What is Action Research Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

What is Action Research - Essay Example What lies at the core of this research methodology is the use of scientific study and the researcher ensures that the overall intervention is properly backed up by the theoretical considerations. Due to its very nature, action research therefore can have many applications in real life and within organizational set up too. Organizations can easily use action research to find creative and innovative solutions to their most pressing problems and engage various stakeholders to find out solutions which can help organizations to become more efficient and cost effective. Action research can also play significant role in organizational development and employee’s professional life. It can easily be used in various situations by the employees as well as the managers to overcome organizational problems and achieve the required objectives of the organization. Through following a systematic process of action research, individuals as well as organizations can actually solve their real life problems. This paper will discuss as to what action research is, what its various stages are and how it can actually be used in real life by citing different examples. What is Action Research? As mentioned above, action research is also known by different names including participatory research, collaborative research, action learning etc. Most of different names however, are considered as different variations of the same theme. Action research aims to achieve dual objectives of using practical concerns in solving the problems and on the other hand to further the goals of social science also. As such, in action research, researchers not only aim to tackle the system but also collaborate with people related with the system to change in the desired direction. (Mcniff) The critical difference between this type of research and other types of research is the use of scientific study. While conducting action research, researcher has to base assertions on the theoretical consideration and as such most of the time spent by researchers is on perfecting the methodological tools to better suit the situation being investigated. Action research also seems to challenge the social science research which is mostly based upon sampling by adapting a robust process of conducting research. Action research therefore focuses on continuous process of theorizing and collecting data and making inquiry in the midst of new and emerging structures as a result of the steps taken at the various stages of research. (Whitehead and McNiff) Stages of Action Research There are three critical stages of action research which are: Planning This is the stage of preliminary diagnosis and data gathering as research actively engages into gathering of data and planning for finding out what actually the problem is and how to tackle it properly. This is also called the input stages as at this stage it is felt that there is something out of control and organization should share the same with the researchers and consultants to actively participate into the process of finding out what is actually wrong at the given point in time. Feedback by the researcher is also sought at this stage of the action research. Action Stage This stage is also called transformation stage as it is this stage that the actual learning starts to take place. Actions regarding learning processes are undertaken in order to define action steps and do the action planning. This stage is also considered as the changing stage as it is at this stage that the actual change process is initiated. Result Phase This phase is the final phase and is also called the