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Action Research

  • Living reference work entry
  • First Online:
Encyclopedia of Sustainable Management

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Synonyms

Action research has over 30 versions. Among the most well-known are: action science, cooperative enquiry, participatory action research, development action enquiry, Living educational theories.

Definition

Action research is a form of enquiry that integrates theory and action to address real life problems. It enables practitioners to systematically evaluate and improve their practice. The number of types of action researches has multiplied over the last 50 years (Fourali 2016) or so and, accordingly, so did the number of definitions offered. These usually refer to the following characteristics of AR:

  1. 1.

    Use of an iterative model (e.g., Kolb’s model) for systematically analyzing, testing, and reviewing the reality being faced

  2. 2.

    Involve the participation of stakeholders with a purpose of co-design of solution

  3. 3.

    Support in depth analysis of faced situation that goes beyond addressing the symptoms

  4. 4.

    May refer to several disciplines to help understand and address the faced...

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References

  • Coghlan, D., & Brannick, T. (2005). Doing action research in your own organization. London: Sage.

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  • Fourali, C. (2016). The promise of social marketing: A powerful tool for changing the world for good. London: Routledge.

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  • Freire, P. (1970). Pedagogy of the oppressed. New York: Herder & Herder.

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  • McNiff, J., & Whitehead, J. (2011). All you need to know about action research (2nd ed.). London: Sage.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. London Metropolitan University, London, UK

    Chahid E. Fourali

Authors
  1. Chahid E. Fourali
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Chahid E. Fourali .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. London Metropolitan University, Guildhall Faculty of Business and Law London Metropolitan University, London, UK

    Samuel Idowu

  2. Cologne Business School, Ingolstadt, Germany

    René Schmidpeter

  3. College of Business, Loyola University New Orleans, New Orleans, LA, USA

    Nicholas Capaldi

  4. International Training Centre of the IL, International Labor Organization, Turin, Italy

    Liangrong Zu

  5. Department of Economics, Society and Politics, University of Urbino Carlo Bo, Urbino, Italy

    Mara Del Baldo

  6. Instituto Politécnico da Guarda, Guarda, Portugal

    Rute Abreu

Section Editor information

  1. Department of Quality Management and Standardization, University of Belgrade, Faculty of Organizational Sciences, Belgrade, Serbia

    Ivana Mijatovic

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Fourali, C.E. (2020). Action Research. In: Idowu, S., Schmidpeter, R., Capaldi, N., Zu, L., Del Baldo, M., Abreu, R. (eds) Encyclopedia of Sustainable Management. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-02006-4_143-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-02006-4_143-1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-02006-4

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-02006-4

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference Business and ManagementReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Business, Economics and Social Sciences

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