The Action Research Dissertation: A Guide for Students and Faculty

by Kathryn Herr, Gary L. Anderson

The Action Research A Guide for Students and Faculty 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.

Genres: Research, Nonfiction, Education, Research Methods, Reference, Academic

176 pages, Paperback

First published December 29, 2004

Reviews

[Jess · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'd like to hug Herr and Anderson for writing this book. I have been plagued by all kinds of doubts and insecurities, running around calling myself a "poor-excuse for a grad student" because of my commitment to prioritizing my work on-the-ground. I've read plenty on the various strands of Participatory Action Research (PAR) and done some reflection, but I still felt muddled.

The book speaks directly to doctoral students who embrace an action research paradigm. For me every page was like a sigh of relief: the clear framework to understand different approaches to PAR, concrete examples from other students who have "done it," and practical advice -- everything from dealing with dissertation committees to approaching IRB. I had gotten pretty far in thinking about my dissertation approach based purely on intuition and cobbling together my own reading, but this book gave me tools to organize my scattered thoughts.

It's going to be a lot of work, but now at least I know better where I'm going.

[Tab · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a required text for a doctoral research design class. The book provides a brief overview of an action research dissertation. It would be a good introduction for anyone considering an action research design. I read the title on Sage Publications online via my University Library, which was convenient.

[Noel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Helpful, practical info for those who want to incorporate AR or PAR into their dissertation research.

[Alicia Weaver · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good for the course I took on action research.

[Shauna · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a good introduction to how to conduct AR. It gives helpful insights on how to structure, conduct and present AR. Herr also presents dilemmas/questions that each researcher will have to address during the course of research and presents multiple perspectives within the AR tradition as well as the larger qualitative and quantitative traditions to give a clue on how others have approached these issues on i.e. methodology, ethics, validity etc.

[Patrick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting and a fairly easy read considering the subject matter. It takes a "critical" perspective most of the time, as in agitating for researchers to be social change agents. I'm not sure how into that I am. I support research which makes positive change in the world, but I just want to learn a little and be a better teacher.

[Alexandra Chauran · Rating 4 out of 5]

I will be writing a traditional dissertation, not an action research dissertation, so this book didn't exactly pertain to me. That said, this book was very well written and did give me some considerations to think about for all such research.

[Mills College Library]

300.72 H564 2015

[Erica Anderson Woolridge · Rating 5 out of 5]

I liked the detail given to how to begin working through your dissertation. I am sure that I will be using it throughout my 3 year journey.