Action Research

Fri Dec 5 15:09:59 PST 2008

All you folks doing academic research on OS...we've been chasing this for a
few years now and trying to get bits and pieces of research organized and in
some cases even conducted on OST.  I know there is lots of it happening and
in my fantasy world it would be gathered and linked in one place.

So we have that place, at openspaceworld.org:
http://openspaceworld.org/cgi/wiki.cgi?ResearchActivities  where some
research has alrady been collected.  A few years ago Larry Peterson, Peggy
Holman and I tried to do some research but it never really caught on.

Bottom line is that if you guys - Jamie, Sirin and others - start talking
and discovering other research that is done, or somehow you begin a series
of conversations about this topic, it would be great if you could share the
results and buttress the OST academic research component in the world.

Also Jamie, I'm in BC and most of my work is with Aboriginal communities in
Canada, and I'd be very interested to talk to you about a few initiatives
that I have going on that needs someone who can lend a research eye to using
Open Space for community governance.  We even have some SSHRC money
available for someone who would help us look at action based governance
models for urban Aboriginal communities, stemming out of work we did in
Prince George BC four years ago.  There is a post at my blog which is an
invitation to academic researchers:
http://chriscorrigan.com/parkinglot/?p=1796

Let's talk!

Chris

On Fri, Dec 5, 2008 at 7:36 AM, Sirin Bernshausen
<Sirin.Bernshausen at web.de>wrote:

> Hello Jamie,
>
> I am sorry for the delayed reply, but I really wanted to add my perspective
> to the discussion on Open Space and action research.
>
> For my PhD I am using a systemic action research (SAR) approach which I am
> particularly fond of because emergence and intuition are built into the
> research process. Several strands of inquiry are pursued alongside.
> Different kinds of knowledge   experiential, analytical, etc.   are
> co-generated among researcher and research participants. Evidence can come
> in various forms, including maps, stories, statistics, images, film or
> questionnaires. It just makes so much sense to combine systemic thinking
> with action research. Similarly, I am not interested in doing research just
> for its own sake. I prefer to conduct a form of research that contributes to
> increased knowledge and understanding of an issue while enhancing social
> transformation and whole system change.
>
> Since my research still is in its early stages and because of its emergent
> nature I cannot say an awful lot about the details yet. However, in a
> nutshell, I explore ways of enhancing attitude/behaviour change and
> facilitating resilience management in the context of climate change/peak
> oil. Initiatives like Transition Towns are use Open Space in order to engage
> people and plan for local resilience and energy descent.  Danny Burns,
> author of Systemic Action Research, explicitly mentions Open Space, World
> Café and similar  large-scale events  for developing action inquiry strands
> that may run alongside or even develop into major inquiry streams.
> Large-scale events are particularly useful for opening up new inquiry
> questions, testing resonance of issues (whether they are sufficiently
> relevant to deserve further investigation), to generate a systemic (i.e.
> diverse, multi-faceted) picture of views and opinions and to tap the
> collective wisdom present within a system.
> For my own research, I plan to use Open Space mainly for generating new
> issues and for resonance testing. In addition to Open Space I carry out
> semi-structured in-depth interviews with  change agents , explore public
> perceptions of global uncertainties and experiment with different workshop
> designs.
>
> Besides my PhD research I am also involved in a cooperative inquiry process
>   a variant of action research   where we map and reflect on the scope,
> nature and impact of conversations people have about  vulnerability  and
>  resilience . What I like about cooperative inquiry (and action research in
> general) is that it is a participatory methodology which respects the agency
> and intelligence of individuals as capable researchers rather than viewing
> research as the preserve of trained professionals. In my opinion, this
> corresponds very much with the basic premises underlying Open Space and
> similar methods. This type of inquiry can at times be rather cumbersome and
> it may not produce the type of  hard factual knowledge  that conventional
> (positivist) researchers like to see. Yet this isn t necessarily a bad thing
> - findings may be more ambiguous but they are very rich and (in my view)
> much more in line with  reality  and how people make sense of the world.
> Plus, doing an Open Spac!
>  e on, say, energy descent may generate valuable insights into people s
> thoughts and degree of awareness, while simultaneously changing people s
> views and attitudes. I thus hope to both enhance and document positive
> social change.
>
> For my MA thesis I have explored Open Space as a form of conflict
> resolution (i.e.  I just wrote about Open Space but I did not put it into
> practice - something I'd certainly do differently today!).  Jamie - I'd be
> very interested to learn more about your ideas and the evolution of your
> research ...
>
>
> Cheers, Sirin
>
>
> -------------------------
>
> Betreff:  [OSLIST] Action Research  Von:  Jamie Snook <
> jamiesnook at YAHOO.COM>
> An:  OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU  Datum:  28.11.08 14:27:28 Uhr
>
> Hi Everyone,
>
> I am new to this list. I am a MA candidate from Royal Roads University in
> Conflict Analysis and Management. The ideas of systems thinking are less
> that 6 months old to me and recently I took the step of hosting a staff
> systems retreat for 25 staff members of the Labrador Metis Nation where I
> am the General Manager.
>
> We used Appreciative Inquiry, World Cafe and of course Open Space. The
> results were great and outside the scope of this email. I am just curious
> to see how well this Listserv works.
>
> I'd be interested to hear views from people on the use of Open Space to
> conduct thesis and or PHD research. I have ideas for my MA thesis and
> thinking Open Space might be a fun way to do the research.
>
> I am also wondering if anyone is conducting Open Space sessions or events
> online using forums or other technology?
>
> Thank you :-)
>
> Jamie
>
>
> _______________________________________________________________________
> Sensationsangebot verlängert: WEB.DE FreeDSL - Telefonanschluss + DSL
> für nur 16,37 Euro/mtl.!* http://dsl.web.de/?ac=OM.AD.AD008K13805B7069a
>
> *
> *
> ==========================================================
> OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
> ------------------------------
> To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options,
> view the archives of oslist at listserv.boisestate.edu:
> http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html
>
> To learn about OpenSpaceEmailLists and OSLIST FAQs:
> http://www.openspaceworld.org/oslist
>

-- 
CHRIS CORRIGAN
Facilitation - Training - Process Design
Open Space Technology

Weblog: http://www.chriscorrigan.com/parkinglot
Site: http://www.chriscorrigan.com

Principal, Harvest Moon Consultants, Ltd.
http://www.harvestmoonconsultants.com

*
*
==========================================================
OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
------------------------------
To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options,
view the archives of oslist at listserv.boisestate.edu:
http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html

To learn about OpenSpaceEmailLists and OSLIST FAQs:
http://www.openspaceworld.org/oslist
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.openspacetech.org/pipermail/oslist-openspacetech.org/attachments/20081205/d39763b5/attachment-0016.htm>