Introduction
Whether insider (or action research) or outsider research, their application, effectiveness and outcomes tend to be controlled by the internal dynamics within an organization. In this work, I shall investigate through the literature some methodologies, intervening dynamics and elements necessary for action research and other related forms of research to be effective in solving workplace problems.
Insider (or action), outsider and related research
Looking from an insider perspective instigates action research that is normally geared towards organizational problem solving or at the worst the understanding of an organizational problem. This type of inquire looks inwards, from inside and could enjoy the advantage of insider knowledge, …show more content…
Another critical point mentioned by Evered and Louis (1981) is the roles clearly taken up by the research in the inside (organization actor, participants observer) and outside (Data analysts, rationalistic model builder) modes. This supports the point earlier made that insider research looks to engage organization problems while outside research tends to be academic in nature and looks to enhance theory and verify its applicability.
In the literature, there is also the mention of participatory action research (Cassell and Johnson, 2006; Greenwood et al, 1993). In their work, Greenwood et al (1993) make a case for participatory action research by explaining its composition and how it enhances the quality of research. By their definition, participatory action research brings together a member of the organization (insider) and an expert research in the research …show more content…
They then proposed twelve contentions which they argue is necessary to justify the quality of an action research project: usable in everyday life; explicit concern with theory; explicit design that relate to theory; particular to general in theory building; data exploration to be demonstrable through argument or analysis; emergent theories cannot be captured easily by other approaches; exploit opportunities for triangulation that do not offer themselves with other methods; intervention history and context should be critical for interpretation of likely range of result validity and
Whether insider (or action research) or outsider research, their application, effectiveness and outcomes tend to be controlled by the internal dynamics within an organization. In this work, I shall investigate through the literature some methodologies, intervening dynamics and elements necessary for action research and other related forms of research to be effective in solving workplace problems.
Insider (or action), outsider and related research
Looking from an insider perspective instigates action research that is normally geared towards organizational problem solving or at the worst the understanding of an organizational problem. This type of inquire looks inwards, from inside and could enjoy the advantage of insider knowledge, …show more content…
Another critical point mentioned by Evered and Louis (1981) is the roles clearly taken up by the research in the inside (organization actor, participants observer) and outside (Data analysts, rationalistic model builder) modes. This supports the point earlier made that insider research looks to engage organization problems while outside research tends to be academic in nature and looks to enhance theory and verify its applicability.
In the literature, there is also the mention of participatory action research (Cassell and Johnson, 2006; Greenwood et al, 1993). In their work, Greenwood et al (1993) make a case for participatory action research by explaining its composition and how it enhances the quality of research. By their definition, participatory action research brings together a member of the organization (insider) and an expert research in the research …show more content…
They then proposed twelve contentions which they argue is necessary to justify the quality of an action research project: usable in everyday life; explicit concern with theory; explicit design that relate to theory; particular to general in theory building; data exploration to be demonstrable through argument or analysis; emergent theories cannot be captured easily by other approaches; exploit opportunities for triangulation that do not offer themselves with other methods; intervention history and context should be critical for interpretation of likely range of result validity and