Thumbs up for action research in case studies from the Evaluative Study of Action Research

Leadership within action research: Surfacing the collective nature of leadership

“…Regardless of change intent or flexibility, we also signal that data collection (rigorous when required) and theory generation are commonly expressed elements of AR (Piggot-Irvine et al, 2015;Reason & Bradbury, 2008). It has also been reported recently (Piggot-Irvine et al, 2018) that an emerging trend in AR data collection is mixed methods (MMs), an approach adopted in the design in the ESAR. Such a trend to MM is also increasingly indicated in the writings of varied authors such as Ivankova (2015), Marti (2015), Mayoh and Onwuegbuzie (2015), Pearce (2016) and Strambler and McKown (2013).…”

“…The investigation of leadership within AR projects reported in this article draws upon all case study and survey ESAR data. Rather than repeating the overall methodological detail, in summary, the design, participant selection, methods employed and data analysis are comprehensively described in previous publications (see Piggot-Irvine et al, 2018).…”

“…One-on-one interviews (interview prompts are included in Appendix A1) and focus groups followed the long survey, as well as a GAS tool (Piggot-Irvine et al, 2018) employed to consolidate and triangulate findings in the case studies.…”

“…Results of the overall outcomes and impacts from the case studies are reported in Piggot-Irvine et al (2018), and the reader is referred to that rather than repeating the diverse outcomes here. In brief, strong results have been reported in terms of creating and strengthening networks, enhancing collaboration and relationships both within the project team and with stakeholders (16 of the 18 respondents in long survey in the case studies).…”

“…As part of the overarching aim in the evaluative study of action research AR (ESAR), we were motivated to advance knowledge and understanding of some of the elements that enhance AR. A selection of our previous publications has comprehensively reported on the design and overall findings from the ESAR (e.g., Piggot-Irvine, Rowe, & Ferkins, 2018). In this article, our goal is to focus on the specific leadership findings from the ESAR data, which demonstrated the importance of that topic in AR at project precursor or preparation, process, outcome and impact stages.…”