2013-06-10 Ac tion r e se ar c h vs. De sign r e se ar c h: Using Pr ac tic e r e se ar c h as a le ns for c ompar ison and inte gr ation Göran Goldkuhl Research group VITS Dep. of Management & Engineering Linköping University Sweden Bac kgr ound ■ Action research Since long an established research approach in IS ■ Design research A growing interest in IS ■ Many scholars have identified similarities between AR and DR Some have identified important differences ■ There exist several comparisons and also attempts for integration ■ Different views and controversies A need for more to say! 1
2013-06-10 Pur pose ■ To contribute to further investigation of similarities and differences between AR and DR ■ A new angle in comparing AR and DR: Use of the Practice research approach as lens and common yardstick for analysis and comparison ■ A proposal for an integrated approach of AR, DR and PR: Practice research through Intervention and Design ■ The rationale for this study is that IS scholars need guidance in choosing between AR and DR and also possible combinations of them What’s in the pape r ? ■ Description of the practice research approach ■ Review of AR – DR comparisons ■ Review of AR – DR integrations ■ Study of AR from a PR perspective ■ Study of DR from a PR perspective ■ A PR based comparison of AR and DR ■ A PR based integration of AR and DR ■ Conclusions PR, AR, DR relations AR DR PR 2
2013-06-10 T he anatomy of Pr ac tic e R e se ar c h Practice research Research community Theorizing Δ SBK (OR) (R) GPC General practice (OP) Local Situational operational inquiry practice (P & R) LPC (P) Impor tant tr aits of Pr ac tic e R e se ar c h ■ The contribution to general practice with abstract useful knowledge ■ …through the conduct of situational inquiries into local practices Investigating problematic situations and giving local practice contributions ■ A continual interplay between theorizing and situational inquiry ■ An encompassing approach covering Action research Design research Evaluation research 3
2013-06-10 Pr ac tic e r e se ar c h de sc r ibe d in ■ Goldkuhl G (2008) Practical inquiry as action research and beyond, Proceedings ECIS-2008 ■ Goldkuhl G (2011) The research practice of practice research: theorizing and situational inquiry, Systems, Signs & Actions ■ Goldkuhl G (2012) From action research to practice research, Australasian Journal of Information Systems Ac tion r e se ar c h DIAGNOSIS Identifying or defining a problem SPECIFYING ACTION PLANNING LEARNING Considering alternative Identifying general courses of action for findings solving a problem Development of client- system infrastructure EVALUATING ACTION TAKING Studying consequences Selecting a course of of an action action The cyclical process of Canonical Action Research (from Susman & Evered, 1978) 4
2013-06-10 Ac tion r e se ar c h fr om a pr ac tic e r e se ar c h vie w Target AR outcomes practices/communities Research community Additions to scientific body of knowledge General practice Not specified Local operational practice Intervention (=LPC) PR activities AR activities Theorizing Specifying learning as abstraction Situational inquiry Diagnosis, action planning, action taking, evaluation; specifying learning as local learning. Ac tion r e se ar c h fr om a pr ac tic e r e se ar c h vie w ■ Adaptation and dissemination of knowledge to general practice is not explicitly recognized in AR ■ The AR process has a main focus on “problem solving & change” (situational inquiry) theorizing is down-played ■ Theorizing activities in AR are seen as taking place after problem solving not as a continual interplay with or support to a situational inquiry ■ AR intervention can be of diverse kinds following the four problem solving stages diagnosis intervention, design intervention, implementation intervention and evaluation intervention 5
2013-06-10 March & Smith (1995) Hevner et al (2004) Peffers et al (2007) De sign r e se ar c h fr om a pr ac tic e r e se ar c h vie w PR activities DR activities Theorizing Theorize, justify (disputable if part of DR) Situational inquiry Design practice: Build and evaluate PR activities DR activities Theorizing Abstract, generalize, theorize Situational inquiry Design practice: Problem analyse, build (including demonstrate) and evaluate Target DR outcomes practices/communities Research community Abstract design knowledge (constructs, methods, design theory) General practice Abstract design knowledge (constructs, methods, design theory) Local operational Situational artefacts (models, systems) practice 6
2013-06-10 De sign r e se ar c h fr om a pr ac tic e r e se ar c h vie w ■ The notions of local practice and general practice are not explicitly acknowledged, although this distinction can be traced implicitly ■ There is no clear differentiation of artefacts as situational or abstract, but it possible to classify the artefacts into these two categories Models and systems (instantiations) can be seen as situational artefacts and constructs and methods as abstract artefacts ■ The main focus in DR is on the design process. The role of theorizing is unclear in DR some scholars down-play it, others emphasize it ■ Design practice (of DR) should be seen as a kind of design oriented situational inquiry Different DR models have differing scope and content of the design practice AR vs DR as Situational inquir y (1) Action Design research research Diagnosis Problem analysis Building Action planning (including demonstration ) Action taking Evaluation Evaluation Local learning 7
2013-06-10 Making AR c ompar able Action research Diagnosis Action planning Technical preparation Action taking Practice re-arranging Evaluation Evaluation Local learning Making DR c ompar able Design research Diagnosis Problem analysis Design- Design- modelling modelling (symbolic models ) Proposing Lo-fi prototyping Building (iconic models ) (including Prototyping demonstration ) Hi-fi prototyping Demonstration (enactive models ) Construction Evaluation 8
2013-06-10 AR vs DR as Situational inquir y (2) Action Design research research Diagnosis Diagnosis Action planning Proposing Demonstration Technical preparation Construction Practice re-arranging Evaluation Evaluation Inte gr ating AR vs DR Action Design Practice research research research Diagnosis Diagnosis Diagnosis Action planning Proposing Proposing Demonstration Demonstration Technical preparation Construction Construction Practice Practice re-arranging re-arranging Evaluation Evaluation Evaluation 9
2013-06-10 Conc lusions: PR , AR , DR ove r laps Practice research Action Design ~LP PR-ID ~GP research research ■ If AR is conducted with no orientation towards general practice, then this should not be seen as practice research ■ If DR is conducted (as in a computer science manner) with no reference to any local practice, then this cannot be considered to be practice research 10
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