Role of a Researcher in an Organization

Required Textbooks:
• Anfara, V. A., Jr. & Mertz, N. T. (Eds.). (2014). Theoretical frameworks in qualitative research (2nd ed.). Sage. ISBN-13: 9781452282435
• Bloomberg, L. D. & Volpe, M. (2018). Completing your qualitative dissertation: A roadmap from beginning to end (4th ed.). Sage. ISBN-13: 9781544336527
• Leavy, P. (2017). Research design: Quantitative, qualitative, mixed methods, arts-based, and community-based participatory research approaches. Guilford. ISBN-13: 9781462514380
Recommended Textbooks:
• Flick, U. (2018). The Sage handbook of qualitative data collection. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
• Krueger, R. A., & Casey, M. A. (2014). Focus groups: A practical guide for applied research (5th ed.). Sage. ISBN-13: 9781483365244
• Kuckartz, U. (2014). Qualitative text analysis: A guide to methods, practice, and using software. Sage. ISBN-13: 9781446267752
• Merriam, S. D. & Tisdell, E. (2016). Qualitative research: A guide to design and implementation (4th ed.). Jossey-Bass. ISBN-13: 9781119003618
• Mertler, C. A. (Ed.). (2019). The Wiley handbook of action research in education. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley Blackwell.
• Miles, M. B., Huberman, A. M., & Saldaña, J. (2019). Qualitative data analysis: A methods sourcebook (4th ed.). Sage. ISBN-13: 9781506353074
• Seidman, I. (2019). Interviewing as qualitative research (5th ed.). Teachers College Press. ISBN-13: 9780807761489

REQUIRED READINGS FOR WEEK 7
Required Readings:

• Coghlan, D. & Shani, A. B. (2014). Creating action research quality in organization development: Rigorous, reflective, and relevant. Systemic Practice & Action Research, 27, 523-536. DOI: 10.1007/s11213-013-9311-y [Note to writer: PDF attached]
  • Ripamonti, S., Galuppo, L., Gorli, M., Scaratti, G., & Cunliffe, A. A. (2016). Pushing action research toward reflexive practice. Journal of Management Inquiry, 25(1), 55-68. DOI: 10.1177/1056492615584972
  • Bloomberg & Volpe (review previous readings)
  • Leavy (review previous readings)
  • Anfara & Mertz (review previous readings)

Required Resources:
• Margaret Riel on Cycles of Change in Action Research

[Note to writer: In this assignment, you will need to reply to 2 students’ Discussions. For your convenience, I have included the original Discussion Question for your information. A reply of about 150 words for each student is ok.]
W7 Discussion Question 1: Reflecting on your role as an action researcher in your organization
Review the required readings and videos for this week
Discuss reflection in action research. What does it mean to be reflective? How important is researcher reflection to the research process overall (whether conducting action research or not)? How do cycles of research fit into researcher reflective practice?
Discuss how reflective practice is connected to good leadership and your Christian worldview.
STUDENT 1 DISCUSSION
Discuss reflection in action research. What does it mean to be reflective? How important is researcher reflection to the research process overall (whether conducting action research or not)? How do cycles of research fit into researcher reflective practice?
Reflection is an essential element of qualitative research. Ripamonti et al. (2016) posit that reflection is “taking ourselves outside of a social world that is external to us to analyze it from an objective stance” (p. 57). Further, the act of reflection in qualitative research allows the researcher to reconstruct meaning throughout the research process as the findings yields new learning (Bloomberg & Volpe, 2019). Additionally, reflection is important because it allows the researcher to create “new insights and theories” from their new learning when they look at the impact of all contextual factors (Coghlan & Shani, 2014, p. 533). Reflexivity is necessary in each cycle of the research process since the researcher’s positionality can and does impact their research. Through acknowledging, examining, and seeking to understand their personal impact on their own research, a qualitative researcher is able to track how their own subjectivity and biases indeed shape the research process (Bloomberg & Volpe, 2019).
Discuss how reflective practice is connected to good leadership and your Christian worldview.
Personally, I think any good leader must take time to reflect on their leadership, and how their leadership is either hindering or helping their organization. As I learned in my very first course in this doctoral program, self-assessment in leadership is critical throughout the life cycle of any leader. Especially for a leader that is interested in making sure they do not get in the way of the growth and progress of the organization. In terms of a Christian worldview, reflection is part and parcel with Christian living. The whole Bible, and especially the New Testament, is replete with scriptures that emphasize this idea of reflection. This idea of looking beyond yourself at the world around you and how your unique existence can impact that world and how that world can impact you is a very recognizable theme throughout the scriptures (cf. Ecc. 3:1-22; Jn. 17:16, 18-19; Jm. 1:27b).
References
Bloomberg, L. D., & Volpe, M. (2019). Completing your qualitative dissertation: A road map from beginning to end (4th ed.). SAGE.
Coghlan, D., & Shani, A. (2014). Creating action research quality in organization development: Rigorous, reflective and relevant. Systemic Practice & Action Research, 27(6), 523–536.
Ripamonti, S., Galuppo, L., Gorli, M., Scaratti, G., & Cunliffe, A. A. (2016). Pushing action research toward reflexive practice. Journal of Management Inquiry, 25(1), 55-68.
STUDENT 2 DISCUSSION
What does it mean to be reflective?
As a word junky, I’m interested in word derivations and the original meanings of their parts. I see “re” as “again” and “flect” as “bend.” The adjectival form “reflective” adds the concept of thoughtfulness, expanding the definition to a deliberate and attentive look back at one’s previous experiences and responses. This would lead to learning whether anything that contributed to who people are might be of any leadership assistance and value in addressing a current situation, for example, a research study.
How important is researcher reflection to the research process overall (whether conducting action research or not)?
Very important. Coghlan & Shani (2014, p. 532) posit that “The heart of any action research paper is the narrative or story of what took place” by the research study participants. This requires researchers to report their findings accurately and look within themselves for applicability and possible evidence of bias, including sensitivity to participants in a study who may share no outward similarities.
Whether presently engaged in a study or not, researchers must be secure and in touch with the socializations that influenced their lives. How that past could color, taint, or interfere with who they are now and pose an unethical or conflicting impediment to research studies should be addressed and accounted for before the study’s inception.
How do cycles of research fit into researcher reflective practice?
Cycles of research fit into a researcher’s reflective practice by being observant, a lifetime learner, knowing one’s strengths and weaknesses, and proceeding accordingly. Just as a child’s experience teaches the harm of poking a finger into an open flame, researchers build on their experiences to modify prior methodologies to construct better research. Riel (2018) maintains that action research is “learning over time” (:17), accumulating knowledge and determining its value in what she calls “lightning reflections” (2:55), that is, maintaining the valuable and putting the useless aside, possibly only temporarily or even forever, depending upon the study.
Discuss how reflective practice is connected to good leadership and your Christian worldview.
There is no such thing as a born leader. Good leadership comes with practice. To borrow a phrase from Riel (2018), “learning over time” (:17) makes good leaders. First, good leaders are ethical (Leavy, 2017). They must know themselves well, a result of consistent self-reflection. And good leaders know what they have to offer to the larger organization or project before claiming that the outcome is positive and successful.
My personal philosophy aligns directly with what the Christian Bible says in Matthew 7:12, no matter the biblical translation one prefers. “In everything, do to others what you would have them do to you.” Some people know it as the Golden Rule. I recall instances of poor treatment of staff by incapable managers whose primary concern was climbing the corporate ladder. No matter how high they climbed, they didn’t mind using a heel to kick persons climbing up behind them. It was neither representative of good leadership nor ethically reflective. It did not mirror “being sensitive to our place in relation to others” (Ripamonti et al., 2016, p.57).
References
Coghlan, D. & Shani, A. B. (2014). Creating action research quality in organizational development: Rigorous, reflective, and relevant. Systemic Practice and Action Research, 27(6), 523-536.
Leavy, P. (2017). Research design: Quantitative, qualitative, mixed methods, and community-based participatory research approaches. The Guilford Press.
Riel, M. (2018, September 13). [Video]. YouTube. #T10 cycles of change.
Ripamonti, S., Galuppo, L., Gorli, M., Scaratti, G., & Cunliffe, A. L. (2016). Pushing action research toward reflexive practice. Journal of Management Inquiry, 25(1), 55–68.