Writing and Doing Action Research
- Jean McNiff - Independent Academic Consultant
Action Research | Action Research/Practitioner Inquiry | Qualitative Research (General)
Written for practitioners involved in higher degree courses and professional development programmes, and students undertaking methods courses, this book includes guidance on how to:
- Carry out an action research project in your setting
- Present your findings in a dissertation, report or thesis
- Write up your research with an eye to informing policy
- Demonstrate the quality of your research and writing
- Be critical and write theoretically
- Write for journals and prepare thesis and book proposals
The book contains excerpts taken from action research projects in a range of settings and presents exercises to help you develop successful written accounts of your research.
Writing and Doing Action Research is an essential text for anyone working with action research, providing vital guidance on the preparation and production of texts, how this type of work is assessed and enabling you to get the best results from your research.
The leading expert in practitioner research, Jean McNiff ensures that the practice of writing, as well as the practice of research, is beautifully revealed.
In this accessible and inspiring book Jean McNiff draws on a lifetime's experience of working on collaborative action research projects around the world in many different institutional settings and professional contexts. Writing and Doing Action Research provides a clear and staged introduction to action research methodology and offers sound advice on writing for publication and dissemination. While grounded in the relevant methodological literature it speaks directly and with passion to its readership. Students and practitioners alike will find this an invaluable resource.
The book is a useful addition for those completing masters or doctoral degrees, and early career researchers. It is also a useful text for those who
are encountering research, and specifically action research, for the first time to support the emergent researcher to develop academic and writing skills congruent with authenticity and beliefs. However, it is also an important social research text as it reminds us of the power for transformation and change through academic writing.
By the end of the introduction, I had been won over by the author’s assertion that I should “be confident to contribute to human and planetary well-being through dialogue”, somewhat comforted by the romantic view of myself as an “activist writer”. By the final page, I am convinced that it is time to take the first steps down the “tough road” of sufficient self-education to re-engage and start writing about my practice. This book is both a valuable resource for the action researcher and a call to action for the practitioner: whatever your practice, start writing and doing action research.
This is an outstanding book by an author who keeps on extending and communicating her expertise in a manner that is informative and enabling. The students and I have found it very user friendly and accessible while stretching and challenging all. I can't recommend this highly enough
Useful supplementary text for those undergraduates who are doing action research as part of their self study project.
Good supplementary books for pre-reg nursing student
This is a really useful introduction to Action Research and I am recommending it to all my Postgraduate Certificate in Academic Practice students (HE lecturers).
Specific text not generally appropriate to students not already on a research degree
Very useful on how to write up action research.
Sample Materials & Chapters
Ch 1: What Do You Need to Know About Action Research in Order to Write it?
