Premium
Embracing ambiguities and valuing ourselves: issues of validity in action research*
Author(s) -
Waterman Heather
Publication year - 1998
Publication title -
journal of advanced nursing
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.948
H-Index - 155
eISSN - 1365-2648
pISSN - 0309-2402
DOI - 10.1046/j.1365-2648.1998.00763.x
Subject(s) - reflexivity , action (physics) , dialectic , action research , external validity , epistemology , psychology , ethnography , internal validity , sociology , social psychology , social science , medicine , pedagogy , philosophy , physics , pathology , quantum mechanics , anthropology
Further elucidation is required on the validity of action research. The tendency of nurse action researchers to rely on perspectives of validity from qualitative or ethnographic research only gives a partial picture. Three categories of validity regarding action research are proposed in order to develop understandings and to stimulate debate: dialectical, critical and reflexive. Tensions and processes, moral responsibilities, reflexivity and accounts of action research are discussed to illuminate the validity of action research. The complexity and contradictions inherent even when attempting to demonstrate its validity are highlighted and illustrated with reference to examples of action research.