David Avison, Francis Lau, Michael Myers, Peter Axel Nielsen, Action Research, Communications of the ACM, 42(1), January 1999
Richard Baskerville, Investigating IS with Action Research, Communications of the Association for Information Systems, 2(19), October 1999
Abstract
Action research is an established research method in use in the social and medical sciences since the mid-twentieth century, and has increased in importance for information systems toward the end of the 1990s. Its particular philosophic context is couched in strongly post-positivist assumptions such as idiographic and interpretive research ideals. Action research has developed a history within information systems that can be explicitly linked to early work by Lewin and the Tavistock Institute. Action research varies in form, and responds to particular problem domains. The most typical form is a participatory method based on a five-step model, which is exemplified by published IS research.
Adam Vrechopoulos, Katherine Pramataris, Georgios Doukidis, George Lekakos, An internet retailing data framework for supporting consumers and business processes, Information Systems Journal, 13, pp 353-373
Abstract
This paper describes an action research case study dealing with the development of an internet retail store with advanced capabilities. The research focuses on the exploitation of information generated through consumer–system interaction by the virtual retailer (i.e. sales, navigation and personal consumer data). The results effectively support the business processes, consumers and product suppliers. To that end, an internet retailing data framework was developed during the user requirements capturing phase of the ACTIVE (Advertising and Commerce Through the Internet in the context of the Virtual Enterprise) project, as a means of structuring the system’s information requirements and data processing mechanisms. The purpose of this framework is to describe in detail what consumer information the system needs to collect and to advise the virtual retailer (i.e. ACTIVE’s administrator) how to use the available software components to exploit this information in order to effectively support consumers and business processes. Despite the fact that the proposed framework is tailored to the ACTIVE characteristics and needs, it can also be utilized by other virtual retailers to effectively support their key stakeholders (i.e. customers and suppliers).
Philippa Levy, A methodological framework for practice-based research in networked learning, Instructional Science, 31: pp 87-109, 2003
Abstract
This paper presents a methodological framework for practice-based research in the field of networked learning, based on the author’s approach to carrying out a case study evaluation of a networked professional development initiative for information services staff in higher education. The theoretical case for the framework is made with reference to principles associated with constructivist programme evaluation as well as with interpretivist and critical traditions in action research. The purposes and politics of this approach, and the question of validation criteria for claims about its effectiveness for building theory, as well as for evaluating and improving practice, are discussed. Issues to do with using computer-mediated communication as a medium for participatory research are also raised. An overview is given of the way this research approach was implemented in practice (including the use of a combination of on-line and face-to-face data collection methods) and some methodological issues that arose in the course of carrying it out are highlighted. The paper concludes by suggesting that as a methodology for evaluating, theorising and improving practice, ‘networked action research’ also offers an approach to pedagogical design, most obviously in the context of networked professional development for educators and learner support staff.
Robert Davison, Maris Martinsons, Ned Kock, Principles of canonical action research, Information Systems Journal, 2004, 14, pp 65-86
Abstract
Despite the growing prominence of canonical action research (CAR) in the information systems discipline, a paucity of methodological guidance continues to hamper those conducting and evaluating such studies. This article elicits a set of five principles and associated criteria to help assure both the rigor and the relevance of CAR in information systems. The first principle relates to the development of an agreement that facilitates collaboration between the action researcher and the client. The second principle is based upon a cyclical process model for action research that consists of five stages: diagnosis, planning, intervention, evaluation and reflection. Additional principles highlight the critical roles of theory, change through action, and the specification of learning in terms of implications for both research and practice. The five principles are illustrated through the analysis of one recently published CAR study.
Ola Henfridsson, Rikard Lindgren, Prototypes in information systems action research
Abstract
Action research is recognized as a form of research that simultaneously seeks to create new knowledge and accomplish change in the practical situation in which it is used. These equally important objectives are often referred to as the dual goal of action research. Building on our lessons learned from two completed action research projects, this research-in-progress paper examines the role of prototypes in research attempting to overcome the commonly perceived rigor-relevance problem of action research.