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The authors demonstrate that action research is not only appropriate for a dissertation, but also is a deeply rewarding experience for both the researcher and participants. This practical book demonstrates how action research dissertations are different from more traditional dissertations and prepares students and their committees for the unique dilemmas they may face, such as validity, positionality, design, write-up, ethics, and dissertation defence.

The Action Research Dissertation: A Guide for Students and Faculty

Foreword

Preface

Acknowledgments

About the Authors

1. Introduction: What Is an Action Research Dissertation?

The Many Faces of Action Research

Toward a Definition of Action Research

The Action Research Dissertation

2. Action Research Traditions and Knowledge Interests

The Multiple Traditions of Action Research

Action Research and Organizational Development/Learning

Action Science

Participatory Research: The Legacy of Paulo Freire

Participatory Evaluation

Action Research and Community Psychology

Action Research in Education

The Teacher-as-Researcher Movement in Britain

The Practitioner Research Movement in North America

The Danger of Co-Optation

Participatory Action Research with Youth: YPAR

Action Research as Narrative: Self-Study and Autoethnography

Arts-Based Approaches to Action Research

Feminist, Post-Colonial, and Antiracist Approaches to Action Research

The Knowledge Interests of Action Research

Notes

3. The Continuum of Positionality in Action Research

Insider: Researcher Studies Own Self/Practice

Insider in Collaboration With Other Insiders

Insider(s) in Collaboration With Outsider(s)

PAR: Reciprocal Collaboration (Insider-Outsider Teams)

PAR: Outsider(s) in Collaboration With Insider(s)

Outsider(s) Studies Insider(s)

Multiple Positionalities

The Outsider-Within Stance as a Flawed Approach to Action Research

Conclusion

Note

4. Quality Criteria for Action Research: An Ongoing Conversation

Delegitimizing Action Research: Opposition in the Academy

Redefining Rigor: Criteria of Quality for Action Research

Reason and Bradbury's Discussion of Validity and Choice Points

Addressing Bias in Action Research

Are the Findings of Action Research Generalizable?

The Politics of Action Research

Institutional Micropolitics

The Politics of Redefining Professionalism

The Politics of Knowledge

The Macropolitics of Action Research Projects

Note

5. Designing the Plane While Flying it: Proposing and Doing the Dissertation

Possibilities of a Pilot Study

The Dissertation Proposal

Introducing the Proposed Inquiry

Situating the Study in Relevant Literature

Methodological Considerations

Data Analysis and Representation

Where Do Action Research Questions Come From?

Insider Action Research

Outsider Action Research

Issues of Design and Methodology

Designing Insider Action Research

Designing Outsider Action Research

The Literature Review: Literature in Dialogue With the Data

Writing the Dissertation

Defending the Dissertation

6. What Does an Action Research Dissertation Look Like?

Lynne Mock: Carving a Dissertation Out of a PAR Project

The Entry Process

Creating Participatory Structures

Writing the Dissertation

Emphasizing the Strengths of Action Research

Researcher-Initiated PAR Studies

Initiating the PAR Study

The Emergent Design of the PAR Process

Collaborative Data Analysis

Disseminating the Results: Multiple Forms of Representation and Audiences

John Mark Dyke: Insider Action Research

First Phase of the Work

Iterative Cycles of Inquiry

The Dissertation Research

Gary W. Street: A Principal Cultivating Action Research

Conclusion

Note

7. Ethical Considerations and Action Research

Working with Institutional Review Process

Ethics in Practice

Authentic Collaboration

Learning to Be Researchers

Who's the Writing For?

Moving Beyond Do No Harm

8. Final Thoughts

References

Index