Distinguishing action research from participative case studies
Journal of Systems and Information Technology
ISSN: 1328-7265
Article publication date: 1 March 1997
Abstract
Action researchers contend that a complex social process can be studied best by introducing changes into that process and observing the effects of these changes. The approach used by organizational consultants must also introduce change, but in this case, the theoretical development and the rigorous empirical foundation are prerequisite elements of the activity. Participative case studies are a common scientific report proceeding from consulting projects. This paper discusses the contrasts between the action research method, consulting, and participative case studies. Ethical problems arise when action research is knowingly or unknowingly conflated with consultation practices, since this combination makes the usual set of action research dilemmas even more problematic. An improved understanding of the action research‐consulting contrasts aids in distinguishing the contributions of participative case studies to the information systems literature.
Keywords
Citation
Baskerville, R.L. (1997), "Distinguishing action research from participative case studies", Journal of Systems and Information Technology, Vol. 1 No. 1, pp. 24-43. https://doi.org/10.1108/13287269780000733
Publisher
:MCB UP Ltd
Copyright © 1997, MCB UP Limited