Action Research

The birth of action research is attributed to Kurt Lewin and the Tavistock Institute (see (Rapoport, 1970)). In the information systems community it has gained ground over the past twenty years with the dominant, though not exclusive, philosophical stance of interpretivism in evidence (Baskerville and Wood-Harper, 1996; Lau, 1999). Action research combines the generation of theory with changing the social system through the researcher acting on or in the social system. The act is presented as the means of both changing the system and generating critical knowledge about it (Susman and Evered, 1978). The aim is to gain learning and knowledge through making deliberate interventions in order to achieve some desirable change in the organisational setting (Braa and Vidgen, 1999).

Further more action research:

“stems from the behavioural sciences based on the principle that the researcher is within the field of that research and becomes a partner in the action and process of change.” (Wood-Harper, 1985: 178)

and:

“aims to contribute both to the practical concerns of people in an n and to the goals of social science by joint collaboration within a mutually acceptable ethical framework.” (Rapoport, 1970: 499).

These views clearly distinguish action research from case study research. With action research ‘deliberate interventions are made to achieve change’ whereas with case study research, even though participant observation techniques may be employed, the interventions are not intended to achieve change. Moreover, interviewing and observing people in organisations without intervention is not action research and has been argued to be more readily described as case study research which frequently reports what practitioners say rather than what practitioners actually do (Avison et al., 1999)11.

To the aims of contributing to the practical concerns of people and to the goals of social science, Susman and Evered (1978) add a third aim - to develop the self-help competencies of people facing problems. This further distances case study research from action research although people may develop ‘self help’ competencies as a by- product. The interesting point about the addition by Susman and Evered is that this opens up action research as having the potential for those of the critical paradigm. Although, this work was not critical, sometimes there was the desire for, and possibility of, helping employees at T.Co. change the situation in their favour.

Further guidance is provided by Baskerville (1999) who states that action research located in information systems:

- Aims at an increased understanding of an immediate social situation, with emphasis on the complex and multivariate nature of this social setting in the information systems domain.

- Simultaneously assists in practical problem solving and expands scientific knowledge. This goal extends into two important process characteristics: First, there are highly interpretive assumptions being made about observation; second, the researcher intervenes in the problem setting.

- Is performed collaboratively and enhances the competencies of the respective actors. A process of participatory observation is implied by this goal. Enhanced competencies (an inevitable result of collaboration) is relative to the previous competencies and the degree to which this is a goal, and its balance between the actors, will depend upon the setting.

- Is primarily applicable for the understanding of change processes in social systems.

While action research appears to be an attractive option for information systems it has been suggested that there are practical difficulties of carrying out the research. Rapoport (1970) reports three dilemmas.

Ethical dilemmas revolve around whether a client is acceptable to the researcher. It is suggested that action research should neither allow the researcher to become captive of one organisation nor disregard the interest of specific clients. This is also part of a broader issue of the place of ethics within the study. For example, this

company and the company was made completely aware that research was being carried out.

Goal dilemmas consider the needs of researcher and suggest that practice needs may dominate. In terms of this research, the needs of T.Co have dominated. Fortunately, these needs have provided excellent insights in the area of investigation.

Dilemmas of initiative suggest that the service oriented nature of action research places the client in the driving seat - they have a problem and need help with it. This contrasts with the ethos of the academy where protections exist to take the immediate ebb and flow of practical pressures off the scholar so that they can conduct the research with minimal interference. There are two considerations here – first, academic life has moved on as there are now many practical pressures that can interfere (Rapoport was writing in 1970!), and second, the initiative very much depends upon the mode of action research being undertaken – consultancy or field mode (Stowell et al., 1997). In field study mode, the primary focus for the researcher is ‘the research’ with assistance to the organisation secondary. Conversely in consultancy mode the focus is upon improving an organisational situation with the learning from that situation being secondary. The issues associated with each of these modes are shown in Table 4.3Table 4.3, were considered throughout the process of the research.

The rigour of action research has also been subject to further critique because of the (too?) close connections with organisational activity. It has also been suggested that action research may be viewed as little more than consultancy (McKay and Marshall,

2001). Moreover, some may argue that, even where successful, causal connections and explanations cannot be safely made and that researchers may be questioned over a perceived lack of impartiality and a supposed lack of scientific rigour leading to data validity concerns (Baskerville and Wood-Harper, 1996). Consequently, the application of principles for the conduct and evaluation of the research have been defined and applied (see section 4.5)