Abstract
This article describes the deficiencies of positivist science for generating knowledge for use in solving problems that members of organizations face. Action research is introduced as a method for correcting these deficiencies. When action research is tested against the criteria of positivist science, action research is found not to meet its critical tests. The appropriateness of positivist science is questioned as a basis for judging the scientific merits of action research. Action research can base its legitimacy as science in philosophical traditions that are different from those which legitimate positivist science. Criteria and methods of science appropriate to action research are offered.
Keywords
PositivismAction (physics)Action researchEpistemologyFace (sociological concept)LegitimacyEngineering ethicsSociologyPolitical scienceSocial sciencePoliticsEngineeringPhilosophyLaw
Related Publications
Quality in Qualitative Research
A variety of conceptions of qualitative research exist, with competing claims as to what counts as good quality work. Rather than opting for the criteria promoted by one variety...
Toward a Redefinition of Action Theory: Paying the Cognitive Element Its Due
By means of an examination and a revision of Parsons's "action frame work," this paper offers to mediate the debate between Parsons and the critics of his Durkheim-Weber "conver...
A Prospectus for Theory Construction in Marketing
This article addresses the question, “How should theories be constructed?” In doing so, two approaches are considered: the classic positivist paradigm and an emerging realist pe...
The Third Debate: On the Prospects of International Theory in a Post-Positivist Era
Journal Article The Third Debate: On the Prospects of International Theory in a Post-Positivist Era Get access Yosef Lapid Yosef Lapid Carleton University Search for other works...
Validity, trustworthiness and rigour: quality and the idea of qualitative research
Aim. In this paper, I call into question the widely‐held assumption of a single, more or less unified paradigm of ‘qualitative research’ whose methodologies share certain episte...
Publication Info
- Year
- 2023
- Type
- article
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 135-161
- Citations
- 1577
- Access
- Closed
External Links
Social Impact
Altmetric
PlumX Metrics
Social media, news, blog, policy document mentions
Citation Metrics
1577
OpenAlex
0
Influential
6
CrossRef
Cite This
Gerald I. Susman,
Roger Evered
(2023).
An assessment of the scientific merits of action research.
STUDI ORGANIZZATIVI
(2)
, 135-161.
https://doi.org/10.3280/so2022-002006
Identifiers
- DOI
- 10.3280/so2022-002006