can, and does, have a major potential role to play. Because of the difficulties, however, in applying true experimental research design in organizations, researchers often use quasi-experimental research designs for data collection in this area. When it comes to consultancy-type research, and particularly where the consultancy exercise is related to the process of executive and manager development, action research has several advantages as a methodology.

9.6 References

Alveson, M. and Wilmott, H. (1996) Making Sense of Management, London: Sage.

Babbie, E. (2001) The Practice of Social Research, 9th edn, Belmont, CA:

Wadsworth/Thomson.

Bechhofer, F. and Paterson, L. (2000) Principles of Research Design in the Social Sciences, London: Routledge.

Black, T. R. (1999) Doing Quantitative Research in the Sociall Sciences: An Integrated Approach To Research Design, Measurement and Statistics, London: Sage.

Bryman, A. (1989) Research Methods and Organisation Studies, London: Routledge.

Campbell, D. T. (1969) ‘Reforms as experiments’, American Pschycologist, 24, 409–29.

Denscombe, M. (1998) The Good Research Guide, Buckingham: Open University Press.

Dickens, L. and Watkins, K. (1999) ‘Action research: rethinking Lewin’, Management Learning, 30(2): pp. 127–40.

Gill, J. and Johnson, P. (1997) Research Methods for Managers, 2nd edn, London: Paul Chapman.

Gill, J. and Johnson, P. (2002) Research Methods for Managers, 3rd edn, London: Sage, p. 66.

Graziano, A. M. and Raulin, M. L. (2004) Research Methods: A Process of Inquiry, 5th edn, Boston: Pearson Group.

Hakim, C. (2000) Research Design, London: Routledge.

Kerlinger, F. N. (1992) Foundations of Behavioural Research, 3rd edn, Fort Worth, TX:

Harcourt Brace.

Lewin, K. (1946) ‘Action research and minority problems’, Journal of Social Issues, 2(4) pp. 34–46.

McBurney, D. H. and White, T. L. (2004) Research Methods, 6th edn, Belmont, CA:

Wadsworth/Thomphson.

McNiff, J. (2000) Action Research in Organizations, London: Routledge.

Parson, R. and Tille, N. (2004) ‘Go forth and experiment’, in C. Seale (ed.) Social Research Methods: A Reader, London: Routledge.

Schon, D. (1995) @Knowing-in-action: the new scholarship requires a new epistomology’, Change, November–December.

Wysocki, D. K. (2004) Readings in Social Research Methods, 2nd edn, Belmont, CA:

Wadsworth/Thompson.

9.7 Glossary

alternative hypothesis Presented as a contrast to the null hypothesis. If the evi-dence rejects the validity of the null hypothesis, the alter-native hypothesis is accepted.

chi-squared test A statistical test which compares recorded or observed data with that which would have been expected in order to measure the degree of association between dependent and independent variables.

control group The group, including individuals, units, departments, and other such, which is not subjected to experimental vari-ables and change and therefore serves as a reference point with regard to any observed changes and their possible causes in the experimental group.

dependent variables Those variables which change only as a result of changes to the independent variables.

experimental group The group, including individuals, units, departments, and other such, which is subjected to experimental variables and change by the researcher.

ex post facto research A quasi-experimental research method based on observ-ing cause and effect and then workobserv-ing backwards from the effect to try and establish the cause.

hypothesis A set of assumptions provisionally accepted as a basis of reasoning, experiment or investigation.

independent variables Those variables which are responsible for changes in other variables.

null hypothesis an underlying assumption made about a population, the validity of which is the subject of a statistical test.

operationalize The process whereby the dependent and independent vari-ables to be researched are defined and specified in a way that allows both dependent and independent variables to be observed and measured and allows for the variation and manipulation of the independent variables.

quasi-experiments Techniques of research aimed at analysing causal rela-tionships between independent and dependent variables but where full experimental control is not present.

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Data Collection: