Action Research


Book Description

Action Research is an invaluable guide to both novice and experienced researchers from a diversity of disciplines, backgrounds, and levels of study for understanding how action research works in real-life contexts. The Fifth Edition builds on the experiences of the authors by acknowledging the dramatic changes taking place in our everyday lives, including developments of social and digital media that have become central to modern life. Author Ernest T. Stringer and new co-author Alfredo Ortiz Aragón aim to provide a meaningful methodology arising from their extensive field experience for both students and practitioners. Presenting research that produces practical, effective, and sustainable outcomes to real-world problems, Action Research helps students see the value of their research in a broader context, beyond academia, to effecting change on a larger scale. Additional resources can be found at the authors’ website




The Evaluative Study of Action Research


Book Description

The Evaluative Study of Action Research presents all eight published papers as part of the six-year, global, Evaluative Study of Action Research (ESAR) in one volume. The study sought to enhance the academic rigour of Action Research (AR) and provide greater evidence of its impact. This research contained in this book shows, in a cohesive way, how the ESAR exemplifies original research incorporating new methodologies to create new knowledge. An Evaluative AR framework and indicators were created for initial qualitative data collection with six initial case studies using interviews, survey, documentary analysis, and Goal Attainment Scaling methods. The initial study was followed by a large-scale mixed method survey with 174 projects from across the globe. Almost all projects exhibited positive elements linked to AR precursors (focus clarification, stakeholder engagement, funding), processes (phased, planned yet flexible activity, data collection and analysis, ongoing collaboration and leadership), and outcomes/impacts (change, knowledge mobilisation and continuing action). The results of the ESAR, elaborated in this volume, offer important indications for how to create the sort of respectful engagement that is required for collective strength in solution based, innovative, change. This book will be a valuable resource for: action researchers throughout the world; postgraduate research students, academics and libraries; evaluators; and anyone in communities who wishes to know how to create sustainable change.




The SAGE Encyclopedia of Action Research


Book Description

Action research is a term used to describe a family of related approaches that integrate theory and action with a goal of addressing important organizational, community, and social issues together with those who experience them. It focuses on the creation of areas for collaborative learning and the design, enactment and evaluation of liberating actions through combining action and research, reflection and action in an ongoing cycle of cogenerative knowledge. While the roots of these methodologies go back to the 1940s, there has been a dramatic increase in research output and adoption in university curricula over the past decade. This is now an area of high popularity among academics and researchers from various fields—especially business and organization studies, education, health care, nursing, development studies, and social and community work. The SAGE Encyclopedia of Action Research brings together the many strands of action research and addresses the interplay between these disciplines by presenting a state-of-the-art overview and comprehensive breakdown of the key tenets and methods of action research as well as detailing the work of key theorists and contributors to action research.




Second Language Acquisition in Multilingual and Mixed Ability Indian Classrooms


Book Description

This book discusses current research on learning theories and pedagogical practices in second language acquisition, and tries to bridge the gap between the two. Second language acquisition is perceived as the study of the relationship between input, intake and output in a particular task performance, and Indian classrooms are the context for the research studies in this book. The empirical studies discussed in this book are based on two tasks: seminar speech task (SST) and written test performance task (WTPT). The pedagogical practices discussed cover three specific areas: tasks, skills, and strategies. The study focuses on text input processing for written versus spoken tasks, at various levels of task performance, and for language versus information. The authors discuss, among other issues, various elements of second language speech production, teachers’ evaluation of communicative versus form-focused tasks, and task-based versus proficiency-based performance. As a study located in multilingual and mixed ability classrooms, this work provides immense insights to teacher-educators and researchers working in ESL settings with learners from diverse backgrounds.




Public Policy Analysis


Book Description

Public Policy Analysis, the most widely cited book on the subject, provides students with a comprehensive methodology of policy analysis. It starts from the premise that policy analysis is an applied social science discipline designed for solving practical problems facing public and nonprofit organizations. This thoroughly revised sixth edition contains a number of important updates: Each chapter includes an all-new "big ideas" case study in policy analysis to stimulate student interest in timely and important problems. The dedicated chapter on evidence-based policy and the role of field experiments has been thoroughly rewritten and expanded. New sections on important developments in the field have been added, including using scientific evidence in public policymaking, systematic reviews, meta-analyses, and "big data." Data sets to apply analytical techniques are included online as IBM SPSS 23.0 files and are convertible to Excel, Stata, and R statistical software programs to suit a variety of course needs and teaching styles. All-new PowerPoint slides are included to make instructor preparation easier than ever before. Designed to prepare students from a variety of academic backgrounds to conduct policy analysis on their own, without requiring a background in microeconomics, Public Policy Analysis, Sixth Edition helps students develop the practical skills needed to communicate findings through memos, position papers, and other forms of structured analytical writing. The text engages students by challenging them to critically analyze the arguments of policy practitioners as well as political scientists, economists, and political philosophers.







Action Research, Innovation and Change


Book Description

Action research continues to see a growth in interest both internationally and across disciplines. This book demonstrates the diversity in settings and focus for action research and provides a guide to its core aspiration: to achieve principled change. Written by authors from a range of countries and range of disciplines (including education, health care, palliative care, social work and community development), this book answers these key questions: How can action research be used to achieve principled change? How has action research been applied in various disciplines and in different countries? What can be learnt about the conduct of action research from these diverse settings? By means of detailed case studies of successful projects and discussions that challenge and raise theoretical questions, this book explores some of the contemporary cutting edge applications and conceptualisations of action research. Action research paves the way for the empowerment of people involved in social action, and the examples of successful change processes that are the core of this book will prove inspirational and provide practical advice. Written by a range of leading international researchers in the field, this book will define the future for action research for years to come.




Software Technology


Book Description

A comprehensive collection of influential articles from one of IEEE Computer magazine’s most popular columns This book is a compendium of extended and revised publications that have appeared in the “Software Technologies” column of IEEE Computer magazine, which covers key topics in software engineering such as software development, software correctness and related techniques, cloud computing, self-managing software and self-aware systems. Emerging properties of software technology are also discussed in this book, which will help refine the developing framework for creating the next generation of software technologies and help readers predict future developments and challenges in the field. Software Technology provides guidance on the challenges of developing software today and points readers to where the best advances are being made. Filled with one insightful article after another, the book serves to inform the conversation about the next wave of software technology advances and applications. In addition, the book: Introduces the software landscape and challenges associated with emerging technologies Covers the life cycle of software products, including concepts, requirements, development, testing, verification, evolution, and security Contains rewritten and updated articles by leaders in the software industry Covers both theoretical and practical topics Informative and thought-provoking throughout, Software Technology is a valuable book for everyone in the software engineering community that will inspire as much as it will teach all who flip through its pages.




Action Research for Educators


Book Description

This book is a straightforward, no-nonsense guide to a research method that can be used by educators to increase student learning, student self-esteem, and quality of school life in the classroom. This user-friendly book covers the principles and history of action research, ethical and legal considerations, methods for conducting both formal and informal action research, data collection methods, analysis and interpretation, action planning and initiation, and results evaluation. The author includes numerous examples, strategies, and illustrations that can be applied to elementary and secondary schools as well as university settings.