Abstract
Despite the messy and at times chaotic nature of action research, the type of methodology we are advocating provides a dialogical, relational and imaginative pathway for critical awareness and operation in the world that is participatory/activist-orientated. We believe that the use-value of PAtR lies in its power to generate knowledge that is capable of introducing change processes in everyday practice, no matter if this is a small-scale project in an individual classroom or clinical setting or something much larger like a HIV/AIDS campaign that potentially has national policy implications. The point is that you do not need to be involved in a large-scale intervention for PAtR to matter or to make a difference. Indeed, Martyn Denscombe (2007) notes, ‘Action research is normally associated with “hands on”, small-scale research projects’ (p. 122).
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lisahunter, Emerald, E., Martin, G. (2013). Methodology of Activism in Research. In: Participatory Activist Research in the Globalised World. Explorations of Educational Purpose, vol 26. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-4426-4_5
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