TIPRR 6

This is a longish post (sorry Jeff):

Okay, so I have now learned that the actual formulation of a research question is a particular weakness of mine. Lucky for me, Berg says, “your research idea should flow into a potential research question that may continue to shift, change, and take form as the research process unfolds.” Thus, I give you my very humble attempt at a “refined” ethnographic question on Erika’s behalf:

How, if at all, do BYU students gain greater community awareness from participating in Hands on a Camera projects?

Now that I have written that, I would like to broach specifically the area of action research.

As I read the chapter on action research I became quickly aware that what I do every day, and have for years, is action research. Let me tell you a story to illustrate.

Only a few months ago I began a new job as Call Center Manager for a small, recently organized call center. My first order of business was to gain an understanding of how the organization was currently designed to meet previously defined goals, and to understand what those goals were (what, how, who, when, and where questions). I defined first a series of questions bent on gaining a better understanding of the organization that I began asking and informing in a focus group with primary stakeholders, then down the chain in both focus groups and informal meetings. This has led to an ongoing collaboration of in-group forums and agencies, and a few community group meetings, both formal and informal. I have to keep a pulse on the organization as a whole to understand what is happening as decisions are made and improvement tactics and strategies are implemented.

From the reading, I have learned that my subsequent “research methods” have been a combination of two modes of action research: practical/mutual collaborative/deliberate mode and emancipating or empowering/enhancing/critical science mode. From a business standpoint, what I do for organizations is build long-term, self-managed learning organizations. I'm an educator. From an academic researcher standpoint, I do action research. Upon gathering and analyzing data, I felt it important to begin empowering management and other stakeholders with a common vocabulary through the use of “book club” discussions that helped to enlighten stakeholders concerning applicable theory. I have taken a specific model of organizational behavior (organizational systems design) to empower the decision-making framework and begin the action part of action research. Therefore, I have learned, thought, and implemented action plans with a highly participatory, purposefully reflexive research, the whole “project” “carried out with a team approach that includes a researcher and members of some organization, community, or network…who collectively are seeking to improve the organization or situation of participants…an effort at creating a positive social change in the lives of the stakeholders.” We do everything that Berg mentions. I could go into greater detail, but this long post would be longer for it. Apparently, unbeknownst to me, I am a professional action researcher and have been for years. I feel very cool!

With regard to Glori’s thesis (which was tremendously interesting to me, by the way) it was enlightening to read the chapters and then go to her thesis because her organization was useful in understanding Berg’s action research principles. She gave us a theoretical/historical background to set the stage, discussed the methodologies and why they were used, reviewed the data collected, and examined and drew conclusions from the action research. This alone was useful to me, much less her conclusions that blogging (active interest in reading/writing English) helps ELLs and her suggestion to do ethnographic research to explore social interaction between cultures on the Internet. Okay – I’ve said too much. Thanks for reading!