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

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