Action Research Dissertation : A Guide for Students and Faculty

Acknowledgments ix Foreword xi Patricia Maguire Preface xv Introduction: What Is an Action Research Dissertation? 1(7) The Many Faces of Action Research 2(1) Toward a Definition of Action Research 3(3) The Action Research Dissertation 6(2) Action Research Traditions and Knowledge Interests 8(21) The Multiple Traditions of Action Research 10(1) Action Research and Organizational Development/Learning 11(2) Action Science 13(2) Participatory Research: The Legacy of Paulo Freire 15(2) Participatory Evaluation 17(1) Action Research in Education 17(2) The Teacher-as-Researcher Movement in Britain 19(2) The Practitioner Research Movement in North America 21(2) The Danger of Co-optation 23(1) Action Research as Self-Study and Autoethnography 24(1) Emerging Approaches to Action Research 25(1) The Knowledge Interests of Action Research 26(3) The Continuum of Positionality in Action Research 29(20) Insider: Researcher studies own self/practice 32(4) Insider in Collaboration With Other Insiders 36(1) Insider(s) in Collaboration With Outsider(s) 37(1) PAR: Reciprocal Collaboration (Insider-Outsider Teams) 38(1) PAR: Outsider(s) in Collaboration With Insider(s) 38(3) Outsider(s) Studies Insider(s) 41(2) Multiple Positionalities 43(3) The Outsider-Within Stance as a Flawed Approach to Action Research 46(2) Conclusion 48(1) Quality Criteria for Action Research: An Ongoing Conversation 49(20) Delegitimizing Action Research: Opposition in the Academy 52(1) Redefining Rigor: Criteria of Quality for Action Research 53(4) Reason and Bradbury's Discussion of Validity and Choice Points 57(3) Addressing Bias in Action Research 60(1) Are the Findings of Action Research Generalizable? 61(3) The Politics of Action Research 64(5) Institutional Micropolitics 65(1) The Politics of Redefining Professionalism 66(1) The Politics of Knowledge 67(1) The Macropolitics of Action Research Projects 67(2) Designing the Plane While Flying it: Proposing and Doing the Dissertation 69(20) The Dissertation Proposal 70(2) Where Do Action Research Questions Come From? 72(4) Insider Action Research 72(3) Outsider Action Research 75(1) Issues of Design and Methodology 76(8) Designing Insider Action Research 78(4) Designing Outsider Action Research 82(2) The Literature Review: Literature in Dialogue With the Data 84(1) Writing the Dissertation 85(2) Defending the Dissertation 87(2) What Does an Action Research Dissertation Look Like? 89(23) Lynne Mock: Carving a Dissertation out of a Participatory Action Research Project 90(10) The Entry Process 92(1) Creating Participatory Structures 93(3) Writing the Dissertation 96(2) Emphasizing the Strengths of Action Research 98(2) Alice McIntyre: Initiating a Participatory Action Research Group 100(5) Publishing From PAR Dissertations 104(1) John Mark Dyke: Insider Action Research 105(5) First Phase of the Work 106(1) Iterative Cycles of Inquiry 107(2) The Dissertation Research---A Work in Progress 109(1) Conclusion 110(2) Action Research, Ethics, and the Institutional Review Board 112(15) Background to the Creation of the IRB 113(4) The Belmont Report 114(3) The Role of the IRB 117(10) IRBs and Action Research 117(7) The Charge for IRBs 124(3) Final Thoughts 127(2) Appendix 129(2) Notes 131(2) References 133(14) Index 147(10) About the Authors 157