Johnson on action research

Johnson, A. P. (2002). A short guide to action research. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.

Johnson defined action research by six steps: “1. define question, problem, area of interest; 2. plan data collection; 3. collect and analyze data; 4. create an action plan; 5. share findings and plan of action; 6. review of literature” (p. 14).

Johnson stated that there are three “essential parts of establishing accuracy and credibility in any research project are validity, reliability and triangulation” (p. 72). He defined validity as using “the type of data . . . [which provides] the most accurate understanding possible of your research topic” (p. 72). He defined triangulation as “looking at something from more than one perspective . . . [using] various data sources” (p. 73). Finally, he stated that although reliability is something that is repeatable and gives the same results and you can get that to happen in most “traditional experimental research”, it does not take place in action research (p. 73). Action research is “messy, real-world events in which humans are mucking about . . . each time we search and research we expect to see different things” (p. 73). Because of this, the results of action research are limited in their application. They can only be applied to the actual situation where the research took place and other situations that are very similar.