Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

With the Handbook of Action Research hailed as a turning point in how action research is framed and understood by scholars, this student edition has been structured to provide an easy inroad into the field for researchers and students. It includes concise chapter summaries and an informative introduction that draws together the different strands of action research and reveals their diverse applications as well as their interrelations.

Divided into four parts, there are important themes of thinking and practice running throughout:Part I reviews the range of paradigms and metatheories, the perspectives, values and epistemologies that inform the different practices of action research. Part II represents the diverse approaches to action research and the range of methodologies. Part III shows how different researchers have applied the various different groundings and practices in their own work. Part IV addresses some of the competencies that may be required for the initiation and conduct of the research.

All students and researchers interested in Action Research will make this Handbook their first point of reference when seeking means of engaging with the subject.

Table of contents provided by Syndetics

• Introduction
• Inquiry and Participation in Search of a World Worthy of Human Aspiration
• Theory and Practice
• The Mediating Discourse
• Participatory (Action) Research in Social Theory
• Origins and Challenges
• Action Research in the Workplace
• The Socio-Technical Perspective
• The Infusion of Race into the US Discourse on Action Research
• Uneven Ground
• Feminimisms and Action Research
• Power and Knowledge
• Knowledge in Participatory Research
• Exploring the Relevance of Critical Theory for Action Research
• Humanistic Action Research
• The Relationship of 'Systems Thinking' to Action Research
• Practices
• Action Science
• Creating Communities of Inquiry in Communities of Practice
• The Practice of Co-operative Inquiry
• Research with Rather Than on People
• Appreciative Inquiry
• The Power of the Unconditional Positive Question
• Large Group Processes as Action Research
• Ethnodrama
• Constructing Participatory, Experiential and Compelling Action Research through Performance
• Clinical Inquiry/Research
• Community Action Research
• The Practice of Action Inquiry
• Exemplars
• Working Together, Learning Together
• Co-operative Inquiry in the Development of Complex Practice by Teams of Social Workers
• The Early Mothering Project
• What Happened When the Words 'Action Research' Came to Life for a Group of Midwives
• Learing with the Natural Step
• Action Research to Promote Conversations for Sustainable Development
• Transforming Lives
• Towards Bicultural Competence
• Action Research To Develop an Interorganizational Network
• Participatory Research and Education for Social Change
• Highlander Research and Education Center
• Creative Arts and Photography in Participatory Action Research in Guatemala
• The Art of Clinical Inquiry in Information Technology Related Change
• Participatory Action Research in Southern Tanzania, with Special Reference to Women
• Six Street Youth Who Could...
• Skills
• Collaborative Off-Line Reflection
• A Way To Develop Skill in Action Science and Action Inquiry
• On Supervising Graduate Research Students
• The Mirror, The Magnifying Glass, The Compass and the Map
• Facilitating Participatory Action Research
• Self Reflective Inquiry Practices
• Conclusion
• Broadening the Bandwidth of Validity: Issues as Choice-Points to Ensure Quality in Action Research

Author notes provided by Syndetics

Hilary Bradbury is Associate Professor of Organizational Behavior and Director of Weatherhead Institute for Sustainable Enterprise (WISE) at Case Western Reserve University.