Reflections on the SAGE Encyclopedia of Action Research and what it says about action research and its methodologies

The SAGE Encyclopedia of Action Research consists of 314 entries totalling around 600,000 words by people expert in their topic. What if it was treated as a corpus of data about the current state of action research and related matters? So treated, it can provide a valuable current perspective on what action research is, who uses it for what purpose, and how it is done. A companion paper by Davydd Greenwood reports on what the Encyclopedia has to say about theory in current action research. This paper does the same for action research methodology. I report and reflect on what the Encyclopedia says about the broad family of action research approaches, and its key features of participation, an action orientation, the use of critical reflection and the integration of those features within a cyclic process.

[1]  Stephen Kemmis,et al.  The Action Research Planner: Doing Critical Participatory Action Research , 2013 .

[2]  M. El-den,et al.  Emerging Varieties of Action Research: Introduction to the Special Issue , 1993 .

[3]  Frank J. Barrett,et al.  Appreciative Inquiry: The Power of the Unconditional Positive Question , 2001 .

[4]  T. Piketty Capital in the twenty-first century: a multidimensional approach to the history of capital and social classes. , 2013, The British journal of sociology.

[5]  D. Greenwood An analysis of the theory/concept entries in the SAGE Encyclopedia of Action Research: What we can learn about action research in general from the encyclopedia , 2015 .

[6]  Dario Azzellini,et al.  They Can't Represent Us!: Reinventing Democracy From Greece To Occupy , 2014 .

[7]  Renaud Marlet,et al.  Education and experience. , 1989, Nursing standard (Royal College of Nursing (Great Britain) : 1987).

[8]  K. Lewin Action Research and Minority Problems , 1946 .

[9]  Mary C. Edson,et al.  A Complex Adaptive Systems View of Resilience in a Project Team , 2011 .

[10]  Todd J. Wiebe The SAGE Encyclopedia of Action Research , 2015 .

[11]  E. Schein Kurt Lewin's change theory in the field and in the classroom: Notes toward a model of managed learning , 1996 .

[12]  K. Lewin,et al.  The Action Research Planner , 2003 .

[13]  S. Clegg Making Social Science Matter: Why Social Inquiry Fails and How It Can Succeed Again , 2002 .

[14]  P. Reason Pragmatist Philosophy and Action Research , 2003 .

[15]  C. Lindblom THE SCIENCE OF MUDDLING THROUGH , 1959 .

[16]  Pauline OMaley,et al.  We Make the Road by Walking , 2011 .

[17]  Graham Webb,et al.  Understanding Staff Development , 1996 .

[18]  Jack Mezirow,et al.  Fostering Critical Reflection in Adulthood: A Guide to Transformative and Emancipatory Learning , 1990 .

[19]  K. Heimerl,et al.  Participatory Research in Palliative Care: Actions and reflections , 2012 .

[20]  John D. Aram,et al.  Bridging Scholarship in Management: Epistemological Reflections , 2003 .

[21]  D. Greenwood Action research: Unfulfilled promises and unmet challenges , 2002 .

[22]  J. Raelin Action Learning's Good Company: The Action Modalities , 2012 .

[23]  Paulo Freire,et al.  Pedagogy of the Oppressed , 2019, Toward a Just World Order.

[24]  Investigating strategic management roles of the corporate communication function in the Department of Housing , 2001 .

[25]  M. Polanyi Chapter 7 – The Tacit Dimension , 1997 .

[26]  Bischöfliches Hilfswerk,et al.  Corporate Influence on the Business and Human Rights Agenda of the United Nations , 2014 .

[27]  James L. Kelly,et al.  Using Action Research to Improve Instruction: An Interactive Guide for Teachers , 2008 .

[28]  V. Dakos,et al.  Toward Principles for Enhancing the Resilience of Ecosystem Services , 2012 .

[29]  D. Kolb Experiential Learning: Experience as the Source of Learning and Development , 1983 .

[30]  Lynette Simpson,et al.  Still Left out in the Cold: Problematising Participatory Research and Development , 2004 .

[31]  Nina Bonderup Dohn On the necessity of intertwining 'knowledge in practice' in action research , 2014 .

[32]  Bob Dick,et al.  Theory and method: Why action research does not separate them , 2015 .