Scenario: Business setting where people in diverse offices are working in ways that need more

coordination.

The action researcher might identify the problem as "with current poor communication options,
decisions are made without attending to the issues of how this decision affects other parts of the
system."

Consideration: The researcher might see a role for technology in forging a solution to this problem.

For example: Creating a database for storing and sharing documents.

The overall research question might be: How can the development of a common location for
shared knowledge and the use of interactive communication tools increase the collaborative
effectiveness of team-based decision-making in our different regions?

Next Step : To define what kind of communication tool will be used and how the researcher plans to
measure collaborative effectiveness of the distant teams.

Cycle 1: Questions that might evolve should be specific with respect to the actions taken and the
outcomes that will be monitored: If I create a wiki to share documents and increase coordination, to
what extent will the teams use this means of storing information to coordinate their decision-
making?

Cycle 2: Question that might follow when it is clear that other teams failed to use the wiki as
effectively as the researcher had hoped: How will making all day support available on instant
messenger for questions about the use of the wiki affect the use of the wiki to organize group work?

Questions with known answers where the goal is to "prove" it to others. For example, the Sales
Director has been holding employee family bonding night for years and sees an effect on sales staff
participation. A weak question for action research would be: Will holding a family bonding night
increase sales staff participation within the department ? This might be a great evaluative research
question where a controlled study could be set up to explore the connection.

But evaluative research is different than action research. Action research is an experiment in design,
it is trying an action to learn more about the consequences

How much has employee family bonding nights improved in their participation towards
departmental discussions?

Action Research
Action research is also known as Participatory Action Research, community-based
research, cooperative inquiry, action science, and/or action learning. It is an approach
commonly used for improving conditions and practices in communities and
organizations. The purpose of undertaking action research is to address problems
identified and experienced by a group or community to bring about change.  The
strength of action research lies in its focus on generating solutions to practical problems
and its ability to empower both practitioners and the group or community, by working
collaboratively to address and implement intervention activities and action plans. 
Implementation activities and action plans are then systematically monitored in order to
reflect on the process, impact, and outcomes, potentially resulting in another round of
action.  Thus, action research is considered a cyclical process.
 
Program Evaluation
Program evaluation is conducted to surface any potential issues or concerns and
uncover how well a program is working.  Initiating a program evaluation does not require
that an issue or concern is already identified. Instead of focusing on one particular
problem, a program evaluation seeks to determine program effects.  In other words,
program evaluation seeks to determine whether a program is delivering on its promise. 
The strengths and weaknesses of a program are surfaced through systematic
applications of scientific methods.  At the conclusion of the evaluation, recommendations
for intervention, change, improvement, or modification of the program will be generated
and shared with the program’s stakeholders