Handbook of Action Research

With the Handbook of Action Research hailed as a turning point in how action research is framed and understood by scholars, this student edition has been structured to provide an easy inroad into the field for researchers and students. It includes concise chapter summaries and an informative introduction that draws together the different strands of action research and reveals their diverse applications as well as their interrelations.

Divided into four parts, there are important themes of thinking and practice running throughout:
Part I reviews the range of paradigms and metatheories, the perspectives, values and epistemologies that inform the different practices of action research.
Part II represents the diverse approaches to action research and the range of methodologies.
Part III shows how different researchers have applied the various different groundings and practices in their own work.
Part IV addresses some of the competencies that may be required for the initiation and conduct of the research.

All students and researchers interested in Action Research will make this Handbook their first point of reference when seeking means of engaging with the subject.

I retired in 2009 from an academic career at the University of Bath in which my primary contribution was to the theory and practice of participatory action research. I was Director of the Centre for Action Research in Professional Practice (CARPP) and co-founder of the MSc in Responsibility and Business Practice. In these programmes we pioneered graduate education based on collaborative, experiential and action-oriented forms of inquiry.

Hilary Bradbury Huang, Ph.D., is Professor in the Management Division of Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU). Her research, scholarly activism and teaching focus on the human and organizational dimensions of creating healthy communities. At OHSU she teaches in the healthcare MBA and physician leadership development programs.  She also develops the action research approach to Community Based Participatory Research for Health. 

Hilary is editor-in-chief of Action Research Journal.  She co-edited the bestselling Handbook of Action Research (Sage, 2001; 2008) with Peter Reason.  Her journal articles have appeared in Organization Science, Sloan Management Review & Journal of Management Inquiry, among others. Previously Hilary was Research Associate Professor at University of Southern California and Director of Sustainable Business Research at the Center for Sustainable Cities. Before that she was Associate Professor of Organizational Behavior at Case Western Reserve University.  She lives with her family in Portland, OR.
Hilary Bradbury, Ph.D., is Director of Sustainable Business Programs at University of Southern California Center for Sustainable Cities, www.sustainablecities.edu. She brings her expertise in action research to work with businesses on issues of sustainability. Prior to this she was Associate Professor of Organizational Behavior at Case Western Reserve University| Weatherhead School of Management in Cleveland, Ohio. She has published widely in journals including Organization Science and Academy of Management Executive. She is editor of Action Research and co-editor with Peter Reason of the bestselling Handbook of Action Research (Sage, 2001, 2006, 2008). Hilary is multi lingual, having grown up in Ireland and having worked in Germany, Switzerland and Japan. She lives in LA with her family. The project that takes most of her time now is SEER (Sustainable Enterprise Executive Roundtable). SEER enables collaborative learning among Southern California business leaders so that more sustainable practices result, benefiting the environment and the bottom line, through projects that promote sustainable development.SEER is committed to developing actionable knowledge and measurable positive impact. www.seer.net. Also see: www.Bradbury-Huang.net.