Human Inquiry in Action: Developments in New Paradigm Research

Over the past years distinctive new approaches to research into human affairs have been developed and applied throughout the world. These initiatives--variously called cooperative, collaborative, participatory and experimental research--share certain features in common. They see research as a collaborative process, researching with and for, rather than on people. Human Inquiry in Action presents both an up-to-date assessment of the state of theoretical and methodological debates in collaborative human research, and provides a summary of projects undertaken using collaborative methodologies. In particular, the contributors address some of the difficulties involved with the collaborative approach. When the researcher is no longer separated from the researched, questions about how to collaborate and how to manage power relations become important. And, when people are inquiring into their personal experience, questions of subjectivity and validity are raised. These methodological problems are addressed in the first half of the book, while the remainder of Human Inquiry in Action attempts to resolve them in research contexts. An important practical sourcebook for new ways of understanding research, Human Inquiry in Action is essential reading for researchers in all social science disciplines interested in humanistic methods. "As an example of practical epistemology, this work is refreshing. It is down to earth, politically motivated and applied. It is about collaborative research inquiry with and for people, and the development of an alternative methodology for research in the social sciences." --MetaScience

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.