Sunday, March 10, 2013

ACTION RESEARCH: Read Article " Action Based Research"


WEEK SEVEN

This week we read an article " Action Based Research and answered  the following questions:

A. Use the article “Action Based Research” to answer the following questions

  1. What is the Kairos for this article? Why is this significant?
  2. Name of Article: Learning to do Action Research for Social Change
  3. Publisher: International Journal of Communication; University of Sussex.
  4. Author: Jethro Pettit
  5. When it was published: 2010

2. Define each of the following terms: action research, participatory methods (approaches), reflective
practice, and cooperative inquiry.
Action Research:  “Action research provides an alternative approach to bringing about changes in knowledge, policy, and practice…broadly defined, starts with a very different view of what knowledge is, where it comes from, and how it continues to change…this involves weaving together diverse methodological strands and research traditions, and then combining these with learning about theories and concepts of power, participation and social change”(Pettit, 2010).
Participatory methods (approaches): approaches like for example participatory rural appraisal, participatory learning and action that provide active involvement in decision making, skills of critical reflection.  According to Pettit, “ Finally, there is growing evidence of the ways that action research processes can transform people and institutions – not through linear models of research-policy-practice, but through emergent forms of action-reflection” (Pettit, 2010).
Reflective practice:  “to help learners bridge the words of experience and theory, and to integrate personal reflection with critical analysis of their actions” (Pettit, 2010).  Individuals learn from their own experiences rather than formal teaching. “Students experiment with diverse methods for inquiring into their personal values, senses of purpose and motivation, and the sources and inspirations for these that exist in their lives. They also look self-critically at their own positionality and actions” (Pettit, 2010).
Cooperative Inquiry: the idea is to research with other people not only on people. It gives the example of a student  that formed a cooperative group with other organization “For example, one student formed a cooperative inquiry group with her Brazilian organization in order to explore changes that were taking place in the organization, in their relationships, and in their perceptions of partners outside the organization” (Pettit, 2010).

3. Briefly summarize the author’s argument.
The author talks about a program he created, MA participation, Power and Social change (MAP) it is a program that focuses on action research. Where the students use their own personal experiences to help with the research and learning process. “The a behing this approach to action research is that one’s work environment can be a place of learning, using everyday activities and experiences as a basis for inquiry” (Pettit, 2010)

4. According to the author what is the difference between conventional research and action research?
For what I understand conventional research is for example when we use different documents or studies that have been done research on other projects. Action research in this case means that we need to be actively involved with the research and be part of it including our everyday experiences. According to Pettit, “Traditionally, research has been the province of highly qualified, specialized academics, with the “subjects” of research in a largely passive role. In Action research, these roles change. Knowledge is co-created through a shared process, researchers become actors for change, and practitioners become learners and shapers of meaning” (Pettit, 2010).
Why is this significant? How is this related to our semester theme of citizen journalism?
We learned that a citizen journalist could be anyone who actively participates by giving a story or news about an event that the person witnessed. By reading “Learning to do Action Research for Social Change” we learned also that to do action research we need to actively participate on the research including our own experiences. It is related to or semester topic because they both have the same in common, our active participation, our own experiences need to be involved with our research.
5. What is the Institute of Development Studies? What is the MA in Participation, Power, and Social
Change? How are they related to what the author wants to accomplish with action research? Give three
specific examples of how the author hopes they will help him meet his goal.
The Institute of Development Studies (IDS) is “a research, teaching, and consulting institute focused on interdisciplinary, collaborative approaches to issues of global poverty and inequality” (Pettit, 2010).
The MA in Participation, Power and Social Change (MAP) is “ an 18-month program in three parts which makes action research central to the learning process” (Pettit,2010).
As far as the examples, Pettit mentioned “ If we are to teach, and to facilitate learning, effectively, inclusively, and democratically, then we need to internalize and apply action research approaches as a collective vehicle to bring about personal transformation and social change within ourselves, as much as we do with others” (Pettit, 2010).
  1. What does it mean to “co-create and mobilize knowledge for change?”
Co-create in this case meaning that by including our own experiences, we become actors and that way we can develop and come up with new ideas for a change. “Knowledge is co-created through a shared process, researchers become actors for change, and practitioners become learners and shapers of meaning” (Pettit, 2010).

7. Give examples of how action research could be incorporated into your semester topic and your
literature review.
Action research to be incorporated into my semester topic means that I would need to actively participate on the research and provide my own experiences. In this case my semester topic is Immigration reform, so I think I would need to talk or write about my personal experience about immigration, how immigration reform has affected or helped me and the point of view that I have about it. 

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