Here's a breakdown:
Key Characteristics:
* Context-specific: Focused on a particular setting, group, or problem.
* Participatory: Researchers and participants actively collaborate in all phases.
* Iterative and cyclical: Involves a continuous cycle of planning, acting, observing, and reflecting.
* Practical and applied: Aims to improve practice and solve immediate problems.
* Self-reflective: Researchers critically examine their own actions and assumptions.
The Cycle of Action Research:
1. Planning: Identifying a problem or area for improvement, formulating questions, developing strategies for data collection and analysis.
2. Acting: Implementing the planned strategies, interventions, or changes.
3. Observing: Collecting data on the effects of the actions taken. This might involve observations, interviews, surveys, document analysis, etc.
4. Reflecting: Analyzing the collected data, evaluating the effectiveness of the interventions, and identifying lessons learned. This often leads to adjustments in the next cycle.
Examples of Action Research:
* A teacher wants to improve student engagement in their classroom. They might try a new teaching method (acting), observe student participation and collect feedback (observing), reflect on the effectiveness of the method (reflecting), and adjust their approach accordingly (planning for the next cycle).
* A hospital wants to reduce patient wait times in the emergency room. They might implement a new patient flow system (acting), track wait times and patient satisfaction (observing), analyze the data to identify bottlenecks (reflecting), and revise the system based on the findings (planning).
* A community organization wants to increase youth participation in local events. They might organize a series of focus groups to understand young people's preferences (observing), design events based on the feedback (planning & acting), evaluate attendance and engagement (observing), and adjust their approach for future events (reflecting).
* A manager wants to improve team communication and collaboration. They might introduce a new communication tool (acting), monitor team interactions and productivity (observing), gather feedback through surveys or meetings (observing), and make adjustments to the process or tool based on the feedback received (reflecting & planning).
Difference from Traditional Research:
Traditional research often seeks to generalize findings to a larger population, while action research focuses on improving a specific situation. Traditional research might use a larger, more representative sample, while action research often uses a smaller, more focused sample. The rigor and methods used can also differ.
In essence, action research is a powerful tool for continuous improvement and problem-solving in real-world settings. It empowers practitioners to become researchers and actively shape their own practice.