Action Research Action Research 

Juma Lungo

University of Oslo

29th December 2005

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Action ResearchAction Research

• Motivations– To make academic research relevant, researchers

should try out their theories with practitioners in real situations and real organizations

– The emphasis is more on what practitioners do than on what they say they do

• Key Assumptions– Social settings cannot be reduced for study, and– Actions brings understanding

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Action ResearchAction Research

• Action research has been typified as a way to build

– theory,

– knowledge, and

– practical action

• by engagement with the world in the context of practice itself

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Action ResearchAction Research

• Is a research approach, which has the dual aims of action and research

– action to bring about change in some community or organisation or program;

– research to increase understanding on the part of the researcher or the client, or both

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Action ResearchAction Research

• Action research aims to contribute both to the practical concerns of people in an immediate problematic situation and to the goals of social science by joint collaboration within a mutually acceptable ethical framework

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Essence of Action ResearchEssence of Action Research

• Diagnostic Stage– Analysis of the social situation by the

research and the subject of the research– Theories are formulated concerning the

nature of the research domain

• Therapeutic Stage– Involves collaborative change experiment– Changes are introduced and the effects

are studied

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Phases of Action Research Phases of Action Research

• The most prevalent description of action research details a five phase, cyclical process which can be described as an ‘ideal’ exemplar of the original formulation of action research

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Phases of Action Research Phases of Action Research • This ideal approach first requires the

establishment of a ‘client-system infrastructure’ or research environment

• Then, five identifiable phases are iterative:– (1) diagnosis, – (2) action planning, – (3) action taking, – (4) evaluating, and – (5) specifying learning

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Phases of Action Research Phases of Action Research DIAGNOSING

Identifying or Defining a Problem ACTION PLANNING

Considering alternative courses of action

ACTION TAKING

Implementing a course of action

EVALUATING

Studying the outcomes of an action

SPECIFYING LEARNING

Identifying general findings

CLIENT SYSTEM INFRASTRUCTURE

Specification and agreement that constitutes the research

environment

Ministry of Health

Province

District

Health posts, dispensaries,

health centres,and Hospitals

CBD, TBA, VHW

• Routine health delivery services– Basic health services at

community level, health posts, dispensaries, health centres, and hospitals

• Decision-making and health planning take place at the top (Ministry, and provincial levels)

RESEARCH PROBLEM AREARESEARCH PROBLEM AREA

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- Health planner at the Ministry of Health,

“ah! the number of clients has increased this year. The health facility needs one more Nurse”

- Patients/clients at a remote health facility.

- How does health planners at the Ministry of Health plan for these health facility clients

Why HIS?

RESEARCH QUESTIONSRESEARCH QUESTIONS• What are the existing problems of the

health information systems in Tanzania?

• How can a computer database be implemented at the district level in order to serve as a Health Data Analysis tool?

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RESEARCH OBJECTIVESRESEARCH OBJECTIVES• To assess problems of the district

health information system

• To design, develop and implement a prototype, DHIS, at the district level

• To identify how learning gathered in HISP network can be useful in Tanzania

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• Five districts in Tanzania Mainland– Bagamoyo, Kibaha, Temeke, Ilala, and Kinondoni

• Four districts in Zanzibar– Micheweni, Chakechake, North A, and North B

• Two Hospital– Mnazi Mmoja and Chakachake

RESEARCH SETTINGSRESEARCH SETTINGS

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ACTION RESEARCH ACTION RESEARCH CYCLECYCLE

• Establishment of a ‘client-system infrastructure’ or research environment

HISP memorandum signed between University and Ministry of Health (identifications of HISP pilot sites)

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Phase Specific Activities

Diagnosing

• Semi-structured interviews with health staff• Observations on health data collection and analysis• Use of checklists by inspecting data registers, analysis tools, and health workers staffing level• Assessing available computers and computer programs

Action planning

• Acquiring DHIS Software from HISP network• Developing strategies for importing baseline data to DHIS• Acquiring sample health indicators

ACTION RESEARCH ACTION RESEARCH CYCLECYCLE

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Phase Specific Activities

Action taking

• DHIS database setup and Data importation• Translating DHIS in Swahili language• Reviewing health data collection forms• Designing new health data collection forms• Training health workers on Computer Literacy• Training health workers on Health data analysis

Evaluation

• Group Discussions with health workers• DHIS demonstration• Testing newly designed data collection forms• Calculating indicators• Comparative with baseline data• Retrospective testing

ACTION RESEARCH ACTION RESEARCH CYCLECYCLE

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Phase Specific Activities

Specifying learning

• Presentations and Fieldwork reports• Publications: Theses and Scientific papers

ACTION RESEARCH ACTION RESEARCH CYCLECYCLE

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Balancing Action and Balancing Action and ResearchResearch• Organize the actions into small units which can be

completed in short time• Take field notes on every action

– Actions includes: fieldwork entrance letters, fixing computers items, meetings and workshops

• Anything that consumes our time in the field is part of the action

• Use some known data analysis techniques– Align our field notes empirical material in those

techniques• Think and make sense of the actions and results

– Sometime is required to be away from the field

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Field notesField notes

• Field notes should be written as soon as possible after leaving the field site, immediately if possible 

• Plan to leave a block of time for writing just after leaving the research context

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METHODOLOGYMETHODOLOGY• Data Collection Methods

– Semi-structured interviews– Participant observations– Analysis of documents– Use of checklists: data registers, analysis

tools, and health workers– Software prototyping process– Group discussions and Training

workshops– Video/still pictures– Analysis of press media reports

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Data Analysis and Data Analysis and PresentationPresentation• Empirical materials are presented in

– Descriptive statistics (quantitative data)– Excerpts of encoded user reactions– Screen shots of programs– Field documents– Photos

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Data Analysis and Data Analysis and PresentationPresentation

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• Example: qualitative excerpts of encoded user reactions

“No EPI data set, no HIV data, it is missing a lot of information”

(DHIS User, Bagamoyo district, February 17, 2005)

Data Analysis and Data Analysis and PresentationPresentation

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• A model and measurement instrument for the formation of Information Systems satisfaction (7-point semantic differential)

Data Analysis and Data Analysis and PresentationPresentation

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• Example: Software evaluation

Data Analysis and Data Analysis and PresentationPresentation

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• Example: Software evaluation

Data Analysis and Data Analysis and PresentationPresentation

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• Screen shots

Concluding RemarksConcluding Remarks

• Knowledge created in action research is not sometime utilized immediately–Does not bring up radical changes

• Interviews, Observations, Questionnaires, and site documents work together to support the research claims. 

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Concluding RemarksConcluding Remarks

• Secondary Sources of Data– Documents from the fields– Photos and video taking– Excerpt from interviewee

• Depict originality of the research

• Acknowledgement– Try to write somebody’s name correctly

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ThanksThanks

The End

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