The Action Research Dissertation: A Guide for Students and Faculty

`This book fills an important gap in the action research literature by specifically addressing the growing practice of action research master's studies and doctoral dissertations in colleges and universities throughout the world. Like the authors' previous work, this book provides a broad and clear overview of the varieties of action research. The discussion of the underlying choices that action researchers operating in a university degree program need to make and how such choices affect the quality of an action research project from different perspectives is an extremely valuable resource for students and faculty. I plan to use this book with my own graduate students on a regular basis' - Ken Zeichner, University of Wisconsin, Madison `Finally, a thoughtful, accessible, and immensely helpful volume designed to promote dialogue among doctoral students and faculty about dissertation studies grounded in the everyday worlds of practice. By creating spaces for deep discussion about the decisions dissertators make (rather than proposing and arguing for particular solutions), the book sets doctoral researchers on their own quest for meaning, clarity and coherence. The rhetoric and contents of the book thus mirror its authors' commitment to agency for doctoral students seeking to make their inquiries of value both within and beyond the academy' - Susan Lytle, University of Pennsylvania `The authors have deftly produced a thoughtful, comprehensive, and much needed overview of the process of creating an action research dissertation that is sure to benefit generations of students and their faculty mentors' - Davydd Greenwood, Cornell University `The Action Research Dissertation should be required reading for any student contemplating using an action research approach in a thesis or dissertation project. Kathryn Herr and Gary Anderson serve as able and amiable navigators through the challenging but equally rewarding process of planning, carrying out, and completing an action research dissertation. Clear explanations, compelling exemplars, and an honest discussion of the challenges of conducting an action research project combined with a sense of the passion and commitment of those who choose this path, make the volume a balanced and engaging guide to all would-be action researchers' - Mary Brydon-Miller, University of Cincinnati Many students struggle with turning action research projects into a Master's thesis or doctoral dissertation and receive little guidance from their advisors. To address this need, the authors have distilled decades of action research experience into a first-of-its-kind reference for graduate students. The book provides an accessible roadmap that honors the complexity of action research. It will show that action research is appropriate not only for a dissertation, but also a deeply rewarding experience for both the researcher and participants. This book helps students understand the ways action research dissertations are different from more traditional dissertations and prepares students and their committees for the unique dilemmas they may face, such as validity, positionality, design, write-up, ethics, and defense of the dissertation. The Action Research Dissertation is a must-have resource for any student contemplating an action research project, thesis, or dissertation, and equally valuable to researchers undertaking and writing up their action research.

Table of Contents:
Foreward - Pat Maguire Preface Introduction: What is an Action Research Dissertation? Action Research Traditions and Knowledge Interests The Multiple Traditions of Action Research Action Research and Organizational Development/Learning Participatory Research: The Legacy of Paulo Freire Action Research in Education Emerging Approaches to Action Research The Knowledge interests of Action Research The Continuum of Positionality in Action Research Insider: Researcher Studies Own Self/Practice Insider in Collaboration with Other Insiders Insider Initiated Studies with Outsiders PAR: Reciprocal Collaboration (Insider-Outsiders Teams) PAR: Outsider Initiated Studies with Insiders Outsider(s) Studies Insider(s) Quality Criteria for Action Research: An Ongoing Conversation Delegitimizing Action Research: Opposition in the Academy Redefining Rigor: Criteria of Quality for Action Research Are the Findings of Action Research "Generalizable"? The Politics of Action Research Designing the Plane While Flying it: Proposing and Doing the Dissertation The Dissertation Proposal Where Do Action Research Questions Come from? Issues of Design and Methodology The Literature Review: Literature in Dialogue with the Data Writing the Dissertation Defending the Dissertation What does a Participatory Action Research Dissertation look like? Lynne Mock: Carving a Dissertation Out of a Participatory Action Research Project Alice McIntyre: Initiating a Participatory Action Research Group Action Research, Ethics, and the Institutional Review Board Background to the Creation of the IRB The Role of the Institutional Review Board Final Thoughts References Appendix A Index