week 7 replies

100 words each reply

D1

Reply to calyl

1.    Teacher Action Research: Practitioners (teachers, social workers, etc.) systematically investigate issues relevant to their own profession.   Pros: Highly relevant to real-world contexts; allows for immediate application of findings. Cons: May lack the broader theoretical generalizability of academic research; can be time-consuming for practitioners.

2.    Design-Based Research (DBR): a multi-phase, iterative process of creating, testing, and refining interventions in real-life settings to generate both practical knowledge and theoretical explanations.   Pros: Bridges the gap between laboratory theory and real-world application; produces evidence-based, locally usable knowledge. Cons: Requires significant time for multiple iterations and ongoing data analysis.

3.    Participatory Action Research (PAR): Blurs the line between researcher and participant; those being studied are active partners in the design, analysis, and reporting. Pros: Incorporates diverse perspectives; empowers participants; ensures findings are grounded in the community’s lived experience.   Cons: Can be complex to manage; requires balancing diverse and sometimes contradictory viewpoints.  

4.    Community-Based Research (CBR): Conducted in partnership with community organizations to address local issues. Pros: Increases the likelihood that findings will be integrated into community practice; fosters local ownership. Cons: Requires a long-term commitment and, in the case of CBPR, extensive training for non-researcher partners.

    To investigate the correlation between vocational training during incarceration and recidivism rates among nonviolent offenders, Design-Based Research (DBR) is the most effective methodology.  DBR is characterized by its “multiphase iterative design,” which involves conducting and refining interventions based on ongoing evidence.  Some action-oriented research designs have a strong participatory element. That is, action researchers may work in close collaboration with certain stakeholders—people who have a definite interest in a research project, usually because they will in some way be affected by the outcome of the project and might even have an important role in supporting the success of any innovations and other changes undertaken as a result of the project. (Ormrod, 2023, p.316)     In the context of recidivism, a static study would fail to account for the complex, real-world variables inherent in correctional environments.  DBR allows researchers to implement a vocational program, assess its impact on recidivism within the first 24 months, and then “tweak” the program based on what works.  This iterative cycle is essential because correctional outcomes are influenced by diverse factors, such as program quality, institutional culture, and post-release support. (Davis, 2013) By using DBR, researchers can create a “bridge” between theoretical models of rehabilitation and the practical realities in prison life, ensuring the intervention is not just a laboratory experiment but a functional tool for reducing recidivism.       Furthermore, DBR is uniquely suited to this topic; it aims to yield both “practical knowledge and theoretical explanations.”  As the researcher modifies the vocational curriculum based on the 24-month recidivism data, they develop a deeper understanding of why certain training modules succeed or fail.  This aligns with the DBR goal of making evidence-based claims about developmental processes in real-life contexts. (Wilson, 2000) By continuously refining the intervention, the researcher can move beyond simple correlation to identify the specific components of vocational training that effectively facilitate successful integration.  The ways in which results and findings from action-oriented studies are disseminated to a larger audience also set them apart from more traditional forms of research. Whereas the primary vehicles for sharing findings of traditional quantitative, qualitative, and mixed-methods studies are articles in peer-reviewed journals, academic monographs, book chapters, and conference presentations, the results of action research studies are apt to be reported in other ways as well. (Ormrod, 2023, p. 317)

1. Ormrod, Jeanne E. Practical Research: Design and Process. Available from: Columbia College (13th Edition). Pearson Education (US), 2023. 2. Davis, L.M., et al. (2013). Evaluating the Effectiveness of Correctional Education: A Meta-Analysis of Programs that Provide Education to Incarcerated Adults.  3.  Wilson, D.B., et al. (2000). The Effectiveness of Correctional Education: A Systematic Review. Journal of Experimental Criminology.  

D1 reply to Tammy

As analyzed by educational psychologist Jeanne Ellis Ormrod (2020), action research provides practitioners, educators, and community leaders with highly systematic, reflective pathways to investigate and resolve critical challenges within their professional settings. Among the prominent frameworks in this field are teacher research, design based research, participatory action research, and community based research, each carrying distinct operational profiles, advantages, and limitations. Teacher research, which can be widely adapted as practitioner research for clinical, social work, or field settings, involves individual professionals systematically studying their own practices to solve immediate, localized problems. The primary advantage of this localized practitioner approach is its high level of direct relevance and immediate utility in daily operations, though it is often limited by its narrow scope, potential for investigator bias, and results that cannot easily be generalized to other settings. Design based research is a collaborative, iterative methodology where researchers and practitioners co design, implement, and refine specific intervention tools or procedural designs in real world environments (McKenney and Reeves, 2018). This approach excels at bridging the gap between abstract systemic theory and concrete practice, but it is highly demanding, requiring substantial time, institutional resources, and multiple cycles of testing and revision. Consequently, choosing the right framework depends heavily on the specific goals of the investigator and the resources available to them.

Participatory action research focuses on democratizing the inquiry process by engaging the individuals being studied, such as system participants or marginalized groups, as equal partners throughout the entire research cycle (McIntyre, 2014). This design is highly empowering and fosters deep participant buy in, yet it can be difficult to manage due to shifting power dynamics, varying levels of research literacy among participants, and potential conflicts in decision making. Lastly, community based research forms collaborative partnerships between academic researchers and broader community organizations to address complex public issues. While community based research is highly effective at driving broad social justice and systemic policy changes, it often requires extensive coordination, navigating diverse stakeholder agendas, and maintaining long term trust across different institutions (Strand et al., 2014). Ultimately, both of these collaborative models trade individual control for deeper, more sustainable systemic impact within the community.

When considering these four frameworks, community based research emerges as the most effective design for my chosen research topic of evaluating and improving the implementation of a Crisis Intervention Team within local law enforcement and mental health partnerships. Because a Crisis Intervention Team relies entirely on the complex intersection of police officers, psychiatric emergency medical staff, mental health advocates, and individuals experiencing acute psychological distress, the topic cannot be effectively studied in isolation. A community based research design allows us to gather data from all relevant community stakeholders, ensuring that the evaluation of the crisis response is comprehensive and culturally sensitive. While this design is far more complex to coordinate than individual practitioner research, its ability to unite diverse community voices ensures that the resulting protocols are both safe and highly practical. By placing collaborative community partnerships at the center of the inquiry, community based research honors the complexity of public safety and mental health, ensuring that systematic data collection directly improves the safety, dignity, and care provided to individuals in crisis. This comprehensive approach ultimately empowers all community partners to work together to replace coercive policing tactics with supportive, clinical interventions.

References

McKenney, S. and Reeves, T. C. (2018). Conducting Educational Design Research (2nd ed.). Routledge.

McIntyre, A. (2014). Participatory Action Research. Sage Publications.

Ormrod, J. E. (2020). Our Classroom: Action Research and Reflective Practice. Pearson.

Strand, K., Marullo, S., Cutforth, N., Stoecker, R., and Donohue, P. (2014). Community Based Research and Higher Education: Principles and Practices. John Wiley and Sons.

D2 reply to Rodney

Action research data collection and analysis share three common features that distinguish them from other designs. The first feature is that the process is cyclical and iterative. Researchers collect data, analyze it, take action, and then repeat the cycle to refine their understanding and improve practice (Ormrod, 2023). This means analysis is ongoing rather than saved for the end. Each cycle informs the next, allowing researchers to adapt their methods as new insights emerge. This iterative approach keeps the study focused on continuous improvement and ensures that findings are immediately relevant to the setting.

The second feature is collaboration. Action research involves practitioners and community members as partners in deciding what data to collect and how to interpret it (Dutt et al., 2024). This shared ownership helps ensure the findings are relevant and actually used. When stakeholders participate in data analysis, they bring local knowledge that outsiders might miss. Collaboration also builds trust and increases the likelihood that recommendations will be implemented. As Dutt et al. (2024) note, action research is not done on people but with them, making the process more democratic and empowering for all involved.

The third feature is a practical, action-oriented focus. The purpose of data collection is not just to describe but to inform immediate changes in practice (Ormrod, 2023). Analysis is tied to solving a real problem, so findings are often shared with stakeholders to guide next steps. Researchers ask whether the data help improve the situation, not just whether they are statistically significant. This focus on action means that even small-scale studies can produce meaningful improvements. Together, these three features make action research a powerful tool for addressing real-world problems in education, criminal justice, and community settings.

References

Dutt, A., Blessett, B., & Wright, B. (2024). Relationships, reflection, and response: An iterative collaborative research process to address mental health inequities.  Journal of Participatory Research Methods, 5(2). 

Ormrod, J. E. (2023). Practical Research: Design and Process (13th ed.). Pearson Education (US). https://ccis.vitalsource.com/books/9780138088781

Reply to Daniela

Action research shares a lot of the data collection and analysis techniques with other research designs. It has three features that are common to all action research, however. The first of these is the use of a range of data sources. The researcher may make informal observations, conduct interviews, run focus groups, administer surveys and use documents to get a sense of the problem from a number of different angles. This enables them to gain an understanding of the participants' experiences, their needs, their attitudes and the problems they face in the context in which they are working.

The second is systematic data analysis and reflection. You organize and interpret the data you've collected to identify the key themes, the key patterns, the key events and the potential solutions. The Look–Think–Act approach of Stringer and Aragón (2021) is a good example of this, where you look at the situation, think about what you've found and then decide what you need to do. It's an iterative process in that you may well go back to your research questions and/or collect further data as a result of your analysis.

The third feature is the use of the findings to develop and implement an action plan. Rather than simply seeking to explain a phenomenon, the aim of action research is to improve the situation as it exists. The researcher works with the practitioner(s), the participants or the community to develop an intervention, implement a strategy and evaluate its effectiveness. This is the feature that is most apparent in practitioner action research, design-based research, participatory action research, community-based research and course-based action research.

In sum action research involves the use of a range of data collection techniques, reflective analysis and action in order to deal with real problems and facilitate ongoing improvement.

Reference

Stringer, E. T., & Aragón, A. O. (2021). Action research (5th ed.). Sage