Controlling the Variance in Action Research

Abstract

Action research is a process which is subject to error like all other processes. A major source of error—or variance, as we shall call it—arises from the incongruence between the expectations of members of the client or user system and those of the members of the practitioner system. In this chapter we assume that any incongruence between these expectations will act against the successful completion of the project. Congruency does not imply flaccid agreement. It both allows for and encourages the full play of complementary skills that might be fed into the accomplishment of a shared or interdependent objective.