Action Research

Fri Dec 5 17:04:50 PST 2008

Hi Sirin,

I'd be interested to read your MA thesis about OS and conflict resolution. 

My initial idea right now for my thesis is to articulate a systemic view of the Labrador region doing a literature review and archival research and then making it richer by doing action based research with Labrador people in Open Space to give it more meaning and perspectives. With that articulated, I felt Open Space could then be used for PHD work and to engage Labradorians in a Future Search project. Prior to any of this I have an idea of creating a Labrador Dialogue Project but I need to think more about this.

Thanks for the tip on that book. I do a research methods course as part of my MA after Christmas, I might now more of what I am talking about after that, lol. 

As an update on my view of this listserv, I am very impressed with the caliber of participants and discipline to stay on topic. Does anyone know if Boise State has another listserv around systems thinking? Cheers.

Jamie

--- On Fri, 12/5/08, Sirin Bernshausen <Sirin.Bernshausen at web.de> wrote:

From: Sirin Bernshausen <Sirin.Bernshausen at web.de>
Subject: Re: Action Research
To: OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
Date: Friday, December 5, 2008, 12:06 PM

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 isnt 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 peoples thoughts
and degree of awareness, while simultaneously changing peoples 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

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