"in the pursuit of change and understanding"

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"In the Pursuit of Change and Understanding"

Bob Dick in Conversation With Bob Williams

Abstract: As Bob WILLIAMS interviews Bob DICK by email, he asks about important events an

people in Bob DICK!s li"e an the in"luen#e they have ha$ Bob DICK ienti"ies people, #hallen%e

an parti#ipation as themes$ &rom them he raws lessons about a#tion resear#h, his most use

resear#h methoolo%y$ Bob DICK ienti"ies tea#hers, #ollea%ues an mentors who have a#te as

role moels "or him an who have helpe to in#rease his #on"ien#e in himsel", his willin%ness to

work at the bounaries o" his knowle%e, an his use o" parti#ipative methos$ 'e reports that it is

when he is workin% at the mar%ins o" his skills an e(perien#e that his learnin% an prou#tivity are

o"ten %reatest$ 'e #omments on the reasons "or his #ommitment to parti#ipative approa#hes to re)

sear#h$ *o%ether Bob WILLIAMS an Bob DICK is#uss the ire#tion o" #urrent a#tion resear#h

an the role o" the Internet$ *hey rea#h two key #on#lusions about the important "eatures o" a#tionresear#h$ +ne is that relationships are #entral to the a#tion aspe#ts o" a#tion resear#h$ oo

relationships allow people to "eel involve in the resear#h an evelop a sense o" ownership$ *he

other #on#lusion is that the resear#h aspe#t o" a#tion resear#h is riven by re"le#tion an the key to

re"le#tion is e(plorin% i""eren#e$ Disa%reements an is#on"irmin% evien#e most e""e#tively point

to emer%in% theory an eeper unerstanin%$ +ther #on#lusions they rea#h are about the impor)

tan#e o" the early sta%es o" resear#h, the nee "or "le(ibility an responsiveness to the resear#h

situation, an the esirability o" treatin% a#tion resear#h as both s#ien#e an per"ormin% art$

Table of Contents

About the Interview

About Bob DICK

-$Key .vents

-$-More than three e#aes a%o $$$

-$/*hree e#aes a%o $$$

-$0*wo e#aes a%o $$$

-$1*he most re#ent e#ae $$$

/$Key *hemes

/$-&irst theme $$$ people/$/Se#on theme $$$ workin% at the mar%ins

/$0*hir theme $$$ parti#ipation

0$Lessons

0$-Lesson one2the importan#e o" e(#eptions

0$/Lesson two2re#ipes are not enou%h

0$0Lesson three2resear#h is a s#ien#e an a per"ormin% art

0$1Lesson "our2relationships are #entral

0$3Lesson "ive2early sta%es are important

0$4+verall lessons

1$A#tion 5esear#h Can Be Surprisin%ly 'ar Work

6 /771 &8S http:99www$ualitative)resear#h$net9"s9&orum 8ualitative So;ial"ors#hun% 9 &orum: 8ualitative So#ial 5esear#h )34/?@

olume 3, =o$ 0, Art$ 01September /771

Key words: a#tion

resear#h,

re"le#tion, Internet,

learnin%,

relationships,

is#on"irmin%

evien#e

FORUM: QUALITATIVESOCIAL RESEARCHSOZIALFORSCHUNG


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allery

5e"eren#es

Author

Citation

About the Interview

Bob WILLIAMS lives in Wellin%ton, =ew Eealan$ Bob DICK!s home is inBrisbane, Australia$ Both have been travellin% a lot re#ently$ *his interview wasthere"ore #onu#te by email$ *he #onversation un"ole almost e(a#tly as it iswritten below, with Bob WILLIAMS askin% an initial series o" uestions about thekey people in Bob DICK!s #areer, an what he learne "rom them$ *he wholeinterview attempte to moel re"le#tive pra#ti#e2seekin% e(#eptions to%eneralisations, ienti"yin% themes an rawin% lessons learne$ F-G

About Bob Dick

In the past Bob DICK has been shop assistant, ele#tri#ian, ra"tsperson,re#ruitment o""i#er, an psy#holo%ist$ &or the past 07 years he has beena#aemi#, publisher, #onsultant, "a#ilitator, an o" #ourse person$ 'is #onsultan#yan "a#ilitation primarily help people learn a#tion resear#h, ualitative evaluation,#han%e mana%ement, an the #ommuni#ation an "a#ilitation skills whi#h are a"ounation "or these$ In this work he uses hi%hly parti#ipative methos to helpothers to improve their pra#ti#e while also tryin% to improve his own$ When heisn!t oin% these thin%s he thinks about them$ 'e maintains one o" the worl!s

premier a#tion resear#h web sitesat Southern Cross niversity$ 'e lives in thelea"y western suburbs o" Brisbane, in sub)tropi#al Australia, with his partner o" 07years, Camilla$ 'e may be #onta#te at bi#kHs#u$eu$au$F/G

! Key vents

WILLIAMS: ou!ve been involve in the a#tion resear#h "iel one way or another"or at least three e#aes$ Can you sele#t one or two events "rom ea#h o" thosethree e#aes that were si%ni"i#ant in your evelopment as an a#tion resear#htheorist an pra#titionerJ What was si%ni"i#ant about these events to you then

an what is their si%ni"i#an#e to you nowJ F0G

6 /771 &8S http:99www$ualitative)resear#h$net9"s9
http://www.qualitative-forschung.de/en/fqs-supplement/fotos/3-04/index.htmlhttp://www.scu.edu.au/schools/gcm/ar/arhome.htmlmailto:[email protected]:[email protected]://www.qualitative-forschung.de/en/fqs-supplement/fotos/3-04/index.htmlhttp://www.scu.edu.au/schools/gcm/ar/arhome.htmlmailto:[email protected]


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*he importan#e o" both o" these people was three"ol$ By havin% "aith in me theyhelpe me to evelop "aith in mysel"$ *hat!s a use"ul trait in a pro"ession whereyour ne(t step may take you out o" your epth$ By "o#ussin% my attention one(perien#e in a non)u%mental way they helpe me evelop a #ommitment to myown evelopment$ A #ommitment to li"e)lon% learnin% is also valuable in thistrae$ *hey a#te as role moels that I now try to emulate in my a#tion resear#h

an #han%e work$ FG

!$ Three decades ago !!!

DICK: ust over three e#aes a%o I oine the sta"" o" the niversity o"8ueenslan$ *here I was a%ain "ortunate to have e(emplary role moels$ F-7G

ohn DAMM was my immeiate #ollea%ue$ My "irst appointment was "or si(months as a temporary arran%ement on se#onment "rom my usual work$ I stooin "or ohn while he went on stuy leave$ I e(pe#te him to tell me in etail how torun his #ourses while he was away$ Instea he en#oura%e me to e#ie how Iwishe to run them$ 'e o""ere whatever help I neee$ *his "ree me to brin%parti#ipative methos into the #lassroom$ It was also throu%h ohn that I #ame toknow &re .M.5$ I think he ha the most penetratin% min o" anyone I!ve



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I was able to take the skills an pro#esses "rom the #lassroom an use them in#ommunity an or%anisational #han%e work$ I learne that what worke in onesettin% o"ten in!t immeiately work elsewhere$ 'owever it #oul usually be "ine)tune until it i$ Classroom an workshop an or%ani;ation an #ommunity ea#hprovie learnin% whi#h bene"ite all "our$ F-G

*o be honest, my natural talents in#line more towars theory than pra#ti#e$ In the#lassroom I learne that pra#ti#e was most e""e#tive when I unerstoo what Iwas oin%$ *heory was most use"ul when it was #losely allie to pra#ti#e$.ventually the istin#tion between them #ease to be important$ I enoy thinkin%

be"ore the event about what will work$ I enoy thinkin% later about what i or in!twork$ My theory an pra#ti#e improve$ I learne the virtue o" re%ular an sys)temati# an #riti#al re"le#tion both "or mysel" an "or the #lasses I "a#ilitate$ F/7G

&rom time to time I i work with i""i#ult %roups, espe#ially in #ommunity anor%anisational work$ Sometimes the events happene so rapily that there wasn!ttime to work out what to o be"ore I i it$ I learne that I o some very #reative"a#ilitatin% an theorisin% when I!m esperate$ *hat was a valuable e(perien#einee$ It now allows me to venture nearer to the mar%ins o" my e(pertise than Iotherwise mi%ht$ In some very re#ent work I have been able to work e""e#tivelyuner very i""i#ult #onitions with an%ry an un#ooperative people$ F/-G

It was about this time that I met *im DALMA$ 'e was another importantin"luen#e$ We #o)authore some books on #ultural #han%e$ In the #ourse o" oin%so it be#ame apparent that it was our seemin% isa%reements whi#h o"tenopene a oor to eeper unerstanin%$ F//G

*im an I also i some #ultural #han%e work to%ether$ A%ain, that seemealmost esi%ne to "urther my personal an pro"essional evelopment$ By natureI!m rational an s#epti#al, whi#h I sometimes blame on a stri#t resbyterianupbrin%in%$ *hat attitue was "urther hone in en%ineerin% stuies


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WILLIAMS: What o you raw "rom thisJ F0G

DICK: I!m unsure what to #on#lue$ erhaps I am workin% at the mar%ins o" myability an on!t have the unerstanin% to re#o%nise it$ erhaps in seekin% towork mostly with enthusiasts in the past I!ve lost some o" the ability to work with



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Se#on, #uriosity)motivate resear#h is still to some e(tent re%are with moreapproval than applie resear#h$ As a hi%h)per"ormin% uner%rauate I wase(pe#te to o pure resear#h$ It was assume that applie resear#h wassomehow easier an not really worthy o" bri%ht people$ I later "oun that this wasmostly a mistaken view, thou%h I believe it was %enuinely hel by those whoespouse it$ *he #on#eptual #hallen%es o" mu#h applie resear#h e(#eeethose o" the laboratory resear#h I ha been use to$ F>4G

*hir, a#aemi#s who are applie resear#hers o"ten aren!t on #ampus to present

their point o" view, even i" they are in#line to o so$ *hey ten to bemar%inalise$ &or whatever reason they on!t spen as mu#h time publishin%their work$ I" you!re lookin% "or a hi%h publi#ation rate there are easier ways o"%ettin% it than throu%h #omple( an applie resear#h$ F>?G

In any event there aren!t the same publi#ation outlets "or applie resear#h$ I thinkthis is #han%in%, but G

&i"th, applie resear#h tens, by its nature, to be multi)is#iplinary$ &or the mostpart I on!t think real issues #on"orm to the is#iplinary bounaries thatuniversities an ournals observe$ Applie resear#hers have to be willin% to stepbeyon the bounaries o" their e(pertise more o"ten than many other resear#hers

o$ F7G

.!$ 3hat hel)s

WILLIAMS: *he mere "a#t that a#tion resear#h is wiesprea means there mustbe some "or#es that work in its "avour$ What o you think they areJ F-G

DICK: I!ve alreay mentione that I think a#tion resear#h buils on naturalpro#esses$ In aition the rewars "or applie resear#h are in#reasin%$overnments an "unin% boies in#reasin%ly e(pe#t that some o" their ollarswill be spent on real issues whi#h reuire attention$ F/G

I think it also helps that there #an be substantial bene"its "or parti#ipants anthose who #ommission resear#h$ &or e(ample, there is a %rowin% tenen#y "or



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"in the pursuit of change and understanding"

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