Principles and Methods of Transformative Action Research: A Half Century of Living and Doing Collaborative Inquiry - Softcover

Bilorusky, John A.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0367742438 ISBN 13: 9780367742430

Publisher: Routledge, 2021

Synopsis

Principles and Methods of Transformative Action Research delves into both general principles and specific methods for basic steps in the action research process―asking questions, gathering and analyzing data, communicating findings, and pursuing action.

The role of collaboration is emphasized, with strategies of value to experts and engaged citizens in doing participatory research and community-based knowledge-building. Detailed attention is given to specific strategies of interviewing, participant observation, and judging and weighing evidence. The book draws on creative and critically minded elements of scientific traditions, such as transparency in telling the "story" of one’s inquiry, identifying data that are "exceptions to the rule," and the value of non-formulaic, improvisational designs. Quite distinctively, the book addresses how to write in one’s own voice, how to integrate action-and-inquiry into one’s everyday life, issues of ethics and social responsibility, and how to consider both immediate, practical needs and "bigger picture," systemic challenges.

This book can serve as an undergraduate or graduate social sciences text on research methods. It is also a guidebook for action-oriented research by academics, professionals, and lay people, alike in community agencies, schools, and grassroots organizations, and for socially relevant academic research concerned with social justice, multiculturalism, and inclusiveness.

About this title

About the Author

John A. Bilorusky (PhD, University of California, Berkeley) is co-founder of the Western Institute for Social Research in Berkeley. For 45 years, as a faculty member there, he has guided hundreds of student action research theses, dissertations, and projects, and consulted with dozens of community agencies and colleges on action research.

Edition details

• Publisher: Routledge
• Publication date: 2021
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0367742438
• ISBN 13: 9780367742430
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 238