The Fourth Edition of this best-selling book is packed full of practical, expert advice on how to navigate the murky waters of ethics, politics and management in your own organization. Multidisciplinary in its approach to action research, the book sets out a step-by-step template for researchers to follow and adapt. Coghlan and The book and supporting companion website are the ideal resource for students, researchers and practitioners hoping to generate real change through their action research project and will be particularly relevant to those studying Business and Management, Nursing and Health, Education and Sociology.
While I rate this book quite high, I cannot call it entertaining. In truth, I would not have read if I did not have to complete an action research project as part of my masters degree. But, since I had to read it, I tried to approach it with as open mind as possible. Here's what I came up with...
From a purely technical and grammatical standpoint, the book is well written, easy to read, and goes as far as it can go to making the topic interesting. I particularly like that it doesn't try to say too much. By this I mean that the authors keep the book succinct and present the important information - if it's in this book, it's worth remembering. Further, the use of bullet lists, boxes, etc. keep the pace up while reading. It doesn't bore the reader as many textbooks do.
The book presents common sense advice. We could all have probably written it based on our own intuition. But with a tool like this, we can document why our intuition is appropriate and we can explain some of the more abstract, conceptual exclusions we may make in an action research project.
My kudos to you if you are willing to undertake an action research project on your own (I may do a modified form of it at work, but not for pleasure!). If you do and you'd like a good, solid resource that will guide you through some of the uncertainty you are likely to face, then this book is for you.
Kurt Lewin is often known as the originator of Action Research. The approach developed exponentially with time and the more you know about the concept the more you become aware of the importance of actively observing and reflecting on your surrounding. This book, brings in another aspect of action research: how do you implement it on your own organization where you are an active figure in its day-today operations?
A useful guide to the theory and practical aspect of action research.
It gave me the framework of my MBA dissertation, so my sense of relief and gratitude is doubtless a bias. A great overview (and source of quotations) for research that takes a situated approach.