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Chapter 6 Phase Two
Reflection Excerpt no.1
Phase two of this research study is a change initiative guided by action research
principles and when it came to writing up this phase of the research I didn’t
really know where to start. It didn’t fit into the same structure used for phase 1.
The literature review and methodology had already been discussed but now I
needed to write a “method” section, a “findings” section and a “discussion”
section for phase 2. This immediately presented a challenge because the method,
findings and discussion were inter-related and one informed the other in the AR
cycle of action, reflection, evaluation, action, reflection, evaluation.
Furthermore, elements of discussion were also emerging in the reflections and in
the evaluations of each step in this phase of the research. McNiff, Lomax and
Whitehead (2003) advise that the challenge for action researchers lies in
presenting their work in a form that is going to serve their particular purpose as
well as represent their work authentically. Perry and Zuber-Skerritt (1992)
suggest considering the thesis for action research as separate to the action
research project i.e. the thesis project uses data from the action research project.
McNiff, Lomax and Whitehead (2003) explain that traditional research
methodologies follow linear forms of thinking but that new scholarships such as
AR tend to use non-traditional ways of thinking or non-linear forms of reporting.
They add that the aim of this non-traditional approach is to show how processes
of enquiry lead to improved practices. They suggest that the best way to do this is
creatively and using non-linear approaches. For action research theses, McNiff,
Lomax and Whitehead (2003) suggest using diary excerpts, representing
dialogue, telling stories, using poetry or personal pronouns, using multimedia or
adopting the patchwork approach. The patchwork approach enables the
researcher to present a traditional report in conjunction with a creative report. I
felt that this approach along with writing in the first person would help me to
both organise the data and report on the research. I decided to write a thesis
report detailing the steps involved in the change initiative guided by AR
principles and to support this with my reflective journal abstracts which would
specify the learning which took place along the journey.
6.1.2 Study Sample
The same group of residents, staff and residents family members who had been
involved in phase 1 agreed to participate in phase 2.
6.1.3 Study Site
The same case study site from phase 1 was the research site for phase 2.
6.1.4 Research Ethics
Ethical approval previously obtained for phase 1 was approved for extension into
phase 2 and informed consent was obtained verbally from all participants. As in