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Alfredo Carmelo K. Romualdez (MBA, ID 11293680) Management Action Research (BUS530M)

January 21, 2013 Dr. Benito L. Teehankee

CLASS PREPARATION ASSIGNMENT FOR Introducing Action Research by Coghlan and Brannick

Key concepts and points

In thebook doing action research in your own organization the author identifies four characteristics that

could serve as the foundations of action research and the first of these is that action research is research in action,

rather than research about action, which means that action research being a cyclical process where researchers and

other participants not only serve as witnesses to the research but actively participate in the study, during the study.

The second is that action research is A collaborative and democratic process where people involved are not only

seen as subjects to be studied but also as participants during the life of the study where they are also free to choose

what their research study would focus on the how they engage in the processes of action and inquiry. The third

major characteristic of action research is that the research is concurrent with action which is most evident when

the persons involved apply different strategies or actions after every cycle, where the formulation of these strategies

have come from knowledge attained during the previous cycle. So it is like action research not only adds knowledge

from data gathered during the research process but also actively participates in addressing the sited issues or

problems. The last main characteristic of action research is it being a sequence of events and an approach to

problem solving, as indicated earlier where participants not only document the strategies being applied but also try

out new ones which might solve the problem allowing them to actively contribute to solving the issues raised.

Action research methods also incorporates an idea of having three voices and audiences as compared to the

traditional method, which would usually be in the premise of the third person and which is also meant for third

persons as audiences. These voices bring in a unique approach to research, for example, we view the first person as

ones who are directly involved with the study and having them able to participate actively during the research allows

inputs such as their personal views, assumptions and desired outcome with the action research and through this these

participants will be able to be more aware on his or her approach towards the issue and fosters an inquiry

approach. The next is in the view of the second person, having the second person part of the study as this is able to

allow data to be gathered during when the second person makes inquiries towards the work of others and during

times of joint action. The last view and audience is the third person, this view is known to be impersonal, but it is

most appropriate when information is to be shared to interested groups or communities as these groups or

communities may also actively participate in the action research process by joining or creating forums to discuss

these issues and come up with new ideas which could be evaluated and adopted during the action research process.

It is important that during the action research process all audiences and persons are involved in the making, where

their inputs become part of the study and that the study is made in such a way that is would be of value to all these

three types of audiences.

Mentioned earlier, action research is a cyclical process which actually involves two cycles occurring during the

same period. The first cycle is called the core action cycle which involves a pre-step and 4 major core steps.

The pre-step includes the projects context and purpose, where stated are the need of having the project, what the

desired project outcome and forces affecting aspects of the project. Of the main steps, first is constructing, this is

where participants of the study bring up issues involved and create a working theme which will serve as a

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Applications

I feel that the reading has help me understand that research should not be addressed in a linear fashion, it should not

end by just taking action on strategies which have been planned but rather evaluate the outcome of these strategies

and come up with others which may exhibit more desirable outcomes after.

Currently, I am involved in a rural bank, and I feel that top managements policies ha ve been very narrow in scope

or have been dynamic enough to address actively issues being taken up but having the chance to implement action

research methods, I feel might bring a more holistic approach into solving of issue and documenting their outcome

of each strategy applied and also adding value to strategies undertaken with the learning parties take away from

each. Top management in the past would only hear out certain issues from either those who experience in first-hand

, or from third parties and they would create policies to address the problem which out really giving a collaborative

effort in addressing them. With lessons learned from the action research method, top management can work with

those who experience it first hand and make inquires to the 3 rd parties and come up with a collaborative effort in

strategy making and action implementation, which would bring about a new appreciation and deeper understanding

of the issues to be addressed.

Reference

Coghlan, D. &Brannick, T. (2010) Introducing Action Research. In Doing Action Research in Your Own

Organization, pp. 3-17, Los Angeles: Sage Publications