Review Essay: From Local Practices to Public Knowledge: Action Research as Scientific Contribution

Authors

  • Joel Martí Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.17169/fqs-9.3.989

Keywords:

action research, dissertations, university, quality, positionality, participation

Abstract

In recent years action research has been gradually introduced into academic thought, giving impetus to contributions such as The Action Research Dissertation, specifically aimed at doing and reporting doctoral research based on this methodology. Beyond purely instrumental aspects (contributing criteria and tools for the execution of dissertations through action research), the book raises some issues that play a fundamental role in assessing action research at the university level: its epistemological bases, researchers' positionality, quality criteria, and the ways in which the process is narrated. This review essay introduces the debate (Section 1), reviews the chapters of the book (Section 2), and notes its contributions to this ongoing discussion and where it falls short, and, more generally, on the relation between universities, action research, and social practices (Section 3). URN: urn:nbn:de:0114-fqs080320

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Author Biography

Joel Martí, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona

Joel MARTÍ is professor of sociology in Autonomous University of Barcelona since 1995. His research interest covers participatory research, discourse analysis, social networks analysis and other topics related to social research methods.

Published

2008-07-12

How to Cite

Martí, J. (2008). Review Essay: From Local Practices to Public Knowledge: Action Research as Scientific Contribution. Forum Qualitative Sozialforschung Forum: Qualitative Social Research, 9(3). https://doi.org/10.17169/fqs-9.3.989

Issue

Section

FQS Reviews