Читать книгу 100 Questions (and Answers) About Action Research - Luke Duesbery - Страница 25

In the behavioral and social sciences, that is, psychology, sociology, and so on, action research is also called action learning, evaluation practice, or sometimes participatory action research.

Psychologist Kurt Lewin coined the term action research in the mid-1940s. Lewin contended that action research was a mechanism for social improvement. He viewed action research as a collaborative relationship between participant and researcher, where both find benefit and improvement. This was entirely anti-establishment, but Lewin felt that that in the social sciences, compared to the hard sciences, action research could be conducted with rigor. During World War II, Lewin worked with scholars at the Tavistock Institute of Human Relations that examined the relationship between the science of military personnel selection and the emotional impact of war and incarcerations. Tavistock still maintains a focus of participatory action research in social psychology. Let’s explore an example from the social sciences.

A New Patient Survey. In a substance abuse clinic, a group of staff were talking over lunch about how incoming patients had to fill out a lot of paperwork, leading patients to become suspicious that their private personal information was being exposed. A few clients expressed this concern, and others simply would not complete the intake paperwork, thus reducing the numbers of clients potentially served. This was contrary to the clinic’s mission of serving all, without question. The staff decided to create a short survey and to attach it to the top of the intake paperwork. It asked four simple questions and looked like this:

You are not required to complete all of this paperwork, but the more complete your responses are, the better we can serve you. Do not include your name on this. It will remain anonymous and private.

1 How comfortable are you providing us with personal information?

2 What recommendation do you have, if any, that can help us make you more comfortable?

3 How confident are you that we can keep your information secure?

4 What recommendation do you have, if any, that can help us secure your personal information?

Initial results cause staff to make several small changes to the paperwork, including better communication about the security of client information. Staff decided to use this survey for a month and then compile data to analyze. Staff then decided to conduct this research every few months, perhaps with little tweaks to improve the survey, to continue to improve the experience of participating clients. This single group action research design was implemented by staff directly for clients that they serve and helped them get back to their mission.

More questions? See questions 13, 14, and 16.