This article discusses current controversies in action research. It begins by noting there is confusion and disagreement about the nature and distinctiveness of action research as an approach. The author argues that action research aims to achieve three main goals: improving practice, enhancing the problem-solving abilities of practitioners, and advancing knowledge about practice itself. The author examines the methodological implications of these goals. First, understanding practice requires understanding the interpretations and values of those involved in practice. Second, improving practice means progressively resolving problems that arise. Third, certain value commitments are implied by conducting action research as a collaborative problem-solving process. While the characteristics of action research are incompatible with a positivist view of science, the author argues they are

1. CURRENTCONTROYBRSIESiN
ACTTONRESEARCH
VIVIANEM.J,ROBINSON
Universiryof Auckland,NewZealand
INTRODUCTION
Any discgssionabout.ac(ionrcscarcbis scriouslybampcrcdby
coofusiooandcontrovcrsyabout(hc oalurcand distioctivcncssof
tbe approach(PctcrsandRobinson,1984).A roajorwri(cr oo actioo
rcscarchin cduca(ioo,for cxamplc,suggcststbat tbc labcl
'action
rcscarcb"is now widcly misapplicdaod tbat licld crpcrimcolsaod
ccr(aintypcsof proccssconsultatioodo no( qualifyas aclioo rc-
searcb(Kcmmis,1988:47).
Thc confusioois oot rcsolvcdby goiogbacklo tbc writiogsof
Kurl Lcwin,widclyregardcdas thc fouodiogfatbcr of actioo rc'
scarchbccauschis writi-ogscan providc support for both gra.ndand
modcstclaimsabout tbc mcthod.For cxamplc,if Lcwin's(L94'1,
1948)vicwsarc dcrivcdfrom tbc mcre22 pagcsbc wrotc dirccllyoo
(hc topic,thcoonc cando Domorc lbandcscribcactioorcscarcbas
an applicdrcscarchstratcgyin wbich gcncrallawstogctbcrwitb
k-oowlcdgcof problcm situationscontributcto problcm solviog
(hrougha cyclcofdiagnosis,actioo,andcvalua(ioo.
On thc othcrhand,if hiswritingson actioorcscarcbis placcdin
t h c b r o a d c rc o n t c x (o f h i s p h i l o s o p h yo f s c i c n c c ,t h c n a c t i o or c '
scarcltcanl-rcconstrucdmorcgrandly,asao alternativcto tbc (bcn
doorinao(positivistcooccptiooof scicocc,Lcwi-orcjcctcda positivist
bclicf io thc unicyof thc scicnccsand argucdthatsocialphcoomcoa
shouldbc studicd
'oot
by lransform'rngthcm into guantfiablcunits
of physicalactionsandrcactions,but by studyi.oglbc i-otcrsubjcctivc-
ly validsclsof mcaoiogs,oormsand valucsthat arc (bc'romcdiatc
dctcrmioantsof bchavior- i.c.,by constructioga thcoryof group
dynamics'(Pctcrs and Robinsoo,1984:115-l16).This rypc of study,
Irc argucd,lcldcd botb praclicalknowlcdgcfor sociaJintcrvcotion
and knowledgcabouttbc lawsof grouplifc.
Pcrhapsit was Lcwio'suotimclydeatbin 1947that prcvcn(cd

2. (2ö4)
l r l I
, 2 FALL 199J
him from linkinghis idcason aclionrcscarchto a morc fully dc.
vclopcdphilosopbyof socialinquiry.As rvcshallscc in thc ncxt,
scctioo,contcmporarydiscussiooo[ actionrcscarchis still concerncd
with thc mcritso[ stroogandwcakclaimsabout(hc charactcristics
anddistinctivcncssof tbc approach.
CURRENMCONTROVERSIES
Tbe qucstionof how actionrcscarchshouldtrc undcrstoodand
c o o d u c t c dc a n n o tb c s c t t l c db y s t i p u l a t i v cd c f i n i t i o n .R a t l r c r ,i t
shouldbc scttlcdby cxrcodcddcba(cbctwccnthoscinvolvcdabout
lhc impUcationsof itsvariouscharac(cristics.
This articlccon(ribu(csto tbisdcbatcby cxaminingthc implica-
tioosof variousclaimsaboutactionrcscarchfor tbc achicvcmcn(of
goalswhicb arc sharcdby its crpoocots.Wba( docs an cxamination
of (bcscgoalssuggcstaboutthc rcquircdcbarac(cristicsof action
rcscarch?Oncc tbjsqucstionbasbccn provisionallyanswercd,then
ooc cao turn to tbc qucstiooof thc distinctivcncssof thc approach.
To wbat cxtcDtdo thc suggestcdcharacl.cristicscntaila rcjcction,as
sooc bavcclaimcd,of positivistscicncc(Susoranand Evcrcd,1978;
Kcmmis, 1988)or, morc drarnatically,of scicnccitsclf?
Io tbc Ilrstsccl,iooof this articlcrthc authorargucs(ha(action
r c s c a r c h c r ss h a r ca c o m m i t m c n lt o t b r c c m a i ng o a l s :t h c u n d c r -
staodingaod improvcmcn(of practicc;tbc cntranccmcntof thc
problcm-solvingcapaciticsof tbc practitioncrswitb rvhom thcy
col.laboratc;andthc advanccmcntof knowlcdgcabou(practiccitsclf.
Subscqucntscc(ionsdcalwith tbc mcthodologicalimplicationsof
thcscgoals.
Tbc firstimplicatioois tbat,sinccpracticcis a rcsultoI ac(ors'
v a l u c - l a d c oi n t c r p r c t a ( i o o so I l h e i rw o r l d ,w c c a o D o Iu o d c r s t a n d
practiccwithout undcrstanding(bcscintcrprctat.ions.Thesc subjcc-
tiviticsdo not cxhaus(ao cxplaoationof praclicc,but rcscarcbcrs
wbo bypassthcm arc no(,on thisaccount,doingactionrcscarch.Thc
s c c o n di m p l i c a t i o ni s t h a tt h c c o n c c p to f i m p r o v c m c n to f p r a c t i c c
cao bcs( bc undcrstoodas progicssivcrcsolutionof problcrusthat
ariscio tbc practicccoo(cn.Tbc thüd is tbat ccrtainvaluccommit-
mcotsarc impl.icdby thc cooduc(of actionrcscarclras a proccssof
couabora(ivcproblcmsolving.
I o t h c s u b s c q u c o ts c c t i o n ,( h c a u t h o ra r g u c st h a t ,w h i l c t l r c
suggcstcdcbaracl,cristicsoI actionrcscarcbarc incorhpatiblcrvitha
positivistvicw of scicncc,theyarc pcrfcctlycompa(;blctvi(ha morc
' I
PAQFALL re93 (26s)
modcrnnon-foundationalistviov.In addition,thc authorargucsthat
actionrcscarchcan contributcto gcncralizcdklowlcdgc about lbc
problcrnsof ,practiccand how to solvcthcm, dcspitcbciog rypically
conduc(cdasintcnsivcinvcstigationsof singlccascs.
In thc finalscctionsrthc authorIurnsto two of (hc currcotdc-
ba(csabout thc intcrvcntignphascof ac(ionrcscarch--namcly,t.bc
rolcsof rc0cctionandof outsidcrsin thc improvcmcn(of oracticc.
GOAI-SOF ÄCTION R-ESEARC}{
A sclcctionof dcfinitionsof actionrcscarchrcvcalstbc various
goals(ha(arc claimcdfor thc approach.Rapoport(1970;a99)higi-
l i g h t sg o a l so f p r o b l c ms o l v i n ga n d k n o r v l c d g cg c n c r a t i o ni n t b c
followingdcfinition:
A c t i o n r c l c a r c ha i m r t o c o n t r i b u t cb o t h t d t h c p r r c t i c r l c o n c c r n so I
pcoplcin rn lmmcdia(cproblcmaticsiruarionrnd to thc gorlsoI ro<irl
s c i c n c c ,b y j o i n t c o l l a b o r a t i o nw i t h i n a m u t u a l l yr c c c p t r b l cc t h i c r l
framcwork.
Thescsamc two goalsarc fcaturcdin Lcwin's(1948)claim that
actionrcsbarchcontributcsto practicalproblcm solvi-ogand to our
knorvlcdgcof thc lawsof group[ifc.
Kcmmis (198S:a2)focuscson practicalimprdvcmcotin his dcli-
nilion,morc thanon thc potcntialof actionrcscarchto coDtributcto
socialscicnccknowlcdgc:
Action rcrcarchir r form of rcl[-rc0cctivcinquiryundcrrrkcnby prnici-
pantr in social.(includingcducational)riturtionsin ordcr to improvcthc
ntionrlity rnd rocirl justiccof (a) thcir ovn socialor cducationrlpoc.
ticcs(b) thcir undcrstrndingol rhcscpracticcsrnd (c) rhc citurtion in
which thc practiccsarc crrricd out.
Kcmmis'associa(ionoi th" i.provcmcntoI practiccrvi(hincrcascd
rationalityandsocialjusticcsignalsa splitamooBac(ioorcscarcbcrs
bc(wccöthoscwhorvishto prc-spccifythc s(andardsagainstrvhich
particularsocialpracticcswillbcjudgcdandthoscwhowishto ta}c
a rndtcopcn-cndcdapproachlo thcrclcvaotcritcria.Thisdilfcrcocc
rvillbc discusscdin morcdctailundcrthcsubscqucnthcadingoI
"WbatCountsasIrDprovingPraclicc?'
In additionto thcgoalsof koorvlcdgcgcncrarionandproblcm

3. (26ö) PttQ FALL t993
improvcmcnt,scvcralrvri(crsincorpora(ca (hird goalrvhichgocs
bcyondsolviogparticularproblcmsand cncompasscsthc improvc.
mcnt of tbc problcm-undcrstandingand problcm-solvingcapacityof
practitioncrsthcmsclvcs.This focusis madcclcarin Kcmmis'(l9BS)
dcfioition,in thc work of Susmanand Evcrcd(19?8:58?-588),Elliot
(199f:52),and Argyris and Schon(1991).Thc la(tcr authorsarguc
tba(, in maJlycascs,particularproblcmscannotbc rcsolvcdunlcss
o o c a l s oa d d r c s s c st h c q u c s t i o no f w h y t h c r c l c v a n tp r a c t i t i o n c r s
bavcso far bccn unablcto rcsolvc(hc problcm.
Thc actiooscicnccapproachof Argyrisfocuscs,in particular,on
t b o s cf c a t u r c so f i n t c r p c r s o n a lr c a s o n i n ga n d a c t i o nr v h i c h ,i f l c f t
iotact,rvouldjcopardizcthc discovcryand implcnrcn(ationof stra(c-
giesfor thc improvcmco(of practicc.Emancipatoryac(ionrcscarch-
crs--tha(is, lhoscwho incorporatcsomc typc of criticaltbcory into
thcir analysis--arcmorc likcly to locatcbarricrsto inquiryin struc-
(ural fca(urcsof organizatiooal,political,and cconomic[ifc than in
thc rcasonablcproccsscsof actorsthcmsclvcs(Kcmmis,1988).
lo summary,thrccmaingoalscanbc dcrivcdfrom dcfinitionsof
ac(ionrcscarch:thc improvemcntof practicc;(hc improvcmco(of
p r a c t i t i o n c r s 'a b i l i t yt o i m p r o v ct h c i r p r a c t i c c ,i n c l u d i n gr c l c v a n t
prac{,icccontcxts;andthc gcncra(ionof knowlcdgcabouIpracticc
aodtheimprovemcntproccss.
WHAT COUNTSAS IMPROVING PMCTICE?
Whilc rvritcrson actionrcscarchagrcco0 thc gcneralrulcsof
t h c i m p r o v c m c n to I p r a c t i c c ,t l r c ya r c f a r l c s si n c l i n c dt o s h n r cr
viov of what countsasimprovcmcnt.ln this scction,thc authorrvill
sc( ou( hcr positionand thcn dcfcndit by comparingit tvithlrvo
diffcrcntvicwsfoundin thc actionrcscarchlitcraturc.
This authoradop(sa pragma(icvicw oI improvcmcntwlrcreby
practiccis said to bc improvcdwhcn problcmsthat arisc in thc
pursuitof our goalsarc rcsolvedwitboutjcopardizingour abilityto
rcsolvcothcr problcms(Walkcr,i987:4-5).This critcrionimplies
tbat short icrm cxpcdicncyin tbc solu(iono[ onc problcm docs not
coostitutcimprovcmcntbccauscsuchsolutionscitbcr crcati morc
problcmsor makc (hc rcsolutionof cxistingoncs morc rJifficult.ln
Walkcr'spragmaticphilosopby,a solu(ion(o anyonc problcnlmust
cobcrcwith solutionsto our wbolcproblcmsct.
Considcrthis problcmsolvingcritcriooo[ inrprovcmentwith that
a s s o c i a t c dr v i t ht h c a c t i o nr c s c a r c hg r o u p b a s c da t A u s ( r a l i a ' s
PAQ FALL t993 QöN
DcakinUnivcrsity.Thcirvicwisthatac(ionrcscarchis (Kcmmisand
McTaggar(,198?,citcdin KcmmisandDi Chiro,1987:113):
.,. r form of collcctivcscl(-rc0cctivccnquiry undcnakcn by prnicipantr
in soci.rlriturtionr in ordcr to improvc thc rriionrlity rnd justicc o[ thcir
o w n s o c i a lo r c d u c a t i o n t lp r a c t i c c s ,a r w c l l t r t h c i r u n d c r r t r n d i n go (
thcscpracticcrrnd thc silurtionsin whichthcscpncticcr:rc carricdout'
O n c m a yb c ( c m p t c dt o c o n c l u d ct h a tt h c r c a r c n o s u b s t a n t i a l
diffcrcnccsbc(wccn(hcsc(wo positionsbccauscthc critcria of
rationalityandsocialjusticcwouldbe uscdby manyrcscarchcrsand
practitioncrsto idcntifysituationsas problcmaticand to judgc thc
adcquacyof proposcdsolutions.Whilc thisis truc,thc cquatiooo[
thcscfwo critcriawith improvcmcn(assumcstbat thcy arc rclcvant
to nll problcmsand that thcyarc thc only rclcvantconstrainlsoo
rvha(countsasa problcm.
Thcrc arc manyproblcms,howcvcr,whoscsolutionrcquircscon'
sidcrationof additionalcri(criaand othcrsfor whichthcsccritcria
a r c i r r c l c v a n (t o l h c j u d g m c n lo f i m p r o v c m c n t .F o r c x a m p l c ,a
conrmunitymaybc impovcrishcddcspitcthc fact that its fcw rc-
s o u r c c sa r c d i s t r i b u t c di n a j u s t a n dh i g h l yr a ( i o n a Im a n n c r .T h c
a d v o c a c yo f ( h c s cp a r t i c u l a rv a l u c sp r c j u d g c st h c d i m c o s i o n so n
rvhichimprovemcnl,is to bc acbicvcdanä,assucb,rcstrictsboth thc
typeof problcm addrcsscdby actioorcscarchersand thc oaturc of
thc solütionstheymaydcvclop.
This authorsuspcctsthat tbc Dcakin group rvouldarguc(bat
suih'5 rcstric(ioriwas highlydesirablcbccauscit countcrcdwbat
t h c yw o u l ds c c a s a I a m c n t a b l c( c n d c n c yt o c o n c c p ( u a l i z ca c ( i o n
rcscarchmcrclyin lcrmsof tccbniquc(Kcmmisand Di Chiro, 1987:
126).A tsclrnicalapproach(o problcmsolvingis cxclusivclycon'
ccrncdwith cfficicntmcansto givcncnds rathcr than with, in addi'
tion,thc naturca.odjustilicationof thc cndslhcmsclvcs.Thc Dcalcio
goup, drawingon Habcrmas'(19?2)distinctionbctwecntcchoical,
p r a c t i q a l ,a n d c m a n c i p a t o r yf o r m s o f k n o w l c d g c ,d i s t i n g u i s h c s
bctwccnthrcc paratlcltypcsof actionrcscarch,arguing(hat tbc
cmancipatoryform gocsrvcllbcyondclficicntproblcmsolvinglo
includcan cxplicitlypoliticalandvaluc'ladcnrationality.
T h i sp o i o t ' o fv i c w w i l l b ct a k c nu p i n m o r c d c l a i li n t h c s u b s c -
qucotscc(ionon [hcvalucbascof aclionrcscarch.But in tbc mcan'
timc;sufficcit to saythata pragrnatis(concep(ionof problcmsolving
tiocsno( prccludca valuc'bascdrcformulationof
'a
problcnr,jusl as
t l

4. (266) DAQ FALL 1993
i t d o c sn o l r c q u i r ci t .A w h o l c s a l cr c j c c t i o no f t c c h n i c a lo r i n s t r u -
mcnlal problcmsolvingis ascoun(crproduc(ivc(o thc goal of im-
provcrncntof practiccasis thc rcjcctionof criticalqucstioningof
assumplionsaboutthc vcrynaturcof thc problem.Dccisionsabout
lhc na(urcanddcpthof thc problcmsolvingcffortcanno(be nradc
in advanccof cmpiricalconsidcrat.ionsof particularproblcms.
Thc Dcakin groupmightagrccrviththis point of viewbut savc
thcir conccptionof actionrcscarchby cxcludingtcchnicalproblcms
from thc domainof actionrcscarch.Thc problcmwith this stanccis
that it prcjudgcsthc aoalysisof thc problcmsituation.Action rc-
scarchprocccdsasa cyclcof diagnosis,planning,action,and cvalua-
tion and,uotil a problcmis anallzcd,wc do not knowwhcthcrtcch-
nicalor criticalknowledgcis most appropriatcto i(s undcrstanding
andrcsolution.An idcntificationof actionrcscarchrvithcmancipato-
ry problcmsolvingis asmis(akcnasitsidcntificationwith instrumcn-
talistproblcmsolving.
T h i s a u t b o r ' sp o s i t i o no n i m p r o v c m c n (c a na l s ob c c o n ( r a s t c d
rviththatof JohnElliot(199i)a leadingBritishwri(cr.on cducational
actionrcscarch.Elliot cquatcsimprovcmcn(witb cnhanccmcn(of
thc vafucsthatarc iritrinsicto prac(iccitsclfandcrplains(tbid.,49):
Thcimprovcmcntof practiccconristso( rcaliringthoscvalucswhich
conrtitutcitr cnds,c.g.,'jurticc'(orlcgzlpracticc,'prticntcarc'[or
m c d i c i n c , ' p r c s c r v i n gt h c p c a c c '[ o r p o l i c i n g , ' c d u c r t i o n 'f o r t c r c h l n g .
Suchendr rrc not rimply mrni(crtcd in thc outconrcrof r prrcticc.Thcy
arc rlro mrnifcrtcdrr intrinlicqurliticJo[ thc practiccsthcmsclvcs.
This authorrvouldargucthat thc valucstha( cons(itu(c(hc cnds
of practiccarc a wcak and highlyproblcmaticbasison rvhichto
g r o u n dt h c n o r m a t i v cc l a i m so f a c t i o nr c s c a r c h .F i r s t ,t h c r c i s a
long-standingdisputcaboulthc prcciscna(ureof tbesevaluesaod as
suchthcywould providcüttlcgcocralguidanccasto what coun(sas
improvcmcnl.
Sccond,cvcni[ wc werc (o agrcctha(pcacekccping,for cxamplc,
wasan intrinsicqualiryof policcpracticc,thisvalucis simplyinadc-
quatcto thc taskof judgingimprovcmcnt.Thc NcrvZcalandpublic
hotlydcbatctllhc mcritsof thc policc'sdccisionto adopllongbatons
( k n o w oa s " n i g b ts t i c k s ' t oA m c r i c a nr c a d c r s )a ( t h c t i m e o f l h c
Spriogbokrugbytour.Thc policcbclicvcdit would cnhanccthcir
cffcctivcocssas pcacckccpcrsbccauscthcir cxistingcquipmcntwas
inadcquatcto thc ncw(ypcsof dcmonstrationstbataccompanicdthc
PAQ FALL t993 (26e)
tour. Thc dcmonstra(orsbclicvcdtha( such cquipmcnt (hrca(cocd
the pcaccby cscalatingthc confrontalionbctrvccnthcmsclvcsand
thc policc.
T h c j u d g m c n (c a no n l y b cm a d c ,i f a t a l l ,b y a p p c a lt o a m i x o I
.r c l c v a n (v a l u c sa n dc m p i r i c a lc o o s i d e r a t i o n si n c l u d i o gt h c a c t u a l
conscqucnccsof thc dcploymcntof thc cquipmcnt.Thc proccssis
m o r c a k i nt o t h a to f c o n s t r u c ( i n ga t h c o r yo f t h c p r o b l c m( h a no I
rcadingoff thc matchbc(rvccothc practiccand thc valucsassumcd
to bc intrinsicto it.
It is acknowlcdgcdthat(hcrcis no simplcguidcto thc proccssoI
proposingand dclcndinga conccpl.ionof improvcdpracticc.Such
conccptionsconstitutca,thcoryof thc problcm and,whilc thcrc will
frcqucntlybc compctiogthcorics,pragmatistapproacbcsdo providc
us rvithbroadcritcriafor thcoryadjudicationsucbas cxplanatory
adcquacy.cffcctivcncss,cohercnccwith our cxistiogbcst thcory,and
tcstabiliry(Evcrs,1991).
I I ''wlroT
couNTS Äs UNDERSTANDINGpRACTICE?
If actionrcscarchis to achicvcitsgoalsof the undcrstandingand
improvingof practicc,thcu its octbods mustbc wcll matchcdto thc
constrainl.sthatpracticccoDtcxtsplaccon thc gcocrationandutiliza-
tion of kuowlcdgc.ln short,thc startingpoint for tbinkingabout
ac(ionrcscarchmcthodsshouldnot bc our traditionalconccptionof
rigorousrcscarcb,but our uodcrstandiogof tbc way inquiryoccurs
andcanbc strcngtbcocdin pracliccsituations.
Practicccaob.cthoughtof asa wcb of solutionsto prior prob'
lems aboutwhat to do in particularcircumstanccs.A pcrformancc
oppraisalprogrammc!for cxamplc,coostitulcsa complcxsoluliooto
t h c p r o b l c mo f h o w t o d c s i g na n di m p l c m c n ts u c ha p r o ß r a m m c .
S u c bp i o b l c m sa r c s o l v c dw h c n p r a c t i t i o o c r ss c t o r a c c c p tc o n -
straiotson wbat couotsas a solution(NickJes,1981).lo tbe casco[
t h c d c s i g oo f a n a p p r a i s a lp r o g r a m m c ,t h c s cc o o s ( r a i n t sw o u l d
includcbclicfsaboutwbat countsas appraisal,iocludingbclicfs
a b o u ti t s p u r p o s c sa n db o w t o a i l a i nt h c m .A d d i t i o n a lc o n s t r a i n t s
rclatcdto.matcrialconditions,suchas financc,timc, and availablc
crpcr(isc,mayalio sctlimitson possiblcsolutionsto thc problcm.
Thc solutioosto problcmsof practiccarc frcqucntlyincorporatcd
ioto rouliocsandtbc rcasoningproccsscstbat lcd (o (bcm arc citbcr
[orgottcnor takcnfor graotcd.Action rcscarchsccksto intcrrupt
thcsc routincswhen tbcy bccomcproblcmaticcithcr bccauscthcy

5. (270) t-..12FALL t99J
g c n c r a t cu n i n ( c n d c dn c g a t i v cc o n s c q u c n c c( t h c s o l u t i o nt o o n c
problcmcrcatcsothcrs)or bccauscan inconsistcn(constra;nlstruc.
turc Scocratcsan uns(ablcsolution.If practiccis undcrstoodin this
rvay,thcn actionrcscarchcontributcsto our undcrslandingof prlc.
ticc to lhc cncnt thatit rcvcals(hc constraints(ruclurcstha(lcd to
par(icularsolu(ions.I( contributcsto theimprovcmcntof practiccto
(bc cxlcnt that it critiqucslhcsc undcrstandingsand shorvshorv
al(crna(ivcsproduccconscqucnccs(ha[ arc judgcd (o bc morc dc-
sirablc,on sharcdcritcria,thancxistingpracticcs.
Thcrc arc obviousobjcc(ionsto tfis positionwhichsbouldbc
immcdiatclyacknorvlcdgcd.First, practicalproblcmscan bc cx-
plaincdin waysthatcomplctclybypassthc thcoricsrha(practitioncrs
cmploy(o solvcthcm.Why givc priorityto this typeof casualac-
count?Onc answcris thatpractitioncrs'undcrstandingsof (hc prac-
ticccontcxtsustainthc routincsthatthc actionrcscarchcrwishcsto
irtcrrupt.If thcscundcrstandingsarc incompatiblcwith improvcd
practicc,thcn a non-cocrcivcchangeproccssrcquiresthat they bc
challcngcdandaltcrcd.
In addition,practitioncrs'lhcoricsof a problcmarc a sourccof
o b j c c t i o n st o a l t c r n a ( i v ca n a l y s c s .I f a c l i o nr c s c a r c hi s t o b c c o n -
ductcdas a proccssof collaborativccritiqucand thcoryrcconstruc-
tion, thcn thc thcory(hatgcncral.cssuchobjcc(ionsmustbc trcated
a s a s c r i o u sr i v a lt o t h a to f t h c r c s c a r c h c ra n d i ( s r c l a ( i v cm c r i t s
cxplorcdin a proccssof criticaldialoguc(Robinson,1989).
A sccondobjcctionto this accountof how (o undcrstandprob-
lcms miglrtccntrcon itsapparcntlyindividualisticfocus.Civcn thar
t h c r s a s o n i n ga n d a c t i o n so f i n d i v i d u a l sa r c c m b c d d c di n s o c i a l l y
constructcdpracticcsandpattcrnsof discoursc,tlrcnproblcmundcr-
s l a n d i n gr c q u i r c sg o i n gb c y o n dh o r vi n d i v i d u a l su n d c r s ( a n dt h c
p r o b l c m st h c yc x p c r i c n c ct o o s k i n gr v h yt h c yu n d c r s t a n dt l r c n ra s
thcy do. In addition,an individualisticanalysismay lcad to a naivc
vicwof thc possibiliticsof socialchangcand to ncglcctoI thc rvay
socialstructurcslimitchangcproccsscs.
T l r c r o u l c l o o v c r c o n r i r r gt l r c s co b j c c t i o n s ,a c c o r t l i n gt o l l r c
D c a k i nb a s c dc m a n c i p a t o r ya c t i o nr c s c a r c hg r o u p ,i s t o m o v c
bcyooda libcral discourscwhich focuscsoo thc thcoricsand moral
d i l c m m a so f i n d i v i d u a l st o a m o r c c r i t i c a l . c x a m i n a ( i o no f t h c w a y
poti(icsand idcologicsshapctbc rvayindividualsrcasonand act in
tbc practiccconlcxl.Action rcscarch,in thc'r vicw,nccdsto rccovcr
i(s"...cssen(ialöpistcmologicalcharactcr. thc formationand cxtcn-
sionoI criticalthcorcmsandthc dcvclopmcn(of criticallyinformcd
PAQ FALL l9vJ ' (27l)
prac(iccthroughpcrsonalbut sharcdcngagcmcntin thc strugglcto
changc'(McTaggcrtandSingh,1986,citcdin Kimmis and Di Chiro
1987:I 16).
I I
In'si,ärt,thcscau(horsat(ributcthc tcchnical,non-criricalquali-
ty of somcactionrcscarchto itsincorporationof an inappropriarc,
i.c.,libcril,thcoryof c<Jucationalproblcms.Givcnthc *ay cmanci.
pa(oryactionrcscarchcrsundcrstandthc conccptof improvcmcnt,
onc canundcrstandthcir prcfcrcnccfor bringingsomc tfpc of criti-
calthcoryto bcaron thc analysisof socialproblcms.
This author'srcsponscto thcir positionon how to uoderstand
socialproblcmsparallclshcr rcsponscto thcir positionon improvc.
mcnt.Onc canno(prcjudgcthc rclevanccof micro or macro varia-
b l c st o t h c u n d c r s t a n d i n go f p a r t i c u l a rp r o b l c m so o r c a no n c p r c .
judgethc rclcvanccof particularsocialthcorics.Altcrnativcanalyses
rc,0cctingdiffcrcncesalongthcscdimcnsionsnccdto bc (rcatcdas
compctingthcoricsof thc problcmsitualionto bc adjudicatcdon tbc
basiso[ cxpcrimentationandcoUaborativccritiqucof thcir cmpirical
consequcnccsandnormativcimplications.
For somcproblcms,analyscsbascdon thc thcoricsof individuals
rvillsufficcbccausca causalanalysisthatdrawson ooJythcscfac(ors
will yicld.acl.ionablcand cffcctivcsolutionstrarcgies,For otbcr
problcms,widcr socialfactorswill nccd to bc undcrstoodand al-
t c r c d b c f o r ct h i sr c s u l ti s , o b t a i n c d .U n l c s so o e b c l i c v c st b a t a l l
p r o b l c m so f p r a c t i c ca r c s u s c c p t i b l ct o t h c s a m cs o r t o f a n a l y s i s ,
|,hcnonc cannotprc-spccify(hc rclcvanccof a thcoryto a pa-rticular
problcm. .
Ccrtainmcthodrcquircmentsfollowfrom thisanalysisof whatis
involvcdin mcctingactionrcsearch'sgoaloI undcrstandingpracticc.
Practiccis undcrstoodby uncoveringthc thcorics(hatagcnticmploy
i n l h c p r a c t i c cs i t u a t i o na n db y c x a m i n i n gt h c w a y t h o s ct h c o r i c s
may bc implicatcdin lhc problcmsthat arc thc focusof thc acrioo
rcscarchprojcct.In ccrtaincascs,an adcquatcanalysiswould also
showhorvthoscthcoricswcrc sus(aincdby widcr structuralfactors
rvlrichcouldprcvcntrcsolutiono[ thc problcm.
Onc implicationof this atgurcnr is that applicdrcscarcbrvhich
bypasscsthc thcoricsof thoscinvolvcdin tbc problcmsiruatioodocs
n o t c o u n ta sa c t i o nr c s c a r c h .O n c s u c hc x a m p l ci s t h c r c s c a r c ho f
Golcmbicwski,Hillcs,andDaly (l9B?)whichinvcsrigarcdrhccffccls
o f m u l t i p l cO D i n t c r v c n t i o n so n b u r n o u ta n d p c r c c p t i o no f l h c
rvorkplaccamonghuman rcsourccprofcssionals.Thrcc sclf.rcport
invcn(oricsand dataon slaffIurnovcrwcrc cmploycd'(odocumcn(

6. (272) P/ FALL 1993
thc cncnt of thc problcmandimpactof subscquen(intcrvcntions.
This mcthod,as thc authorsacknorvlcdgc,was far bet(crsuitcd
(o intcrvcn(ioncvaluationthanto thc analysisof thc problcmandto
a c t i o np l a n n i n g .T h c i n v c n t o r i c st c l l u s h o w t h c p r o f c s s i o n a l sr c -
s p o n d c dt o t h c t h c o r c t i c a la n d c o n c c p t u a lc a t c g o r i c so f t h c r c -
s c a r c h c r sr a t h c r ( h a n h o r vi n d i v i d u a la n d o r g a n i z a t i o n a lv a l u c s ,
pcrccp(ions,and bchavioralstra[cgicscombincd(o crca(cand sus-
tain thc problcmof lorvmoraleandhighburnou(.A chronologyof
i n ( c r v c n ( i o nc v c n t si n d i c u t c st h a (s o m cd a ( ao f t h i s n a t u r cr v c r c
colJcctcdanddiscusscdaspartof thc intcrvcntionproccss.tlsrvcvcr,
sinccthisinformationis not systcmaticallyprcscntcdand analyzcd,
thc rcscarchrcportmakcsa limitcdcontribution(o our undcrstantl-
i n g o f p r a c t i c ca n d .t o o u r u n d c r s ( a n d i n go f h o r vt o c n h a n c ct h c
problcmsolvingcapaciticsof practitioncrs.The rcscarchof Colcnr-
bicrvski,Hillcs,and Daly(1987)is bc(tcrcatcgorizcdasan cxarnplc
of applicdproblcmsolvinglhanasan cxamplcoI actionrcscarchas
dc[rocdin thisarticlc.
Thc carlicrstudyof PasmorcandFricdlandcr(1982)providcsa
bc(tcrmatchto thc modclo[ actionrcscarcbdcscribcdin thisarti-
c l c .T h c s c a u t h o r s ' i n v c s t i g a t c dl o n g - s t a n d i n ga n d s c r i o u si n j u r y
problenrsin anclcc(ronicsplantby systcnraticrllyinquirirrgin(ohorv
cmployccsandmanagcmcn(undcrs(oodandrcactcd(o tlrcproblcm.
Tbc rcsultwasa modclwhichcxplaincdlhe problenrin termso[ horv
objcctivcrvorkconditions,rvorkcrand managcmcntvalucs,ancl(hc
undcrstandingsandrcactionsof bothgroupscombincdto producca
scl[-rcinlorcingcyclcoI s(rcssandinjury.In thisstutly,(hc problcnr
was not only rcsolvcd,thc rcscarchcrscon'tributcdto oU'funder-
staodingof borvthc thcoric,sof actionof cmployccsand managcrs
cangcncratcandsustainthc vcryproblcmsthcyrvishto eliminatc.
A s c c o n di m p l i c a t i o no f t h i sd i s c u s s i o ni s t h a ta c t i o nr c s c a r c h
canDotbc idcntificdwith anyparticularsocialthcoryfor to do so is
t o l i m i t i t s p o t c n t i a ll o u n d c r s l . a o da n d r c s o l v cp a r t i c u l a rs o c i a l
problcms.This docs not mcan (hatactionrcscarchis atlrcorctical;
[ a r f r o m i t s i n c ct h c p r o c c s so f a n a l y z i n gp a r t i c u l a rp r o b l c m sr c -
quircsa rich thcorcticalrcpcrtoircfrom rvhichto wcavccxplanatory
analyscsthat arc accuratc,crcdiblc,and yicld actionablcchangc
stratcgics.
VALUEBASOOFACTIONR-ESEARCII
lf wcplacca prcmiumonundcrstandingandsolvingpracl.ical
PAQ FALL l9>t (273)
I
problcms,ccrtainthingsfollowaboutthc valucsthatshouldin[orm
thc processcsoIinquiryandin(crvcntionlhatarc an intrinsicpartof
actionrcscarch.Thisauthorbclicvcsthatthc valub.sthat arc ceotraL
(o (hc ac(ionscicnccapproachof ArgyrisandSchon(1991:86),which
t h c yd c s c r i b ca sa c l o s cc o u s i no I a c t i o nr c s c a r c h ,a r c a p p r o p r i a t c
bccauscthcyarc groundcdin a thcoryaboutthc conditionsnccdcd
for lcarningandproblcmsolving.
ln thisvicw,actionrcsäarchshouldbc guidcdby thc thrccvalucs
of validinformation,frccandin[ormcdchoicc,andthc dcvclopmcnt
of intcrnalcommitmcnt(o thoscchoiccs.Problcms,arcmorc likcly
to bc solvcdand practiccsimprovcdwhcn thc participantsin (hosc
practiccsstrivcto gcncratcvalidinformationaboutthc problcm,to
nrakcfrcc and informcdchoiccsaboutwhcthcrand how to partici.
patcin problcmsolvingactivitics,andto lostcrcommitmcnlto thc
implemcn(ationandcvaluationoI solutionat(cmpts.
I n l h c . c o n t c x (o f a n a c t i o nr c s c a r c hp r o j c c t ,( h c s cv a l u c sm c a n
thatthc rclcvantbelicfsandactionsof all participantsin thc projcct,
includingthoscof thc rcsearchcr,arc subjcctto tcstsof thcir validity
t l r r o u g ha p r o c c s so I c r i t i c a ld c b a t c ,c x p c r i m c n t a t i o n ,a n dc v a l u a -
tiorr.Thc rcscarchproccssitsclfis controllcdby all involvc<Jso thal,
rvhilcrolcsandrcsponsibiliticsmaybc uncqual,dccisionsaboutsuch
incqualiticsare maclcopcnlyand collaborativcly.Thcsc valucsarc
alsocriticallo thcintcrvcntion,phascoI actionrcscarch,
This authorhasargucdcarlicrthat practitioncrsact from thcir
orvnundcrstandingsof thcirsituaiion,of thcirownrolc withinit, and
o f w [ a t i s p o s s i b l c .I f p r o b l c ms o l v i n gr c q u i r e sa l t c r a t i o no I l h c s c
beliefs,thcn non-cocrcivcchangcrequircsa proccssof opcn and
c r i t i c a ld i a l o g u ca b o u tt h c g r o u n d sf o r t h c i r a l t c r a t i o o .A n o p c o ,
u n c o c r c c dd i a l o g u cc n c o u r a g c st h c r a i s i n go f o b j c c t i o n s ,m u ( u a l
critiquc,and cvcntualintcllcctualcommi(mcntto a sharcdaltcrna-
tivctheorfoI thc problcmandoI itssolution(Robinson,1989).
Thescinquity-oricntcdvalucscannotbc confincdto thc rcscarch
proccssif actionrcscarchcrsarc to achicvcthc thrcc goalsoI action
rcscarclr.Thc thirdg,oal,thatof improvingthc problcmanalysisand
problcm solvingcapaciticsof practitioncrslhcmsclvcs,rcquircs
invcstigationof whythcyhavcbccnunablcto rcsolvcthc problcmso
far. To wha( cxtcntarc thcir oln problcm-solvingcffortsand (hosc
o f r h c o r g a n i z a t i o n si n w h i c ht h c p r o b l c m sa r c l o c a ( c dc o n g r u c n t
rviththc valucsof validinformation,frcc choicc,and intcrnalcom-
mitmcnt?To rvhaIcxtcntdo individual,intcrpcrsonal,and organiza-
Iionallcarningslylcsprcvcntcrilicalrcflcctionon thc way cxisting

7. (274) ) FttLL t09.1
p r o b l c m sa r c b c i n g f o r m u l a l c d ?l f p r o b l c ms o l u ( i o n sa r c b c i n g
i n ( r o d u c c di n c o n t c x l sw h i c ha r c c o u n t c r p r o d u c t i v cL oc o n t i n u c d
inquiry,(hcnthcreis a highlikclihöodrhat thc monitoringand ad-,
justmcnt(ha(arc cssential(o successfulimplcmentationand cvalua-
t i o nw i l l n o l b c c a r r i c do u t .A d c q u a t cp r o b l e mr c s o l u ( i o ni n s u c h
c a s c sr c q u i r c si n ( c r v c n ( i o ni n t o c o u n t c r p r o d u c t i v co r g a n i z a ( i o n a l
proccsscs.
I t m a y a p p c a rt h a l t h i sd i . s c u s s i o no f t h c v a l u cb a s c< l fa c ( i o n
rcscarchis in c<;ntradictionto (hc author'sprcviousargumcntthat
a c l i o nr c s c a r c hs h o u l dn o t b c i d c n t i f i c dw i t h a n yp a r l i c u l a rs o c i a l
thcory.The argumcnIrvasthat,to idcntifyactionrcscarchrvithsay,
criticalthcory,is to prcjudgcthc naturcof thc thcoryrvhichis nros(
u s c f u lf o r t h c a n a l y s i sa n d r c s o l u t i o no f p a r t i c u l a rp r o b l c m s .A
contradic(ionis avoidcdbccausclhcrc is a diffcrcnccbctrvccnthc
promotionof a particularsocialthcoryand thc promotionof valucs
occcssaryfor thc pursuitof inquiry.Thc valucsof maximizingvalid
informa(ionaboutproblcmsand allowingrclcvantstakcholdcrsto
m a k c i n f o r m c dc h o i c c sa b o u (t h c i r c o l l a b o r a t i v cr c s o l u t i o na r c
compatiblcrvithanysocialthcory cxccp(thosctha( viola(c(hcsc
basicconditionsof inquiry.
A problcmsolutionthatpromo(cdor failcd(o confron(a fascist
organizationrvouldbc ruledout, for cxamplc,bccauscfascismdocs
no( tolcra(cdcbatc aboutits own adcquacy.Bcyondsuch broad
paramclcrs,howevcr,thc thcoryo[ inquiryadvoca(cdhcrc doesnot
spcciFytbc particularformsof socialandorganizationallifc rcquircd
to solvcproblcmsconsistcotlyrvi(lrlhcscvalucs.Whctherhicrarchi-
calor organically-structurcdorganizationsor whcthcrmarkct-drivcn
o r s t a t c - r u np r o v i s i o no f s c r v i c c sc o o s l i t u t ct h c b c s ls o l u t i o n st o
p a r t i c u l a rp r o b l c m si s o p c nt o d c b a ( ca n dc x p c r i m c n ( a t i o ni n l h c
particularproblcmcontcxt.
ACTION RESEARC}IAS SCIDNCD
Having cstablishcdthc mcthodologicalcharactcristicsncccssary
to thc pursuitof thc goalsof actionrcscarch,rvecannow turn to the
dcbatcaboutthe scicntificstatusof thc approach.Suchdiscussionis
morc than a philosophicalindulgcnccbccaüscthc answcrsrvc givc
dctcrminc(hc mcthodologicalrcsourccswc drarvon and thc s(and-
ardsrvcuscto judgcthcqualityof uc(ionrcscarch.
T h c a u ( h o r ' sp o s i t i o ni n t h i sd c b a l ci s t h a t a c t i o nr c s c a r c h c r s
v h o a t t c n ) p tt o d i s t a n c ct h c m s c l v c sf r o n t s c i c n c cu r c n r i s t a k c n
PAQ FALL lt (275)
bccausclhcydo soon lhc basisöf a vcrynarrowandlargclydiscrcd'
itcd foundationalistviov of scicncc.Whilc it is truc that manycmpü-
icals(udicsin thc socialscicnccsdo not cxhibitthe charactcristics
thcy dcsircfor actionrcscarch,it docsnot follow that incorporation
of thcsccharactcristicsrcquircsa rcjcctionof scicncc.
Scicnce,posltlvlsm,nnd foundotlonollsm.Thc most inßucntial
accountof thc scicntificstatusof aclionrcscarchis probablythatoI
Susmanand Evcrcd(19?8).Thcy scckto showhorvac(ionrcscarch
docs no( fit thc standardsof positivistscicncc,a vicw of scicncc
rvhich--thoughthcydo not discussit assuch--incorpora(csa stric(
foundationscpistcmology.Susmanand Evcrcd(lbid.,583)dcfinc
positivistscicnccas:'allapproachcs(o scicnccthatconsidcrscicntif-
ic knowlcdgcto bc obtainablconly from scnscdata tha( can bc
directlycxpcricnccdandvcrificdbctwccnindcpcndcntobscrvcrs.'
'Thcy
thcn showthat actionrcscarchfailsthc tcst of positivist
scicnccbccauscits conccrnwith actors'undcrs(andingsand with thc
promotionof particularvalucsviolatcspositiviststric(urcsagaiosl
unobservablc.SusmanandEvercd(lbid.,594)concludc:
Wc havcrhovrnthrt rctionrrnd thcirconrcqucncctcrnnol bc crplaincd
accordingto thc potitivirt critcrir of r rcicntif-tccrplrnrtion. Thir lcrvcr
ur with thc choiccar to whcthcrwc ouBhtto dcclarcrction rctcrrch to
bc rcicntific,or rcconsidcruringporitiviltcritcrir to iudgc thc rcicntific
stalurofrclion rcrcrrch.Wc hrvc chorcnthc Jccond!ltcrnrtivc rnd. on
thil barir,wc propoJcthat rction rclcarchcan bc lcgitimrlcdli rcitncc
hy locrringthc.foundrtionin philorophicalvicwpoinrr*hich dilfcr Irom
thorcuscdto lcgitimatcpolitivirtscicncc.
Thc authorsthcn attcmptto shorvhorva rangcoI othcr vicw'
points,includingpraxis,hcrmcnc,utics,cxistcntialism,pragmatism,
and phcnomcnologyprovidcaltcroativccritcriaand mcthodsfor
scicncc.Whilc this authoragrccswith thc choiccto turn lo non-
positiviststandardsof scicnccra(hcrthanto rcjcctscicnccaltogcth-
cr, actionrcscarchcrsdo not nccd Io cmbraccanyof lhcscaltcrna'
tivcsin ordcr to protcctthc scicntificstatusof thcir mcthods.Positiv-
ist sciencc,asdcfincdabovc,mustbc rcjcctcdnot onlybccauscit
docs not fit thc goalsof ac(ionrcscarchbul, morc importaotly,
bccauscit is falsc.Ifaction rcscarchcrscxplorcwhy it is falscand
(hc charac(cristicsof thc post-positivistphilosophyof scicnccthat
h a sr c p l a c c di t , t h c yc a nb c b o t h t r u c ( o ( h c i r g o a l sa n d l o c a t c
thcmsclvcswilhina broadmainstrcamoI philosophyoI scicncc.

8. (27ö) ^4Q
FALL t99.1
T h c f a l s i r yo f t h c p o s i t i v i s ts c i c n c cd c s c r i b c db y . S u s m a na n < J
Evcrcd(1978)isduc to irsfoundationalisrqualitics.Thc corncrstonc
of foundationalismis tharknowlcdgcclaimsarcju.stificdby dcriving
thcm from othcr morc sccurcknowlcdgcclaims(Eversar{ijLakom-
ski,l99l:ch.l). Thcrc havcbccnscvcralcandidatcsfor suchfounda-
tionsbut thc onc whichfcarurcsin discussionsof (hc scicntificstar.us
of actionrcscarchis scnscda(a.Sinccscnscda(aarc dircc(lycxpcri-
cnccd,unmcdiatcdby thcorcticaland pcr.sonalintcrprctation,(hcy
conslitutca muchmorcccr(ainsourccof knorvlcdgc(hantha(wlriclt
is not dircctlyobscrvcd.Thus,positivistsarguc,thc inncr cxpcricncc
o[ actorsandthc invcstigationof cthicalandvalucclaims,not bcing
knorvablc(hroughanydircctobscrvation,arc inappropriatcsubjects
of scicotificstudy.
Thc argumcn(sagainstthis typcof foundationalismand its asso-
ciatcdpositivis(mcthodsarc rcadilyavailablcso will bc only bric0y
summariscdhcrc (Phillips,1987;Evcrsand Lakomski,1991).Firsr,
thc privilcgcaccordcdobscrva(ionalcvidcncccan bc challcngcdby
thc oorvfamiliarargumcntsaboutlhcory-ladcdncss..Humansdo not
dircctlypcrccivcothcr pcrsons,ca(s,snowor any othcr concrelc
pbcnomcna.Thcsc'pcrccptionsarc thc rcsultof complexcognitivc
proccssingof pattcrnsof rctinalstimulationin tcrmsof prior lcarn-
ing aboutthc discrimination,idcntification,and labcllingof these
p a t t c r n s .
l n s h o r t ,t h c r ci s n o s h a r pd i s t i n c t i o nb c t r v c c ni n t c r p r c t c da n d
unintcrprctcdcxpcricnccsincccvcnknowlcdgervhichis bascdon
dircc( obscrvationis int.crprctcdthroughprior thcory aboul thc
significaoccof rvhatwc scc.Oncc thc sharplinc bclrvccnthcoryand
obscrva(ionis brokcn io this rvay,(hcn obscrvationalcvidcnccloscs
its privilegedplacc;invcstigationof inncr cxpcricnccis no diffcrcnt
in kind from invcstigationof outcrcxpcricncc;bothinvolvc(lrcoris-
i n g a b o u tt h c a v a i l a b l cc v i d c n c c ,t h o u g hi n t h c f o r m c r c a s c ,i t i s
admittcdthatthc naturcandintcrprctationof thc rclcvan(cvidcncc
m i g h t b c m o r c c o n ( c n ( i o u s( h a ni n t h c l a ( t c r .I f i n v c s t i g a ( i o no f
" i o o c r -c x p c r i c n c ci s n o d i f f c r c n ti n k i n d f r o m i n v c s t i g a t i o no f
'outcr"
cxpcricncc,lhcn actionrcscarchdocsnot nccd (o bc margi-
naliscd(cpistcmologica[[yspcaking)in ordcr to claimthc formcr as
a lcgitimatcfocusoI invcstigation
Thc problcmof inductionalsoscrveslo undcrmincfoundational-
i s t c l a i m sa b o u tt h c c c r t a i n l yo f k n o r v l c d g cl l r a li s i n f c r r c df r o n r
obscrva(ionalcvidcncc.Knowlctlgcgrows,on this account,by rc-
ocatcdcon[rrmationsof thc occurrcnccoI particularcvcnls.Bu( to
PAQ FALL 1t"" Q7n
usc a [amiliarcxamplc,horvcanrcpcatcdobscrvationof pastsun-
riscsjustifyour bclicf(ha(thc iun will risc (omorrow?Wc could
argucthat it alwayshasin thc pastand tha(wc havc no rcasonto
doubt.lhat it rvillin thc fururc.
But anygcncralizationaboutfuturcsunriscsrcquircsus to jusrify
t h c p r i n c i p l co f i n d u c l i o na n da r g u m c n t sa b o u tr h c f a c tr h a ri r h a s
rvorkcdin thc pastand (hcrcforcwill hold in thc fururc bcg thc
questiono[(hc rvarrantfor thc principlcitsclf.Sinccwc cannotjusri-
fy thc principlcof inductionby appcaling(o dircctobscrvariooand
rvconly know thingsthroughdircctobscrvalion,rhcn lhis lypc of
f o u n d a t i o n a l i s mc a n n o tj u s r i f yi r s o r v na c c o u n (o f t h c g r o r v r ho f
knorvlcdgc.
A thirdargurncntagainsta loundalionalisraccoun(of knowlcdgc
,isits undulyrcs(rictivcnaturc.Thc stric(urcsit placcson knorvlcdgc
rvouldrulc out a grcat dcal of philosophy,c(hics,and much o[ our
bcstscicnccsinccunobscrvablc(hcorcticalcntitics,sucbas(hosc
studicdin high cncrgyphysics,arc criticalro invcsrigarionof rhc
naturcof thc univcrsc.In short,lhcrc arc scvcralargumcolsfor tbc
rcjcctionof thc foundationalistcmphascsof positivistscicncc,not
just as a standardfor actionrcscarch,but as a standardfor scicncc
itsclf.
Morc modcrn non-foundationalistcpistcmplogicscnablc ac(ion
rcsearchcrs(o cscapcthc stric(urcsof positivismwithoutabaodooing
a scarchfor validandactionablcthcoricsof practicc.Thcsccohcrcn.
tistcpistcmologicssuggcstthatknowlcdgcclaimsarc warrantcd,not
throughlinkingthcm to sccurcfoundations,but by thc morc com-
plcx busincssof linking thcm to our bcst rclcvanttbcory.Whal
countsasbcs(lhcoryis dctcrmincdin (urn by a rangcof cmpirical
and non-cmpiricalcritcriaincludingsimpliciry,crplanatorya<Jcqua.
cy,tcstability,andcohcrcnccwith rvhatis alrcadyknortrn(Evcrsaod
Lnkomski,l99l:38).
Foi cxamplc,thc claimso[ actionrcscarchcrsabouthow practi-
t i o n c r sl c a r nt h r o u g hr c f l c c t i o nm u s tc o h c r cw i ( ho u r b c s tt h c o r y
abouthorvpcoplclcarn.Thc authorshalIargucin a subscqucnt
scctionof tlrisarticlcthatsomcoI thcscclaicrsabou(rc0cc(ionarc
inconsistcnt.with suchtbcoryandthat thisincobcrcoccis grouods
for skcpticismabout,if not rcjcctionof, tbcscvicws.
A furthcrobjcction(o thc scicnlificstatusof ac(ionrcscarchrcsts
on (hc la((cr'spromotionof particularvalucs.This objcctionrclics
onccagainon a narrowand rlristakcnconccp(ionof scicnccasvaluc
frcc.Scicnccis not ncutralaboutvalucsbccauscils own conducta-od

9. (278) P,,Q FALL 19gJ
survivaldcpcndon thc dcvclopmcntof communi(icsrvhichcrnbracc
the valucsrvhicharc ncccssary[or i(sown practicc.Opcnncss,frce-
dom to invcstigatc,challcngcand qucstion,and a rcspcctfor plurali.
ty of vicwpointarc somcof thc valucsrvhichundcrlicscicnccas a
socialpracticc.Action rcscarch'spromolionof thc valucof prot:lcm
solvingis pcrfcctlycompatiblcwith thc inquiryoricn(ationof scicncc
itsclf.
Science,generolization,ond aclionruscnrch.A l'inalc-rbjcctionto
thc scicntificstatrrsof actionrcscarclrconccrnsitsallcgcdinabilityto
fcld gcncralizcdknorvlcdgcclaiins.lt is frcqucntlyargrrcdtlrat
a c ( i o nr c s c a r c hh a sa l i m i t c dc a p a c i t yt o p r o d u c cs u c hk n o r v l c d g c
bccauscit is typicallyconccrncdrviththc studyof singlccascsrathcr
tbanwith populationsamplcs.Evaluationof thisargumcntrcquircs
u o d c r s t a o d i n gh o w i t i s t h a tt h c l o g i co f s a m p l i n gt h c o r yc n a b l c s
gcneralizationsto bc madc,includingexaminationof whcthcrsam-
plingis a ncccssaryconditionof gcncralization.
T h c a r g u m c n (f r o m s a m p l i n gt h c o r yc a n b c m a d c t h r o u g ha
hypothcticalrcscarchcxamplc.A rcscarchcrwishcs(o (cs(a hypoth.
csisabou(thc cffcctsoI dcmocra(iclcadcrshipstylcon problcm
solvingcffcc(ivcncss.An cxpcrimcntalproblcm solvingsitualionis
dcsigncdin whichpsychologyundcrgraduatcsarc randomlyassigncd
t o r o l c s a s m c m b c r sa n d l c a d c r so f d e m o c r a t i ca n d a u ( o c r a t i c
groups.Thc rcsultsshowthatgroupswith dcmocra(iclcadcrsscore
morc highlyon problcmsolvingthangroupsrvitlrmorc autocratic
lcadcrs.
Thc logicof samplingthcorysu&8cststhatthc causalrclationship
bctwccn lcadcrshipstylc and problcm solvingcflcctivcncsscan bc
g c n c r a l i z c db c y o n d( h c s t u d yi t s c l ft o t h c p o p u l a t i o no f s u b j c c t s ,
sc(tings,trca(mcnts,andoutcomcsrvhicharc rcprcscntcdby it. Wc
canexamincthislogicin (crmsof thcsinglcdinrcnsionof gcneraliza-
(ioo acrosssubjccts.Thc studcntsuscdin thc cxpcrimcntlravcbccn
carcfullydcscribcdon variablcsof agc,intclligcocc,socialclass,nnd
ycarsof cducation.
' Gcncralizationto subjcctsof similarcharactcris(icsis rvarran(cd
no( bccauscthcscvariablcshavc a causalconncc(ionto problcm
solvingcffcc(ivcncss,but bccauscthcy arc thoughtto bc strongly
corrclatcdwith thosc,as yct undcscribcd.variablcswhich play a
d i r c c (c a u s a lr o l c . I t i s t h i s a s s o c i a ( i o nb c t t v c c na l l c g c dc a u s a l
c o c c b a n i s m sa n d v a r i a b l c s ,a c ( i n ga s s u r r o g a ( c sf o r a c o m p l c t c
crplanationof thoscmcchanisms,rvhich'undcrpinsthc logicof lhis
typcof gcncralization.
PAQ FÄLL t99l (27e)
lf samplingdcsignsprovidc,thconlybasisfor gcncraliza(ion,thcn
actionrcscarchwhichdocsnot cmploysuchdcsignscanno(producc
gcncralizablcfindings.Thcrc is,howcvcr,a rivalconccptualizationoI
gcncralizationrvhichis far morc promisingfor ac(ion rcscarch
bccauscit docs not rcly on samplingproccdurcs.Cook (1991)con-
traststhe vicrvthatcxl.rapolationof rcscarchfindingsis achicvcd
throughsampling(a vicw rvhichhc associa(csrvithDonald Camp-
bcll) rvithtlrcviov thatit is achicvcdlhroughcausalcxplanation(o
vicrvlrc associatcsrvithCronbach).Hc dcscribcssomc of (hc issrrcs
tlrisrvay(lbid., 130):
C r o n b r c hr t i u n l c t l h . l c r l r ! p o l r t i o ni r b c r t r c h i c v c t Jt h r o u t h c r u r r l
crplanrtion rathcr lhrn samplingthcory.llc wantJcnlu!tors to lcrrn
wbya trcatmcntis or is not cffcctivcnthcr than idcntiflng xhctbcr ir it
c f f c c t i v c .H c s c c k sc r p l r n r t i o nt h r o u S hr c v c r r ld i f ( c r c n tm c c h r n i r m r ,
including:dccomporingmrcro-lcvclvrrirblcr to idcntify thclr crurrlly .
c[ficaciourcomponcntt:lcrrning which molrr forccr rtrtirticrlly intcract
with thc trcstmcnl;andidcntifyingthorc [orccl lhrt rcmpofrllymcdiatc
b c t w c c nw h c n r t r c ! t m c n t i r m r n i p u l i t c d a n d w h c n r n c f f c c t i r o b .
rcrvcd.
C r o n b a c h ,i n s h o r t ,s c c sa s a m p l i n ga p p r o a c b( o g c n c r a l i z a ( i o na s
countcrproductivcbccausci( "focuscsattcntionon supcrficialcorrc-
spondcnccsrathcrthangcncrativccausalproccsscs'(/bid.)
l n u n d c r s t a n d i n gh o w ö a u s a lt h c o r i s i o gc a n b c a n a l t c r n a t i v c
r o u t c( o g c n c r a l i z a t i o n ,i t i s p r o b a b l yu s c f u lt o t h i n k a b o u lt h o s c
branchcsof scicnöcwhicharc rvidclysccnto bc highlyproductivcof
gcncralizablcknorvlcdgcclaimsyct whichscldom,iI cvcr, cmploya
s l m p l i n gm c t h o d .N c u r o p h y s i o l o g i s t st y p i c a l l yc l a i mc a u s a ll i n k s
bctrvccnccrtainformsof brainstimulationand pcrccptualrcsponsc
rvithouthavihgsamplcdthc animalsor hunianson rvhichthcy havc
complc(cdthcir rcscarch.Tbcy claimspccics-widcapplicabilityfor
thoir ncurnl'andpcrccptualfiodingsnot bccauscthcy havcsamplcd
thc populationof labora(orycats,but bccauscthcir particularfind-
ingscohcrcwith a widcrsct of rclcvantthcoricswbicharc acccptcd
asvaliddiscriptionsof spccics'functioning.Until thcscthcoriesarc
substanliallyaltcrcdor rcfutcd,thc ncw findingswill cnjoywha(cvcr
gcncralizabilityis grantcd(o thc lhcoricsin whichtheyarc cmbcd.
dcd.
Thc abovcargumcntsuggcststhatactionrcscarchcrs,shouldnot
r o u t i n c l ya c c ä p (t e x t b o o kc l a i m sl h a l t h c a p p r o a c hd o c sn o t y i c l d

10. (280) tQ FALL 1993
gcncralizablcknowlcdgc.Whethcror not i( docsrvilldepcndon thc
cx(cntto whichthc rcscarchcrmovcsbcyondthe localto scck(hc
po(cntiallyunivcrsalby linkinghis rcscarchfindings(throughchal-
lcngcor confrontation)lo alrcadyacccptcdgcncralizcdknorvlcdgc.
Ac(ionrescarchand causalknorvlcdgc.lf causalthcorisingis an
alternativcto samplingthcoryin thc qucst[or gcncralizablcknorvl-
cdgc,thcn thc nc::tqucstionto askis abou(thc potcntialo[ acrion
r c s c a r c ht o y i c l ds u c hc a u s a lt h c o r i c s .O n c c a g a i nt h c t r u d i t i o n a l
aoswcrsarc fairly pcssimisticbccauscactionrcscarchis thoughtto
lack thosc fca(urcsof inquiry that arc ncccssaryto cstablishing
causalrcla(ionsbips.Thcscfcaturcarcassociatcdrviththc traditional
F i s h c r i a nd c s i g ni n r v h i c ht h c c o m b i n a t i o no f p r c - a n d p o s r - ( r c a ( -
m c n (o b s c r v a ( i o n sa n d r a n d o ma l l o c a ( i o nt o t r c a l m c n (a n d n o
(rcatmcn(groupsincrcascs(hc confidcnccrvithrvhichrvc attribu(c
diffcrcntialchangesbctrvccngroupsto introduccdtrcatmcnt(Cook,
l99l:I l5-l 16).
Actionrcscarchcrsscldomintroduccintcrventionsundcrcxpcr-
imcntalor cvcnquasi-crpcrimcntälcondi(ions.Thcir contributionto
causalthcorisingdcpcndson findingsothcr waysto achicvctvhat
cxpcrimcotalaod quasi-cxpcrimcntaldcsignsdo rclativclysucccss-
fully;namcly,rulc out compctingcxplanationsoI obscrvcddiffcr-
cnccs.Oncc again,howcvcr,actionrcscarchersshouldseckto rcpli-
c a ( cl h c l o g i cr a t h c rt h a nt h c c x p c r i m c n t a lt c c h n i q u c sa s s o c i a t c d
with causalthcorising.Suggcstcdcausalaccountsof practicalprob-
l c m sa o d o f o b s c r v c dc h a n g c sg a i nv a l i d i t y( o t h c c x t c n tt h a (t h c
rcscarchcrraiscsandrcplicsto compcti0ghypothescs.
Encnsivcinvolvcmcntin tbc practiccconlcxtandthc compcting
t h c o r i c so I p r a c t i t i o n c r sa r c a r i c hs o u r c co f p l a u s i b l ca l ( c r n a t i v c
h y p o t b c s c s ;i n a d d i t i o n ,t h c i n t r i c a t cp a t t c r n i n go f t h c q u a l i t a t i v c
d a t at y p i c a lo f a c t i o nr c s c a r c hp r o j c c t sp o s c st i g h lc m p i r i c a lc o n -
s t r a i n t so n c a u s a lt h c o r i s i n g( C a m p b c l l ,l 9 ? B ) .G r a n t e d ,s u c hh y -
pothcsis-tcstiogstratcgicslcavconc unccr(ainof (he plausibilityof
lhc rcsultingthcorics,but ncithcrdo thc morcrigorouscxpcrimcntal
andquasi-cxpcrimcntaldcsignsrulcout all (hrcatsto thc validiryof
causalaccounts(Cook,l99l).
ln summary,pursuitof thc goalsof actionrcscarclrrcqrrircsa
rcjcctionof [oundationalistand positivistsgicncc,but not a rcjcc-
tionsof scicnccitscl[.lnvcstigationof practitioncrs'undcrstandings
o f t h c i r o w n p r a c l i c ca n d p r o m o t i o no f a n c t h i co f l c a r n i n ga n d
p r o b l c ms o l v i n g 'a r c c o m p a t i b l cr v i t hm o d c r nn o n - f o u n d a t i o n a l i s t
a p p r o a c h c st o s o c i a ls c i c n c c .l n a d d i t i o n ,r v h i l ca c t i o nr c s c a r c l r
PAQ FALL t993 (28t)
t y p i c a l l yc a n n o Ir c p l i c a t ct h cs a m p l i n gt c c h n i q u c sa s s o c i a t c dw i t h
gcncralizablcknowlcdgcclaimsandthc cxpcrimentaldcsignsassoci-
atcdwith causalthcorising,it canrcplicatcaspcctsof thc logicthar
u n d c r l i ct h c s ct c c h n i q u c sa n dt h u sc a ni n p r i n c i p l ec o n t r i b u t ct o
gcncraliza.blccausalaccounlsof problcmsof practiccandoI thcir
rcsolu(ion.
ACTION RESEARCIJAS INTERYENTION
A mcthodwhichsccksnot only(o undcrstandbut alsolo rcsolvc
practicalproblcmsmusl incorporatcan cffcctivcthcoryof changc.
Dcspitcthis imperativc,thcrcis surprisinglylittlcovcrlapbctvccn
thc litcraturcon actionrcscarchandon organizationaldcvclopmcnt.
T h c i r p r o p c ri n t c g r a t i o nw o u l dr c q u i r ca n a r t i c l cw h i c hg o c sw c l l
beyondthc scopcof thisonc.Thc author,howcvcr,makcsa startby
tackling(wo issueswhcrcshcbclicvcsac(ionrcscarchcouldbcncfit
[ r o m c x a m i n a t i o n so f ( h c l i t c r a ( u r co n o r g a n i z a t i o n a lc h a n g ca n d
dcvclopmcnt.
Retloctlonas Intcrventlon.Actionis,rc0cctivcin thc scnscthatit
takcsfor grantcdits intcrprctivcbasc;that is, thc mcaningsand
l purposcsthatjustifyand makc thc actionpossiblc.Action rcscarcb
s c c k sl o i n t c r r u p ta c t i o nb y c a l l i n gu p o n a c l . o r st o r c c o v c rt h c
groundsfor thcir ac(ionandthcrcbyto rccognizethat othcr actions
rvcrcpossiblc.As oncwritcr on actioncxplains(Wintcr,1987:39):
Rcscarchil thc thcorcticalmomcntwhcn actionrcticqaitr rcsourccJfor
ntcrningconrtruction,rnd thcrcbyrccollcctritr uncndingqucstion-abiti'
t y , a n d i n d o i n gr o r c c o g n h c rl h r t r u r r o u n d i n gt c t i o n ' rh c r c ' r n d ' n o *
choilcr arc rn erray of potsibililics.which so frr havc all bccn glosscd
but r<>orcof whichcould,now.bc formulrtcd ar indccd possibilitics.
B u t r v h a ti s i t a b o u lt h c p r o c c s so f r c f l c c t i o nu p o n a c t i o nt h a t
'<;pcns
up thc possibilityof improvcdaction?ln rcvicwingthc claims
r n a d cb y E l l i o ta n dC a r r A n d K c m m i sa b o u tt h c a c t i o nr c s c a r c h
cyclc,Wintcr (l9B?:a3)asks:
'Bu(
lhc unanswcrcdqucstionrcmains:
how maythc Sclfbc cnvisagcdsuchthat ils
'rcncwal'is a proccssof
sclf-transccndcnccrathcrthanof sclf-icproduction?"In addrcssing
Win(cr'schallcngc,this authorwill dwcll bric0y oo thc dclrnjtionof
r c f l c c t i o na n dt h c n ,i n m o r cd c t . a i l ,o n t h c c o n d i t l o n su n d c rw h i c h
rcflcctionmay and may,no(bc sufficicntfor thc improvcmcntof
orac(icc.

11. (282) 'A8 FALL t99J
DonaldSchon'srrvobooks(19g3,lgB?)havc(rigacrctrcrnsitJcr-
ablcin(crcstin thc cpistcmologyof practicc.IrorSchon,(o rcflcc(is
t o t h i n ka b o u ra c t i o nr v h i l cd o i n gi r , t r i g g c r c dl a r g c l yb y s u r p r i s c s
and puzzlcsthat cannotbc rcsolvcdby i[c au(omaticrourincsrhnr
typicallycons(i(u(cac(ion.Schon(19g3:62-63)rvritcs:
Vhcn thc phcnomcnonat hrnrJcludcsthc ordinarycrlcgoricrof knowl.
cdgc.in.pracricc,prcscntingitsclfas uniqucor unrtablc.thc prrctirioncr
m r y r u r f r c c a n d c r i r i c i r cr n c w d c r c r i p r i o no f i t . a n d r c a tt l r c n c w d c -
rcriprionby an on.thc.tpotcrp<rimcnt.
Schon'scmphasi.son rcllcction-in-ac(ionis sligrrtrycriffcrcnrfror'rhc
morc rctrospcc(ivc,rccons(ructionof ac(ionihat is cap(urcdby the
no(ionof rc0ccrion'in'acrion(shurman,lggr:15;Munby and Rus-
scll,1989).ln both cascs,howevcr,Wintcr'sproblcmrcmains:Horv
canan actorstcpoutsidc(hc framcworkhc hascmproyccrin or<Jcrto
cvalua(candpossiblyrcconslructthatframcrvork?
schon'sdcfinirionof rcflcctionprovidcs(hc firs( cruc to thc
condi(ionsrcquircd.Rcflcc(ionis triggcrcdwhcn au(oma(icrc-
sponscsand impliciiundcrstancling,pä" incffcc(ivcor unacccpt.
ablc.Thc problcmrvhichtriggcrsthc actionrcscarchrrroccssis a
powcrfulinccntivcfor thinkingandactingdiffcrcntryfor, unlcssonc
docsso,rhcproblemis unlikclyto bc rcsolvcd.
Againstthcscpositivcforccs,horvc.vgl,arc othsrsrvlrichrvork
against(hc rccxaminationo[ (hc assumprivcfram*vork tha( ac(ors
h.avcso far cmploycd.Thcy involvcthc risk,vulncrability,andcogni-
tivc complcxity(hatcomc,sfrom qucstioningrvhatlrasso far bccn
tukcn'[or'grantcd.Thc riskis nrorcrikcrylo [,rctakcnrvhcnrrrcactor
hasa rich rcpcr(oircof conccpts,modclsor mctaphorsfrom rvlriclr
to constructaltcrna(ivcundcrstandingsof tlrcproblcm.Thc arclritcct
andpsychotbcrapistin DonaldSchon's(lgg3)-Rc0cctivcprac(irion-
c r ' d c m o n s t r a r c sh o w s u c ha r c p c r t o i r cc o n t r i b u r c sr o a f l c x i b l c
proccssof framc-makingandlramc-brcaking.
.Rccognition
of a problcmand availabilityol altcrnativcconccp.
tualisa(ionsmay not in themsclvcsbc.sufficicntcondirionsfor cffcc.
tivc rcflcction,howcvcr,bccauscthcyin (urn arc inscparablcfrom r
third condition--thcac(or'sslancc(owardinquiry (Schon,l983),
Problcmsarc morc Ikcly to bc rccognizcdand incffcctivcproblcm
lramcsdiscardcdrvhcnactorsarc ablclo rccognizctlrcirown as.
sumptivcframcworksandlrcat thcm aspotcntiallyfalliblchypothc-
scsaboutthc naturcoI tlrcproblcm.
PAQ FALL )93 (281)
Thcrc arc fascinatingandcomplcxqucstionsinvolvcdin investi-
galingthc conditionsassociatcdwith thc achicvcmcntof an opcn
vcrsusa closcds(ance(orvardsonc'scorc bclicfsaboutthc world.
Argyris(1985)haspursucdsuchqucstions[or thc past25 ycars,
providing.considcrablccvidcnceof thc rvaysin whichdccp-scatcd
v a l u c sr c l a t c dt o w i n n i n ga n ds t a y i n gi n c o n ( r o lo [ t c no v c r t a k c ,i n
practicc,valucssuchasopcnncss,fallibiliry,anda rcspcctfor divcrsi.
ty rvhich0rc,supportivcof criticalrcflcclion(Argyris,Purnam,and
Mclain Smi(h,1985).Qucstioningof onc'sbasicassumptionsabour
,thcproblcm,about.thcsolution,and abou(onc'sown rolc in cach
n l a yg c n c r a t cl c v c l so f t h r c a ta n d u n c c r t a i n t y ,c s p c c i a l l yi n t h c
abscnccof a rcadyaltcrnativc,thatarc (oolrigh(o bc tolcratcd.
W h c n p r o b l c m sc a nb c o v c r c o m cb y t c c h n i c a la d j u s t m c n t st o
currcntrvaysof thinkingor singlcloop lcarning,rhcn an unwilling.
nessor inability(o cngagcin dccperlcvclsof rcflcctionis not a
c r u c i a lh a n d i c a p .W h c n ( h c p r o b l c mr c q u i r c sa m o r c c r i t i c a la p -
proach,horvcvcr,or doublc loop lcarning,a closcdslancc(owards
onc'sown assumptionsrcstrictsthc problcm.solvingpotcntialoI
rcflcctivcproccssös(Argyis andSchon,1974).
Thc conscqucncesof brackcting-outccrtainaspcctsof our rca-
soningfrom rcflcctivcinquiryhavcbccn cncnsivclyrcscarchcdfor
both intcrpcrsonaland organiz:tionallcarningand problcmsolviog
in suchcon(cxtsas negativcfecdback(Arg1.ris,1982),profcssional
dcvclopmcnt(RobinsonandAbsolum,1990),profcssionalconsulting
(Argyris,1985;Rossmorc,1989)and lhc conduc(of socialscicncc
(Argyris,Pu(nam,andMcLainSmith,1985).
C r i t i c a ls o c i a l s c i c n t i s t sI r a v ca l s or v r i t t c nc x ( c n s i v c l ya b o u (t h c
l i m i t st o r c ß c c ( i o n .U n l i k c A r g y r i sa n d h i s c o l l c p g u c sr v h oh a v c
tcrrdcdto locatcsuchlimitsin psychologicalandsocial-psychological
proccsscs,tlrcformcrlocatcsuchlimitsin thc widcrsocialandpolit-
i c a l c o n t c x ( .E m a n c i p a t o r ya c t i o nr c s c a r c b c r ss u c h a s C a r r a n c
K c m m i s( 1 9 8 6 : 1 2 9 ) ,f o r c x a m p l c ,a r g u ct h a t p c o p l c ' sc a p a c i t yt o
u n d c r s t a n da n d i n t c r p r c tt h c i r c i r c u m s t a n c c si s l i m i t c db y t h c i r
idcologically-distor(cdbclicf systcms.Thc originsoI thcsc falsc
undcrs(andingsarc [ormsof rationality,of dccision-making,and oI
rvorkorganizationwhichscrvcparlicularintcrcsts,yct which arc
portraycdandacccptcdasnatural,incvitablc,andin thc intcrcstsoI
al[.
C a r r a n d K c m m i s ' ( 1 9 8 6 )f o c u so n c x t r a - i n d i v i d u a ll i m i t st o
rcflcctioncontrastswith thc wayArgyrisfocuscson aclors'ability
b o t ht o i d c n t i f ya n dt r a n s f o r mb a r r i c r st o t h c i rr c f l g c t i v cp r a c t i c c .

12. (284) '4Q
FALL 1993 , PAQ'IULL ?3 (28J)
thisconrcxtwill fostcrrclf'unrJcrslanding:gcncratcdfrom tcachcrs'sclf-
initirrcdrc0cctionaboutthcit practicct.lts cffcct,whcn not rucccr'sfully
rcJittcd,it to crcalca siturtionin whichPräcti(ioncrtcomc to dcpcndon
outridcrr for thcir scl(-undcrstrnding:.
Thc porverimbalanccwasaddrcsscdin thc ncxtphascby hclping
tcachcrscbllccl(hcir orvndata,by rcstrictingrcscarchcrs'acccsslo
t h c c l a s s r o o m ,a n d b y a s k i n gl c a c h c r st o c h c c kl h c r c s c a r c h c r s '
analyscsof the datathcyhadbccngivcn.Thc rcscarchcrswcrc s(ill
troublcd,hotvcvcr,by thc fact(ha(thcy rathcr tban thc tcachcrs
o w n c d t h c t h c o r e t i c a lb a s i so f l h c r c f l c c t i v ep r o c c s s .E l l i o tt
(1991:24)rcports:
T h c n c g a t i v cc l c r n c n ti n t h c s t r a t c g yl r y i n t h c m r n n c t i ; r w h i c h r h c
crpcricnccoI clasrroomrwasrnrl;acdrnd disscminrtcd.Thc hypothcrcr
o n w h i c h t h c r r r l c lw c r c b a s c dw c r c S c n c r r l c dc n t i r c l yb y l h c c t n t r r l
lcrm räthcr than thc lcachcrs.For somcof thc lc!chcrsrthil fact rlonc
was:u(l'icicntto Bcncralcan uncriticalrdhcrcnccto lhc rvlct prcrcribcd,
in contrastto r protirionaiadhctcnccfor thc lalc of crpcrimcnt.
Thc solutionto thisproblcmwasto dorvnplaythc rcscarchcrs'(hco-
risiogby providingtcachcrswith athcrcorc(icalproccduraIguidc'
lincs.This movcwasin turn rcjcctcd,howcvcr,bccausclhc tcachcrs
disccrncdthc thcorcticalundcrpinningsof thc'athcriorctical'guidc-
lincs.Elliott (1991:26)concludcs:
I w o u l d a r g u cl h r t i n t h c H u m a n i t i c rP r o j c c tw c n c v c t t r t i l f r c t o r i l y
rctotvcd thc irsuc o( how onc frcilitrtcr EUtonomourrc0cctivc pncticc'
A n d l h i i w a t b c c r u J cw c w c r c t c l u c t a n lt o r c l i n q u i r hc o n t r o l o v c r
pcdrgogicrlthcory. I
l n s u b s e q u c n tp r o j c c ( s ,t h c d i l c m m ab c t w c e nt h c c x p c r t i s co f t h c
ourildcrandthc cmpowcrmcntof thc insidcrwasrcsolvcdby rvith'
drarving(hc formcrfrom inquiryinto pcdagogyand focusinginstcad
oo thc facili(ationof tcacbcrs'rcflcctioo.
E l l i o t t ' sd i s c u s s i o oo f t h c H u m a o i t i e sP r o j c c ti l l u s t r a t c s ,t h i s
iruthorwouldarguc,an incffcctivcapproachto (bc rcsolutiooof this
d i l c m m a .T h c , i n i t i a la ( ( c m p t( o c m p o w c rt c a c b c r st b r o u g ha s k i n g
thcm to implcmcntrcscarchcrs'pcdagogicalstra(cgics,withoutfirst
hclping(hcm (o rcflcclon thcir own practicc,violatcsactionrc'
s c a r c h ' sg o a l so f f o s t c r i n g( h c u n d c r s ( a n d i n go f p r a c ( i c ca n d t h c
Regardlcssof thcscdiffcrcnccsin cmphasis,howcvcr,bothgroupsof
authorsscc thc outsidcrasa kcy to ovcrcoming(hc potentlalry'sclf-
scalingqualityof rcflcctivcinquiry.
T h e R o l co f r h eo u t s l d e r .A n o u t s i c J c ri n a c ( i o nr c s c a r c r ri s a
prolcssionalrcscarchcrwho assis(srhoscwith first-han<JcxDcricncc
of thc practicccontcn(thcinsidcrs)tö unclcrstandand imorovcthc
p r a c t i c a ls i t u a t i o ni n r v h i c h( h c l a t t c r a r c w o r k i n g .o u r s i d c r s ,
throughthcir diffcrcnrcxpcricntiarand rhcorcticarkÄrvrcdgc,may
countcrac(somcof thcsclf-scalingqualiticsof practilioncrrcIcction
and may,givcnthc appropriatcintcrven(ionskills,be ablc(o rccog-
n i s ca n dc h a l l c n g cs u c hp r o c c s s c s .A ( t h c s a m ct i n r c ,t h c i n v o r v c -
mcn(oI outsidcrsmayjcopardiscthc rhircj,cducativc,goalof action
rcscarcb.Prac(i(ioncrsmay bccomcdcpcn<Jcnton thc cxpcrtiscof
ou(siders,gaininga problcmsolu(ionfrom thcircollaboratitnbut bc
no morc advanccdin tcrmsof thcir inrJcpcndcntproblcmanalysis
andproblcm-solvingskills.
Horv63nthc thcorc(icaland mc(hocjologicarcxpcrtiscof outsicJ-
crs bc cmploycdin rvaysthat cmporvcrra(hcr (han disemoorvcr
prac(i(ioncrs?EldcnandLcvin(1991)dcscribcthisasan imntrtanr
dilcmmafor thc cmirgingschoolof participatoryaction,cscarch.
Carr aodKcmmis(1986)rvarn(hat,outsidcrscanpotcntiallyjcopar-
discths distioctivcpraclical,collaborativc,andsclf-rcflcitivcica-
(urcsof actionrcscarch.
John Elliotr (199r:15-29)hasprovidcda <Jcrailcdand rhoughtfu,
accountof how hc and his collcagucsattcmptcdto rcsolvcthis
dilcmmain thc contcxlof a Britishcurriculumprojcct,thc Humani-
tics Projcct,dcsigncdto hclptcachcrsto usclifc thcmcsas thc basis
of thcirrcachingof avcragcandbclorv-avcragcs(udcn(s.Initially,thc
rolc o[ tcachcrswas(o (rialcurriculumrcsourcesdcvclopcclby a
c c n t r a lt c a m a n d t o p r o v i d ct h c m w i t h f c c d b a c kp r i o r t o f u r t h c r
rcvision.Thc <Jcvclopcrswcrc conccrncdro finritha(tcachcrscx.
cludcdtbcir own pcdagogyfrom thcir cxplanationsof (hc succcssor
failurcof thc matcrials. lr'
Thcy thcn sct aboutstudyingthc con(c.rtin rvhich(hc rcsourccs
rvcrcussd,a focustbatincvirablylcd to an cvaluationof thc rcach.
crs' practiccs.Thc problcmwith thismovc,accordingto ElJiot,rvas
rha(tcachcrs[clt powcrlcssto dcfcndthcmsclvcs[ronrthc rcscarch-
crs'cvaluarions.Ellioil(1991:19)obscrvcs:
Tlrccvrlurrionproccsrin thcchssroonrrppcrrcdto fosicranuncqual
powcrrclrtionbctwccninridcn andoutri<Jcrr.No enlountof fcc<Jbrckin

13. (26'ö)
Q FALL t99J Plg rtt tt ts Q8n
a kind of dcpcndcnccthatincludcsrvaysoI grorvingbeyonclit (nrgy.
ris,Putnam,andMcClainSmirh,1985:38?).1985:38l).
CONCLUSIONS
A n a p p c a lt o t h c d c s i r a b i l i t yo f p l u r a l i s mi n s o c i a ls c i c n c c
mcthodologyis a weakjustificationfor actionrcscarch.This articlc
h a sa t t c m p t c dt o p r o v i d cm u c hs t r o n g c rg r o u n d sb y s h o r v i n gh o r v
actionrcscarchinvolvcsthc pursuitof a disrinctivcsct of goaisan,l
horvthcirpursuithasccrtainmcthodologicalimplications.
Mostrvritcrson ac(ionrcscarchagrccthäritsgoalscompriscthc
u n d c r s ( a n d i n ga . d i m p r o v c m c n to f p r a c t i c c ,t h c c o n r r i b u r i o no f
k n o w l c d g ca b o u tp r a c t i c c ,a n dt h c i m p r o v c m c n (o f p r a c t i t i o n c r s ,
abilityto undcrs(andandimprovcthcir own practicc.lr is rhc focus
oI practicc,in conjunctionwith ils cducativcrhrust,tharconrcrsthc
d i s t i n c t i v cf c a ( u r e so f t h c m c t h o d .A c o n c c r nt o u n d c r s t a n da n d
improvcpracticcimplicsinvcstigationand cvalua(ionof thc subicc.
tivcundcrstandingsof practitioncrsanda conccrnto cducatcpructi-
tioncrsinrplicsa collaborativcrclationshipin rvhicbthc thcorisingof
bo(hrcscarchcrsandpractitioncrsis undcrscrutioy.
'This
vicrvof actionrcscarchrulcsou( somc of thc work rvhich
claimsto bc of thistypcbccauscir docsnot inquircinto rhc (hcorics
of practicctha(agcntscmployin thc problcmsiruation.Ir providcs
rrsi^stcadrvitha practicaltcstof how thc thcoryof (hc rcscarchcr
nlaypromo(cproblcmundcrstandingandrcsolution(Colcmbiervski,
l-lillcs,andDaly,l9B?).
W h i l c d e n y i n gt h a ts u c ha p p l i c dp r o b l c ms o l v i n gi s a c r i o nr c -
s c a r c l r ,( l r i sa u t l r o rw a n t st o b c n r u c hm o r c i n c l u s i v ct l r a ns o m c
about(hc thcoreticalpcrspcctivcappropriarcro rhisapproach.Thc
au(lror'sitrgumcn(husbccn'lhatwc cannotprcjudgcthc parricular
lhcorcticalresourccsoccdcdcithcrto undc,rstandor rcsolvcpar(icu.
lar problcmsof practicc.Action rcscarchis not occcssarilya tcchni.
cal,critical,liberalor cmancipatorycndcavour.It may bc any of
t h c s cd c p c n d i n go n t h c n a t u r co f t b c p a r t i c u l a rp r o b l c ma n dt h c
rcsourccsrcquircdto rcsolvcit.Thc au(borthcrcforcdisagrccswith
tlrosc,such as somc cmancipatoryac(ionrcscarchcrs,who wisb to
link ac(ionrcscarchwith a particularsocialandpotitic.rJrhcory.
Whilc thc authorhasargucd(ha(somc of tbc goalsand charac.
tcristicsof actionrcscarcharc distinctivc,theyarc not incomparibrc
r v i ( ht h o s co f c o n t c m p o r a r ys o c i a ls c i c n c cr v h c r ct h c l a t r c ri s c o n .
strucdas a non-[oundutionalistpost-positivistcpistcmology.Action
rcflccrivccapaciticsof practitioncrs.
Sccond,the rvithdrawalof rcscarchcrsfrom rlrcstuclyof pccja(o-
gy is borh incfficicnrand unconvincing.Silcnci"gr;;'r;";;;;:r,
m a y p r e v c n (t h c c o n t r o ro f t c a c h c r sb u ( a r s o< J c n i c st h c r a t t c rapo(cntialsourccof insightinto rhcirown practicc.In a<Jdition,t'c
distinctionin rhc rcscarchcr'srorcb"t*"cn pcdagogyand ,.n"ition
is difficultto sustainin practiccwhcncriticarcvarua(ionsof therarrcr
arc likclylo bc triggcrcdby rcscarchcr,sthcoricsabouttl" ror,.n.r.
T h c i n c f f c c t i v c n c s so I t h c s cr c s p o n s c st o t l r cd i l c m m ac a n f r c
atrributcdto a faultyconccptionof control.Elliot(sccms,o
"qrr,.con(rol'in thc scnscof uniratcrarinnucnccovcr o(hcrs,rvitrrinitia-
tion,in thc.scnscof puttingforrvartJrcscirrchqucs(ions,thcory,antl
associatcdhypothcscs.Eilior(assumcsthat,rvlrcnthe rattcris'<Jonc
by highsta(uscxpcrtssuchasprofcssionalrcscarchcrsor academics,
thenrcciprocalin[lucncc.bythc rccipicntsof thoscia"r, ir-irp"rrl.
blc.Thc solutionon thislogic,islo increascpractitioncr,soppor,uni-
ticsfor initiationby rcducingthc initiationof thc outsidcr.
lf initiationand controrarc discnranglcd,morc cffcctivcstratc-
gicswhichdo not discmporvcrrcscarchcrsbccomcavairabrc.Unirat-
cralcontrolis prcvcrltcdrvhcnini(iat.rscncouragcthc chalrcngcantr
tcstingof thcir orvnidcasand rvhcnrhcytcachthoscrvhd,,trrc"reruc-
tantto do sothc skillsto makcrhispossibrc.If sorrrcpractitioncrs,as
in E,lliorr'sstudy,bcconrcinappropriarclydcpcn<.lcntän cxpcrrs,tl,c,,
thatproblcmshouldbccomcthc focusof collaborltivcinqrriry.
Thc llroccssoI cnrporvcrirrgprnctitioncrsshourtJi.volvc not o,.,ry
bclping(hcmto (hcoriscabou(thcirprac(iccbu( alsoto lclrn-abour
lhc rvaysin rvhich(hcir.a(tcmpts(o rcarnmaybc countcrprocructivc.
N a t u r a l l y ,t h c f a c i l i l a t i o no f s u c hr c c i p r o c a ri n f r u c n c cp r o c c s s c s
dcmands(ha(ac(;onrcscarchcrsbc skiilccJintcrvcntionis(sasvcilils
skillcdrcscarchcrs(Robinson,in prcss).
Thc rcsolutiooof thc cxpcrrisc-cmporvcrmen(dilenrnrashould
t h c r c l o r ci n v o l v cn o t t h c d c n i a lo r m u z z r i n go f c x p c r t i s cb u t r h c
c r c a ( i o no f c o n d i t i o n su n d c rw h i c hc r a i m st o c x p e r i i s ca r c o p e n r y
d c b a t c da n do p c n l ya c c c p ( c do r r c j c c r c d .S i n c c ,a t t c a s ti n i i i a t t X
manyof thcscclaimswill bc madcby outsidcrs,practitioncrsn.uyb.
cxpcricnccdasdcpcndco(on rhc'cxpärrs.'such cJcpcndcncyshäurd
not,horvcvcr,bc aulomaticallyjudgcdasncgativc;if outsidcrslravc
s k i l l sw h i c hr h c i n s i d c r sw i s ht o r c a r n ,t h c na n i n i t i a l r yd c p c n d c n t
r c l a r i o n s h i pm a y b c a n c f f i c i c n tw a yo f r c a r n i n gt h c m .t n i t i a td c .
pcndcncydocsnot prccludclarcrindcpcncrcnccii insi<Jcrsarc given
a choiccabouttlrciruscof outsidcrcxpcrtiscandif tlrc
"rn"rt,
off.r.

14. /öö) I" I:ALL I99J
rcscarchcrs'conccrnvi(hthc subjcctivcandrvithqucs(ionsof vlluc
a n d p u r p o s cd o c sn o t r c q u i r ci t t o s h u n( h c m r i n s ( r c a mo I s o c i a l
scicncc.
Thc finalscctionon intcrvcntionissucsin acrionrcscarchnccds
far nrorcdiscussionthanrvaspossiblchcrc.somc oI thc issucs--[.r
cxamplc,thoscconccrningthc limitsoI rcflcction:rndthc r,lc <-lf
ou(sidcrs--havcbccnrvcllrchcarscd,if not rcsolvcd,in tlrcorgunizl.
t i o n a ld c v c l o p m c n tl i ( c r a t u r c .l f a c t i o nr c s c a r c hi s t o b c n p o t " n t
c h a n g cp r o c c s s ,( h c n a n c x ts ( c p p r o b a b l yi n v o l v c sa s r r s i a i n c d
a t t c m p tt o t r a c ct h c i m p l i c a t i o n so f o r g a n i z a t i o n a ld c v c l o p n r c n r
rcscarchfor thc inlcrvcntiongoalsof ac(ionröscarch. trt
NOTES
l. Numcrougpcoplchavc assistcdthc ruthor with rhc idcasinvolvcdin this arriclc
b u r r p c c i r lt h a n k rr r c d u c t o C h r i r A r g y r i l , C o l i n E v c r r .M i c h r c l p c r c r s ,a n d
o c n i l P h i l l i p r .A d d t c s sa i l c o r r c r p o n d c n c ct o D r . V i v i a n c R o b i n s o n ,s c n i o r
[-rcturcrin Educarion,Univcr:iryoI Aukland, privarcDag 92019.Aukland.Ncw
T-raland.
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