The success or failure of an action research venture often depends on what happens at the beginning of the inquiry process: in the way access is established, and on how participants and co-researchers are engaged early on. ‘Opening communicative space’ is important because, however we base our theory and practice of action research, the first steps are fateful. We draw on Habermas’s theorizing of the boundary-crises between system and lifeworld to explore the theory behind the idea of communicative space. We attempt to bring these abstract concepts to life, and to illustrate key aspects of action research practice through a review of some of the key challenges, opportunities, and paradoxes which emerge in the early stages of action research projects. Drawing on the literature and on exemplars, we show how the process of opening communicative space can be mapped onto a theory of group development that suggests a progression through phases of inclusion, control, and intimacy. Furthermore, we review an example of third-person action research to illustrate some of the issues raised by the need for both external and internal validation. We conclude that the practices of opening communicative space are necessarily paradoxical, and put forward a list of paradoxes with which facilitators and initiators of action research may need to engage in the start-up phases of their work.
Baker Collins, S. ( 2005). An understanding of poverty from those who are poor. Action Research, 3(1), 9-32.
2.
Bion, W.R. ( 1959). Experiences in groups. London: Tavistock.
3.
Chandler, D., & Torbert, W.R. ( 2003). Transforming inquiry and action by interweaving 27 flavors of action research. Action Research, 1(2), 133-152.
4.
Chowns, G. ( 2008). ‘No - you don’t know how we feel’: Collaborative inquiry using children facing the life-threatening illness of a parent. In P. Reason & H. Bradbury (Eds.), Sage handbook of action research: Participative inquiry and practice (2nd ed., pp. 562-572). London: Sage.
5.
Coleman, G., & Gearty, M. ( 2007). Making space for difference: the CARPP approach to action research. International Journal of Action Research, 3(1/2), 190-214.
6.
Devereaux, G. ( 1967). From anxiety to method in the behavioural sciences. The Hague: Mouton.
7.
Douglas, C. ( 2002). Using co-operative inquiry with black women managers: Exploring possibilities for moving from surviving to thriving. Systemic Practice and Action Research, 15, 249-262.
8.
Fine, M., & Torre, M.E. ( 2006). Intimate details: Participatory action research in prison . Action Research, 4(3), 253-269.
9.
Frank, A. ( 2000). Notes on Habermas: Lifeworld and system. Retrieved February 22, 2009, from http://www.ucalgary.ca/~frank/habermas.html
10.
Freire, P. ( 1970). Pedagogy of the oppressed. New York : Herder & Herder.
11.
Gayá Wicks, P. ( 2006). Repose: A personal and relational foundation for responding to ecological challenges. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Bath.
12.
Gelber, K. ( 2002). Speaking back: The free speech versus hate speech debate . Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
13.
Gustavsen, B. ( 2001). Theory and practice: The mediating discourse. In P. Reason & H. Bradbury (Eds.), Handbook of action research: Participative inquiry and practice (pp. 17-26). London: SAGE.
14.
Gustavsen, B. ( 2003). Action research and the problem of the single case. Concepts and Transformation, 8(1), 93-99.
15.
Gustavsen, B., Hansson, A., & Qvale, T. ( 2008). Action research and the challenge of scope. In P. Reason & H. Bradbury (Eds.), SAGE handbook of action research: Participative inquiry and practice (2nd ed., pp. 63-76). London : SAGE.
16.
Habermas, J. ( 1975). Legitimation crisis. Boston, MA: Beacon Press.
17.
Habermas, J. ( 1984). The theory of communicative action: Volume 1 - Reason and the rationalization of society (trans. Thomas McCarthy). Boston, MA: Beacon Press.
18.
Heron, J. ( 1996). Co-operative inquiry: Research into the human condition . London: SAGE.
19.
Heron, J., & Reason, P. (Eds.). (1985). Whole person medicine: A co-operative inquiry: London: British Postgraduate Medical Federation, University of London.
20.
Heron, J., & Reason, P. ( 2001). The practice of co-operative inquiry: Research with rather than on people. In P. Reason & H. Bradbury (Eds.), Handbook of action research: Participative inquiry and practice (pp. 179-188). London: SAGE.
21.
hooks, b. ( 1984). Black women: Shaping feminist theory. In Feminist theory from margin to center (pp. 1-15). Boston, MA: South End Press.
22.
Johansson, A.W., & Lindhult, E. ( 2008). Emancipation or workability? Critical versus pragmatic scientific orientation in action research. Action Research , 6(1), 95-115.
23.
Kemmis, S. ( 2001). Exploring the relevance of critical theory for action research: Emancipatory action research in the footsteps of Jürgen Habermas . In P. Reason & H. Bradbury (Eds.), Handbook of action research: Participative inquiry and practice (pp. 91-102). London: SAGE.
24.
Lewin, K. ( 1946/1948). Action research and minority problems . In G. W. Lewin (Ed.), Resolving social conflicts (pp. 201-216). New York: Harper & Row.
25.
Ludema, J.D., Cooperrider, D.L., & Barrett, F.J. ( 2001). Appreciative inquiry: The power of the unconditional positive question. In P. Reason & H. Bradbury (Eds.), Handbook of action research: Participative inquiry and practice (pp. 189-199). London: SAGE.
26.
Mackewn, J. ( 2008). Facilitation as action research in the moment. In P. Reason & H. Bradbury (Eds.), SAGE handbook of action research: Participative inquiry and practice (2nd edn, pp. 615-628). London: SAGE.
27.
Marshall, J. ( 2004). Matching form to content in educating for sustainability: The masters (MSc) in responsibility and business practice. In C. Galea (Ed.), Teaching business sustainability: From theory to practice, part 1, pp. 196-208. Sheffield: Greenleaf Publishing.
28.
Marshall, J., & Mead, G. ( 2005). Special issue: Self-reflective practice and first-person action research. Action Research, 3(4), 233-332.
29.
Marshall, J., & Reason, P. ( 2008). Taking an attitude of inquiry. In B. Boog, J. Preece, M. Slagter & J. Zeelen (Eds.), Towards quality improvement of action research: Developing ethics and standards (pp. 61-82). Rotterdam: Sense Publishers.
30.
Martin, A.W. ( 2008). Action research on a large scale: Issues and practices . In P. Reason & H. Bradbury (Eds.), SAGE handbook of action research: Participative inquiry and practice (2nd edn, pp. 394-406). London: SAGE.
31.
McArdle, K.L. ( 2002). Establishing a co-operative inquiry group: The perspective of a ‘first-time’ inquirer. Systemic Practice and Action Research, 15(3), 177-189.
32.
McCarthy T. ( 1984). Translator’s Introduction. In J. HabermasThe theory of communicative action: Volume 1 - Reason and the rationalization of society, pp. vii-xxxix). Boston, MA: Beacon Press.
33.
Mead, G. ( 2008). Muddling through: Facing the challenges of managing a large-scale action research project. In P. Reason & H. Bradbury (Eds.), SAGE handbook of action research: Participative inquiry and practice (2nd edn, pp. 629-642). London: SAGE.
34.
Morrow, R.A., & Torres, C.A. ( 2002). Reading Freire and Habermas: Critical pedagogy and transformative social change. New York: Teachers College Press.
35.
Mullett, J., Jung, K., & Hills, M. ( 2004). Being, becoming and belonging: Getting to ambassadorship, a new metaphor for living and collaborating in community. Action Research, 2(2), 145-165.
36.
Nolan, P. ( 2005). From first-person inquiry to radical social action. Action Research, 4(3), 315-332.
37.
Pimbert, M., & Wakeford, T. ( 2003). Prajateerpu, power and knowledge: The politics of action research in development. Part 1. Context, process and safeguardsAction Research, 1(2), 184-207.
38.
Randall, R., & Southgate, J. ( 1980). Co-operative and community group dynamics ... or your meetings needn’t be so appalling. London: Barefoot Books.
39.
Reason, P. ( 1988). Whole person medical practice. In P. Reason (Ed.), Human inquiry in action (pp. 102-126). London: SAGE.
40.
Reason, P. ( 1999). General medical and complementary practitioners working together: The epistemological demands of collaboration. Journal of Applied Behavioural Science, 35(1), 71-86.
41.
Reason, P., & Bradbury, H. ( 2001a). Inquiry and participation in search of a world worthy of human aspiration. In P. Reason & H. Bradbury (Eds.), Handbook of action research: Participative inquiry and practice (pp. 1-14). London: SAGE.
42.
Reason, P., & Bradbury, H. (Eds.). (2001b). Handbook of action research: Participative inquiry and practice. London: SAGE.
43.
Reason, P., & Bradbury, H. (Eds.). (2008). SAGE handbook of action research: Participative inquiry and practice (2nd edn). London: SAGE.
44.
Reason, P., & Goodwin, B.C. ( 1999). Toward a science of qualities in organizations: Lessons from complexity theory and postmodern biology. Concepts and Transformations, 4(3), 281-317.
45.
Reason, P., & Riley, S. ( 2007). Co-operative inquiry: An action research practice. Qualitative psychology: A practical guide to research methods, 2nd edn. London: SAGE.
46.
Reason, P., & Torbert, W.R. ( 2001). The action turn: Toward a transformational social science . Concepts and Transformations, 6(1), 1-37.
47.
Rorty, R. ( 1999). Philosophy and social hope. London : Penguin.
48.
Rushforth, C. ( 2009) Paradigms, paradoxes and sublime persuasion. MSc project, Responsibility and Business Practice, Centre for Action Research in Professional Practice, University of Bath.
49.
Schutz, W. ( 1958). FIRO: A three-dimensional theory of interpersonal behavior . New York: Reinhart and Co.
50.
Schutz, W. ( 1994). The human element: Productivity, self esteem and the bottom line. San Francisco, CA: Jossey Bass.
51.
Shaw, P. ( 2002). Changing conversations in organizations: A complexity approach to change. London: Routledge .
52.
Srivastva, S., Obert, S.L., & Neilson, E. ( 1977). Organizational analysis through group processes: A theoretical perspective. In C. L. Cooper (Ed.), Organizational development in the UK and USA (pp. 83-111). London : Macmillan.
53.
Treleaven, L. ( 1994). Making a space: A collaborative inquiry with women as staff development. In P. Reason (Ed.), Participation in human inquiry (pp. 138-162). London: SAGE.
54.
Tuckman, B. W. (1965) Developmental sequence in small groups. Psychological Bulletin, 63, 384-399. Wadsworth, Y. (2005). ‘Beloved Bangladesh’: A western glimpse of participatory action research and the animator-resource work of Research Initiatives Bangladesh. Action Research, 3(4), 417-435.
55.
Whitmore, E., & McKee, C. ( 2001). Six street youth who could . . . In P. Reason & H. Bradbury (Eds.), Handbook of action research: Participative inquiry and practice (1st edn). London : SAGE.
