Action Research

 

At the International Federation for Information Processing conference last year in Philadelphia, presenters generally agreed that qualitative approaches to information systems research are finally gaining acceptance. Such approaches include grounded theory, ethnography, and case study. At the conference, Lynne Markus of Claremont Graduate University, who for years has advocated qualitative research methods, declared, "We have won the war, let us celebrate." She did not mean, however, that quantitative research, in the form of, say, mathematical modeling, statistical analysis, and laboratory experiments, represents an enemy or is bad research and is now defeated, but that qualitative approaches are now accepted as equal in value to quantitative approaches when used appropriately.

Action research combines theory and practice (and researchers and practitioners) through change and reflection in an immediate problematic situation within a mutually acceptable ethical framework. Action research is an iterative process involving researchers and practitioners acting together on a particular cycle of activities, including problem diagnosis, action intervention, and reflective learning.

We use information systems as the exemplar of how to benefit from action research methods, though software engineering and systems science, among others, could be used because their application domains also include real organizations. For developing information systems, action research has already made five key contributions:

• The Multiview contingent systems development framework [2];
• The soft systems methodology.
• The Tavistock School's sociotechnical design.
• Scandinavian research efforts intended to empower trade unions and strengthen the bargaining positions of users in systems development.

The Effective Technical and Human Implementation of Computer-based Systems (ETHICS) participative and ethical approach to information systems development.

Conventional systems analysis approaches, such as structured analysis and data analysis, emphasize the "hard" aspects of the problem domain, that is, the certain and the precise. A hard approach is prescriptive and might be applied fairly consistently between organizations and within organizations.