ABSTRACT
The terms action research and operational research are sometimes used as synonyms, and for our present purposes their meaning is in fact essentially the same, although the word ‘operational’ is sometimes used in a wider sense. 2 Sorokin calls it ‘the experimental method par excellence’, but defines it also as ‘the substitution of collected opinions for scientific study of the facts’, which would give it a meaning entirely different from that of action research. 3 Ferris F. Laune's technique of using the opinion of fellow-prisoners to predict the parolability of inmates might be an example of operational research in Sorokin's sense. 4 The latter term is, however, more often employed by natural scientists, technologists and mathematicians, whereas social scientists are more inclined to refer to action research. It means, first of all, the closest possible connection between theoretical research and practical action; it means research which is not, as other research, interested primarily in the promotion of knowledge but rather in the improvement of social conditions. 5 It is, however, mainly the emphasis that differs from that in other research (see above, Chapter 3). There is no need here for a formal hypothesis to be tested; control groups are usually dispensed with, and the research is not carried out in isolation, but in the closest collaboration with practical people concerned with practical problems. Action research would not simply try to examine, for example, the role of subnormal intelligence in juvenile delinquency by tests and statistical analysis but might open a club for subnormal youngsters in order to help them in their difficulties and at the same time study their delinquent behaviour, relate it to their sub-normality and evaluate the work of the club.
