This book gives you all you need to know about action research, why you need to know it and how it can help you become a self-reflective practitioner-researcher. It provides the ideas and frameworks to understand action research, combined with a practical workbook to guide you through the practicalities and complexities of doing action research in your own context.
Inside you will find:
- An action plan to help you embark on your project
- Guidance and advice on learning to ask the right questions as you progress
- A full resource on writing up and communicating your results
- Inspiration to explain the significance of what you have achieved, so that other people can learn with and from you.
Accessible and insightful, this is the complete start to finish guide to doing influential action research. It is the ideal companion for students and researcher-practitioners in any research setting, from education and health to business.
Table of Contents:
Acknowledgements
Introduction
PART I: WHAT DO I NEED TO KNOW?
Chapter 1: What is action research?
Chapter 2: Who can do action research?
Chapter 3: The values base of action research
Chapter 4: Critical times for action research
PART II: WHY DO I NEED TO KNOW?
Chapter 5: Why do action research?
Chapter 6: The responsibility of practitioner-researchers: contributing to new practices and new learning
Chapter 7: The responsibility of practitioner-researchers: contributing to new thinking and ideas
Chapter 8: The responsibility of practitioner-researchers: engaging with the literatures
PART III: HOW DO I FIND OUT?
Chapter 9: Thinking about doing an action research project
Chapter 10: Planning to do your action research
Chapter 11: Carrying out your action plans
Chapter 12: Evaluating the quality of your plans, practices and research
PART IV: HOW DO I GENERATE EVIDENCE TO TEST THE VALIDITY OF MY KNOWLEDGE CLAIM?
Chapter 13: Monitoring practices and gathering data
Chapter 14: Working with data: analysing, authenticatin and interpreting
Chapter 15: Generating evidence from the data and making knowledge claims: summary chapter
PART V: HOW DO I TEST AND CRITIQUE MY KNOWLEDGE?
Chapter 16: Testing the validity of your knowledge claim
Chapter 17: Establishing the legitimacy of your knowledge claim
PART VI: HOW DO I REPRESENT AND COMMUNICATE MY KNOWLEDGE?
Chapter 18: Thinking about writing your dissertation
Chapter 19: Writing up your dissertation
PART VII: HOW DO I SHOW THE SIGNIFICANCE OF MY KNOWLEDGE?
Chapter 20: The significance of it all
References
Index
About the Author :
Jean McNiff is Professor of Educational Research at York St John University, UK. She is also a Visiting Professor at UiT the Arctic University of Norway, and at the Beijing Normal University and Ningxia Teachers’ University, People’s Republic of China.
Jean took early retirement from her position as deputy head teacher of a large secondary school in Dorset, UK. She went into business for herself, and developed her writing. Her textbooks on action research and professional education are now used internationally on workplace-based professional education courses and on higher degree courses. Jean provides interdisciplinary consultancy work to institutions around the world where she gives lectures and conducts workshops on planning, doing and writing action research.
Jean aims to contribute to personal and social betterment through educational research. She encourages everyone to make their stories public in the form of their personal and collaborative theories of practice; and she firmly believes that each individual is able to contribute to social and planetary wellbeing by explaining how they hold themselves accountable for what they do. In this way she links education with moral accountability. She tries to bring the university to everyday contexts, and everyday contexts into the university, for it is only by involving everyone, she feels, that the world will become a better place for us all.
Review :
Well structured, clearly written and accessible. I highly recommend it for anyone who plans to enhance their professional practice through action research.
This is an empowering, practical, accessible book, embedded in a deeply humane understanding of research. It shows how and why practice is integral to a healthy, thinking world. It opens doors and enables you to turn lived experience into liberating professional enquiry.
For anyone interested in action research, irrespective of experience and expertise, this text, explaining the origins, forms, process, problems and functions of action research, and how these relate to position and role of action researcher, should be essential reading.
At a time when academic ′experts′ are increasingly setting practice agendas, this scholarly but deeply practical book helps practitioners to reclaim ownership of their professions.
Jean McNiff is an inspiration. Imbued by her values, she takes the ‘mystique’ out of action research and provides an accessible, practical and useful step by step guide to doing action research for novices and experts alike. This book will support action researchers to live by their values and produce robust accounts of their research. I look forward to recommending it as a ‘must read’ to my fellow action researchers.
"The whole text is a wonderful read and the final section is inspirational and empowering."
A good read on action research. Provides in depth guidance to any researcher pursuing action research.
A practical approach to understanding action research, I would recommend this book for any student interested in research and professional inquiry.
Jean McNiff is the expert on Action Research and her work is widely used in teacher training. The book brings her writings up to date and covers a wide base of what it is, how to start and how to produce your report.
Excellent book and it is insightful and informative for my students.
Essential in helping me pass my action research project, sets out ways in planning helps the process and follows through to conclusion in an easy to read way.
Clearly written excellent book to provide a clear understanding of Action research
Links well to course content
This book will inspire, support and enable your students to successfully use Action Research. Outstanding - it truly is ′All You Need to Know′.
A useful text that guides the reader through the practicalities and complexities of the action research process / cycle in an effective step-by-step method. Particularly useful to doctoral students embarking on this type of research method for the first time.
I do not receive the book for the reading, so I could not provide a reason.
