Action research
The commonly used in the social sciences terms of action, and action research are synonymous translations of the coined by Kurt Lewin concept of action research. He wanted to establish a critique of a purely experimental social psychology a science whose hypotheses are hands-on and lead their implications for changes in terms of problem solving. With their explicit action they should bid a counter-proposal to a contract -free in his opinion, be irresponsible science that would cancel an alienation of theory and practice
- 3.1 Action research in pedagogy and didactics
- 3.2 Action research in social science
Emergence and dissemination
The action research has, though originally settled exclusively in social psychology, fanned out over several generations of researchers in a variety of areas ( management theory, pedagogy, social research, development cooperation, Psychosocial work etc.). She inspired concepts, such as organizational development, applied anthropology, the Action Learning approach or the work of the Tavistock Institute. She dives today especially within interdisciplinary projects in the social sciences. Within psychology itself, they will hardly use.
The first generation of action research
The term action research probably goes to the agent of the American government for Indian affairs, John Collier, back. He worked from 1933 to 1945 on the improvement of relations between natives and whites, trying this goal through close cooperation with the affected Indian tribes by means of a strategy of joint problem determination, analysis and processing to achieve, which he described as " action research "
Kurt Lewin, who was a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, took up this approach and gave him as action research in 1944, a programmatic version. In the literature, his concept first appears in an article from 1946 entitled Action Research and Minority problem. In it, he describes action research as comparative research, which is devoted to the effects of many forms of social action and to the study of social change. He described the methodology as a repetitive spiral of three steps: (1 ) planning, (2) social intervention in the field and ( 3) reflection on the results of the intervention.
Between 1948 and 1950, the Tavistock Institute in the Glacier Metal Company, an action research project whose objective was to improve employee motivation and cooperation. This led among other things to have more say in the staff council.
The second generation of action research
The late sixties and early seventies gave a second generation of action researchers in the UK and Australia finally the action research a socio- critical impetus, which is increasingly found advocates in Europe. Action researchers put to the fore that social science research is always normative and researchers must understand their work as emancipatory and politically conscious of its social conditionings. In Germany especially educators, sociologists and psychologists attacked the approaches in order to generate an alternative to research standards such as objectivity and neutrality within the social sciences, but these were increasingly preoccupied across countries in the criticism. On the one hand, an increasing detachment and decoupling of the social sciences has been questioned by the social reality of the research field. Action researchers observed, then, that the social sciences paradoxically distanced from their own subject. On the other hand, they observed that the social sciences by the claim to neutrality an implicit alliance with the social forces and definition Highnesses were received, the social structures do not change, but Affirm and reproduce.
The third generation of action research
A third generation of action research eventually dominated social workers / inside, theologian / inside and educators / interior in the spirit of social movements in Latin America and Africa, which increasingly gained in importance also in English speaking countries, and particularly in Scandinavia: participatory action research. Developed by practitioners such as Paulo Freire, Orlando Fals Borda, Rajesh Tandon, Anisur Rahman and Marja- Liisa Swantz approach relies on a combination of science and social commitment. Fals - Borda writes: "You have (theoretical ) study and (practical ) action combine to work against the conditions of dependency and exploitation that has us characterizes with all its degrading consequences and mechanisms of oppression and determined This is reflected. significantly to our culture of imitation and the poverty and the lack of social and economic participation that characterizes our people. " The participation of researchers in social projects was accordingly eponymous for the approach of participatory action research. He should develop an awareness of social variability that called Freire conscientização. By people understand how their social practices are motivated by material, social and historical circumstances, so the hope they get a new perspective on possible ways of transformation of the circumstances that produce and reproduce through everyday actions.
This orientation of social science research has the consequence that the ratio of researchers and research subjects creates a directed towards common action and reflection working relationship between researchers and trained to co- researchers subjects. A working relationship that follows the already conceived by Lewin cyclical research process: The project planning goes into concrete action which is observed and evaluated together and eventually leads to renewed planning that triggers further actions. The aim of the research process is reality content and transparency, practical relevance and interaction; rather secondary, if at all, the generalizability of results is desired.
Criticism
The action researcher Heinz Moser asks the late 70s, but this is the specific content of such collaborative action - reflection processes now and what dilemmas they face each policy. He writes, " In many cases, it remains at meager references to ' emancipation ', ' social change ', ' appeal to the humanization of mankind ' Speaking the subject coming into being, can not stop the action researchers, but ultimately seems to be an abstraction.: An abstraction of concrete historical and social processes in which such a subject coming into being can take place. " This abstraction would be only insufficiently translated into social practice, so that the action - reflection process would be reduced to the actions in the here and now, and the risk of an secretive inductivism exists that relies on an apparent immediacy, which forgets that all our experiences are pre-structured by horizons of expectations. For this reason, the approach is despite many references to neo-Marxist, communitarian or human rights theories with the accusation of Untertheoretisierung faced that, pointedly, in the criticism flows that certain ideologies is upheld, that would not be made explicit and the reflection thus to a pragmatic target balance would be reduced. This in turn can lead in two phases of action and reflection to dependencies on the researcher, which implicitly assumes the lead role and so does not create a common available knowledge that could be used independently by the participants.
Objectives, practices and problems
The aim of action research is to be set on concrete problems of practice and to facilitate direct social action. The relationship between researchers and stakeholders is characterized by symmetrical communication structures: For research that bring forth nothing but books, it does not help the individual.
The action research is sometimes criticized for lack of scientific rigor. The reason for this is the concern of action research. Once the researchers tried to influence the actions of people in political or moral intention is active, the difference between science and ideology disappears.
Action Research in Pedagogy and didactics
Especially suitable for action research pedagogy and didactics appear and here mainly the methodology: by the intense devotion to the research subject " teaching " is the practical relevance of the results erhöht.Allerdings strong compared to the hermeneutic method, this research approach is chosen by only a few scientists, because he is very time - and labor-intensive.
Action Research in the Social Sciences
A 1993 survey on the current status of action research showed that this approach was from the German social science debate virtually disappeared. Reasons were the main focus on the implementation of research projects instead of the theoretical development, disillusioning reports on specific projects, the lack of international networking and the development of qualitative research methods since the late 1970s.