Action Research
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Source: Bahá'í Library Online (bahai-library.com), curated by Jonah Winters. Used by permission of the curator. Original citation: Rhett Diessner, Action Research, bahai-library.com.
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Action Research

Rhett Diessner

published in Converging Realities1:1

Switzerland: Landegg Academy, 2000

Contents:

1. Introduction

2. A Focus on Purpose

3. What is action?; Who are the "Professionals"?

4. Democratic, Consultative, and Bilateral Research

5. Critical and Emancipatory Research

6. Call for Action

7. Summary: The Issues Revisited

References

Abstract: Action research is not a technique or particular method of research,
but rather a focus on the issue of the "final" cause of research, or the
question of the "purpose" of the research. The purpose of action research
is transformative action, action that makes a difference in the life-worlds
of both the researcher and the researched. The applicable domain of action
research is both description of, and prescription in, the social world
of humans. Action research is: (1) democratic, consultative
(viz. Abdu'l-Bahá, 1980) and based on bilateral
communication (Argyris, 1980; Argyris,
Putnam, Putnam, & Smith, 1985); and (2) critical and emancipatory
(Habermas, 1971).

1. Introduction

Action has effect. One act is better than a thousand words.
Jesus Christ says: 'By their fruits' (actions) and not by their words.
What is the effect of words alone? The real thing is action.

Action has made
man eloquent. There is no eloquent language better than action. As long
as the sun is bright, is it necessary that it should say 'I am bright'?
There is no need for that.
— —
Cited in Randall-Winckler & Garis

It is typical to divide research into two broad domains, quantitative
and qualitative. Quantitative approaches are associated with precision
of measurement, experimental and correlational design, statistics, "hard"
data, and the correlation of human behavior in terms of ordinal, interval,
or ratio scales. Qualitative approaches are associated with ethnographies,
interpretive techniques, and "soft" data. Occasionally "action research"
is considered a third, "ultra" soft, approach: I once overheard one of
my colleagues saying, "They didn't prepare a decent research design, so
they called it action research." That attitude will be refuted in this
article.
2. A Focus on Purpose
As defined herein, action research is not a type of research that is
differentiable from qualitative or quantitative research, nor from nomothetic
(an approach to science in which universal laws are sought) or idiographic
(studying the unique individual in her/his own context — no
attempt is made to generalize the findings to other human beings) approaches.
Rather, the main difference between action research and other approaches
is an explicit focus on research for action, change, and transformation.
Its purpose is to change behavior, to alter action, to cause development
to occur-both in
the concern that is under study and in the researcher(s). A critical factor
in action research is to maximize the meaningfulness of the study. The
research design should fit the best notions of validity, external and internal,
and may be either qualitative or quantitative, or a combination thereof.
The difference between action research and most research published in academic
journals is that the results of the research are intended to
feed back
directly to the researchers' practice, as well as directly influence
the researched. In other words, action research is intended to advise the
researchers themselves how to act, as much as to advise others how to act.
Its main emphasis is on improving the human condition in a specific context,
with secondary attention given to generalizing the findings.
Why is it that few researchers focus on action research? Why is that
most researchers tend to distance themselves from the problems under study
and expect "practitioners" to read their journal article work and transform
it into action? One reason is that it is "safer" to study others' behavior
than your own; it lowers one's responsibility to make significant changes
in one's own practice. However, this approach is a form of "distancing,"
which is a disservice to society (cf.
Argyris, 1980; Argyris,
Putnam, & Smith, 1985). As a practical example: I work in
teacher education. There is a plethora of data-based journals in education,
but teachers seldom read them. The questions/hypotheses addressed in the
journals are generally not the questions teachers are wondering about;
they are questions that professional academic researchers are wondering
about, and teachers seldom find any concrete advice about how to improve
their practice in these journals. Additionally, the proofs and evidence
that many researchers use are either not convincing or not meaningful to
the "practitioners," the teachers.
3. What is action? Who are the
"Professionals"?
First of all, nearly all producers of work, whether craftsperson, professionals,
tradespeople, managers, etc., perform informal action research. All human
actions include three components, although at times we may process the
components so quickly (milliseconds) that we are unaware of them. Every
human action involves: (a) a planning phase, (b) an execution phase, and
(c) an assessment phase. Take the simple action of eating a potato chip
snack. A human walks by a bowl of potato chips. The human thinks, "I'm
hungry; those look good. I think I'll eat some." This is the planning
phase. The human then reaches out a hand, takes some chips, and places
them in his or her mouth. This is the execution phase. Then, if they
tasted good (which is the assessment!), they reach for some more. Another
example: teachers plan a curriculum, execute a method of teaching the curriculum,
then give their students a test, thus assessing the teacher's effectiveness
in teaching and the students' effectiveness in learning. A physician makes
a plan for a cure, provides the medicine, then has the patient come back
in ten days for assessment of the effectiveness of the cure. A plumber
plans the method of installing the pipes, executes the installation, then
turns on the water to check for leaks. The "action research" being advocated
in this article is an extension of natural human activity (action), with
careful reflection and systematization of issues of reliability and validity,
especially in the assessment phase of action.
Because the term "professional" connotes a privileged class, many workers
aspire to this status. The present writer, having worked extensively with
nurses and teachers, is aware of the importance of the designation "professional."
Normally, physicians, dentists, attorneys, and architects, among others,
have this hallowed station. Yet, the present writer has argued elsewhere
(Diessner,
1991) that the requirements for professional status should not
be socioeconomic class, or ability "to police their own profession" but
rather it is an issue of action research. Those that are "truly" worthy
of the appellation 'professional' need to actualize being: (a) involved
in choosing the "ends" of their practice, and (b) then making/having the
opportunity to evaluate the success of their "means" of attaining
those ends. Action research is required to produce valid evaluation.
4. Democratic, Consultative,
and Bilateral Research
In the best of action research, the lines between the "researcher" and
the "researched" are blurred and may become one and the same. A question
may be initiated by a social scientist or by any group of humans. A group
of workers may ask, How can we be more productive?; or a researcher may
be hired by the business administration to ask the same question. Regardless
of the starting point of the question, those immediately and substantially
affected by the potential outcome of the research should have a voice in
framing or reframing the question under study, a voice in selecting the
means of answering the question (which is what we normally call "the research"),
and a voice in determining the criteria to decide whether the question
has been validly answered.
On the "practical" side, if the "researched" are not included in the
decision making, the results are always suspect. If the researcher brings
in her set of questions, they may be irrelevant to the researched. If the
researched do not have a hand in determining the research questions, if
they do not get to help decide the methods of completing the study, and
if they are not included in assessing the effectiveness and accuracy of
the outcome of the research, they are likely either to sabotage the research,
be apathetic, and not be intrinsically motivated to solve the problems
under study. This can easily be seen now in the so-called development projects
imposed on the "Third World" by the "First World." Most of them did not
"work." For examples of such failures, and the solutions through "participatory"
involvement, the reader is referred to the following sources: Social
and Economic Development: A Bahá'í Approach (Vick,
1989); "The Development of Communication and the Communication
of Development"
(Stephens,
1990); "Developing a Participatory Approach to Learning" (Pihlainen,
1991); and "Principles
of Consultation Applied to the Process of Innovation in a Corporate Environment"(Rosenfeld
& Winger-Bearskin, 1991).
One of the great pioneers in action research is
Chris Argyris (Argyris, 1980; Argyris,
Putnam, & Smith, 1985). He has described how most research follows
"normal science" (Kuhn, 1970), which is based
on a paradigm he calls "Model-One". Argyris documents how Model-One style
research is based on the values of unilateral control of the research situation,
"winning" (proving oneself right), and suppression of any data that does
not fit one's preconceived notions. His description and explanation of
"Model-Two" represents a consultative approach, in which the researcher
and the researched have "bi-lateral" control of any studies, wherein winning
is not being "right," but rather uncovering the truth, and no dialogue
is suppressed, even if it is painful.
For example, at the university level, students
and professors shall co-determine the "ends" of the research, and the "means"
to attain these ends, along with mutually deciding what will be convincing
proof that the "ends" were attained or not (evaluative aspect of action
research). Thus, students would have a say in the objectives of the course,
how those objectives are met (the methods of teaching and learning), and
what assessment would convince both the students and the professor that
the objectives were accomplished. Hence, the line between researcher and
researched blurs, leaving all significant parties as participants: not
an observer and the observed, not the subjector and the subjects (Carr
& Kemmis, 1986).
In research into the efficacy of psychotherapy,
the clinician and clients would consult together on what should be the
goal of the therapy, how the therapy should proceed, and what would be
convincing evidence to both of them that the therapy "worked." This approach
does not devalue the expertise of the professor or the clinician, and it
does not assume that the professor has "equal" status with the students,
or that the "clinician" has "equal" status with the client. What is does,
is to engage all ranks of society in a mutual pursuit of truth, in a consultative
manner.
5. Critical
and Emancipatory Research
Research is aimed at creating or uncovering knowledge.
Habermas
has argued that seeking knowledge always serves some interest (1971).
He reasons that the empirical sciences, which aim to discover "laws" of
nature, have a "technical" interest (he means "techne" in the traditional
Greek sense which is the instrumental interest of science to control and
predict). The goal of this technical interest, its "final" cause, is to
be able to predict and control nature, things, and beings. This, however,
becomes problematic in both moral and truth-oriented ways. It is immoral
to treat humans as things that can be controlled for the interests of someone
else. This is treating humans as a "means" and not as an "end," thus violating
Kant's categorical imperative. It also violates truth-seeking if one believes
humans have free-will. If humans do have free-will, then they are inherently
unpredictable, as they are creative beings and are not bound by their genetic
inheritance or the rewards and punishments from their environment.
The second human interest that Habermas addresses
is that of the historical-hermeneutic sciences. These "sciences" have a
"practical" (praxis, normativity) interest; the goal of that practical
interest being the understanding and interpretation of humans. The typical
domain of this interest are the humanities and non-nomological (sciences
that don't seek universal predictive laws) social sciences.
The third human interest, in regard to knowledge,
Habermas calls the "emancipatory," and it deals with the domain of philosophy
and critique. Its goal is to set humans free from the fetters of the past,
both the cultural past, and their own alienation during their ontogeny
(natural history). He uses Marx as an example of emancipating us from the
cultural past, and Freud as an exemplar in freeing the individual of the
errors of her/ his development. Although Bahá'ís will take
exception to the materialism of Marx and Freud, the interest of emancipation,
and
freedom from the imitation of our forebears is a critical goal for Bahá'ís
(viz.
Bahá'u'lláh in the Kitáb-i-Íqán, 1950;
and Saiedi, 1997).
Action research is aimed, not at the interest
of techne, but rather at the practical interest of understanding and the
emancipatory interest of truth. This parallels the goal of Bahá'í
consultation, which is truth. The Bible says, "And ye shall know the truth,
and the truth shall make you free" (John 8:32).

The purpose is to emphasize the statement that
consultation must have for its object the investigation of truth.
(Abdu'l-Bahá
1982, p. 72)
Man must consult on all matters, whether major
or minor, so that he may become cognizant of what is good. Consultation
giveth him insight into things and enableth him to delve into questions
which are unknown. The light of truth shineth from the faces of those who
engage in consultation. Such consultation causeth the living waters to
flow in the meadows of man's reality, the rays of ancient glory to shine
upon him, and the tree of his being to be adorned with wondrous fruit.
The members who are consulting, however, should behave in the utmost love,
harmony and sincerity towards each other. The principle of consultation
is one of the most fundamental elements of the divine edifice. Even in
their ordinary affairs the individual members of society should consult.

(Abdu'l-Bahá, 1980)

6. Call for Action
This plea for action research is not entirely
new; Corey in 1949, from Teachers College, urged
us to move from "fundamental research" to action research, because teachers
were not consuming research. The problem is not just among educators, however.
Even among social scientists studying social issues, reports of action
research are relatively rare. This is why Deutsch
(1969) and Sanford (1970), invoking Kurt
Lewin, have begged for action research to be the mode of study reported
in the Journal of Social Issues. This type of action is also congruent
with Paolo Freire's seminal work in critical pedagogy
(1970).
7. Summary:
The Issues Revisited

Selecting ends. Research in Spiritual Psychology
must be "spiritual' and moral in its mode of conduct. It cannot do research
"on" humans, but only "with" other humans in a collaborative, consultative
search for truth. Therefore, the goals of research should be co-determined
by both the researcher and the researched, and it is best if the "question"
(the "end" of the research) is generated by the researched themselves.

The means of examining the question must also be
co-determined by the researcher and the researched. This is normally called
the method of the study.

The means of assessment must be agreed upon by both
the researcher and the researched. What will "count" as valid proof? Those
that will be involved in the action under study must help set the criteria
for what will be acceptable confirmation or disproval of any hypotheses.
This will be crucial for the researched to be intrinsically interested
in making the results actionable.

In all of the above three aspects of action (a) the
planning, (b) the execution, the method, (c) the results, the assessment,
a consultative methodology which is bilateral must be followed (Argyris,
Putnam, & Smith, 1985). Both the researcher and the researched
will need to follow this practice, to reach actionable truth:

They must clearly advocate their ideas.

They must provide data, facts, or reasons for their
ideas.

They must explain why their data, facts or reasons
warrant their advocated idea.

They must invite inquiry from their collaborators,
the researchers and researched alike, about the quality of their advocacy,
data, and explanation.

This four-step process will help ensure that all
research agreements have the least bias and prejudice, the most truth-value,
and the best likelihood of all parties being intrinsically motivated to
make the results actionable.

Unless these thoughts are translated into the
world of action, they are useless. The wrong in the world continues to
exist just because people talk only of their ideals, and do not strive
to put them into practice. If actions took the place of words, the world's
misery would very soon be changed into comfort. (`Abdu'l-Bahá,
1969, p. 16)
If we are true Bahá'ís speech is
not needed. Our actions will help on the world, will spread civilization,
will help the progress of science, and cause the arts to develop. Without
action nothing in the material world can be accomplished, neither can words
unaided advance a man in the spiritual Kingdom. It is not through lip-service
only that the elect of God have attained to holiness, but by patient lives
of active service they have brought light into the world. (`Abdu'l-Bahá,
1969, pp. 80-81)

References
'Abdu'l-Bahá (1980).
Quoted in: Consultation: A compilation (Compiled by the Research
Department of the Universal House of Justice). Wilmette, Il.: Bahá'í
Publishing Trust.
— — .(1969).
Paris talks. 11th ed. London: Bahá'í Publishing Trust.
— — .(1982).
Promulgation
of universal peace (2nd ed.). Wilmette, IL: Bahá'í Publishing
Trust.
Argyris, C., Putnam,
R., & Smith, D. (1985). Action science. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Argyris, C. (1980).
The inner contradictions of rigorous research. New York: Academic Press.
Aristotle. (1963). The
philosophy of Aristotle. R. Bambrough, Ed., (A. E. Wardman &
J. L. Creed, trans.). NY: Mentor.
Aristotle. (1991).
The metaphysics (J. H. McMahon, trans.) Amherst, NY: Prometheus.
Bahá'u'lláh.
(1950). The Kitáb-i-Íqán: The Book of Certitude.
Wilmette,
Il.: Bahá'í Publishing Trust.
Carr, W., & Kemmis,
S. (1986). Becoming critical: Education, knowledge, and action research.
London:
Falmer.
Corey, S. (1949). Action
research, fundamental research, and educational practices. Teachers
College Record, 50, 509-514.
Deutsch, M. (1969).
Organizational and conceptual barriers to social change. Journal of
Social Issues, 25, 5-18.
Diessner, R. (1991).
Teachers as professionals. Unpublished manuscript. Lewis-Clark State College,
Lewiston, ID, USA.
Diessner, R. (1994).
Action
research and teaching professors. Lewiston, ID: Lewis-Clark State College,
Division of Education. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED 366 257.
Diessner, R. (1997).
Probing the foundation of research methods for spiritual psychology: Seeking
an interpretive framework for the primary causes of human phenomena and
noumena. Unpublished paper, Landegg Academy, Weinacht, Switzerland.
Freire, P. (1970). Pedagogy
of the oppressed (M. B. Ramos, trans.). New York: Seabury Press.
Habermas, J. (1971).
Knowledge and human interests (J. Shapiro, trans.). Boston: Beacon.
Kuhn, T. (1970). The
structure of scientific revolutions (2nd ed.). Chicago: University
of Chicago Press.
Pihlainen, M. (1991).
Developing a participatory approach to learning. Journal of Bahá'í
Studies 4(2),41-76.
Randall-Winckler,
B. & Garis, M. (n.d./1996?). William Henry Randall: Disciple of
'Abdu'l-Bahá. Oxford: Oneworld. ("I asked Him ['Abdu'l-Bahá]
many questions concerning the Cause which He answered and they were interpreted
by Shoghi Effendi and taken down in Persian by Dr. Lutfu'lláh Hakím.
Translated afterwards by them into English and many of the answers referred
again to the Master, Who confirmed the same and occasionally changed a
word, and these talks are certified as above stated" [p. 110].)
Rosenfeld, R. B.,
& Winger-Bearskin, M. H. (1991). Principles of consultation applied
to the process of innovation in a corporate environment. Journal of
Bahá'í Studies 3(1), 31-48.
Saiedi, N. (1997). Bahá'í
Faith and mysticism: Four valleys and seven valleys. Unpublished Manuscript,
Landegg Academy, Weinacht, Switzerland.
Sanford, N. (1970).
Whatever happened to action research?

Journal of Social Issues 26, 3-23.
Stephens, K. D. (1990).
The development of communication and the communication of development.
Journal
for Bahá'í Studies 2(4), 59-80.
Vick, H. H. (1989). Social
and economic development: A Bahá'í approach. Oxford:
George Ronald.

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