ABSTRACT
Action research is just one term that describes the collaboration of professional researchers with groups or organizations attempting to understand or produce change in a real-life context. Other terms used to describe the same form of research are community-based research (Strand et al., 2003), community-based participatory research (Israel, Eng, Schulz, & Parker, 2005; Minkler & Wallerstein, 2003), participatory research (Gaventa, 1988; Park, Brydon-Miller, Hall, & Jackson, 1993; Tandon, 2008), participatory action research (Fals-Borda & Rahman, 1991), classroom-based or educational action research, practitioner inquiry (Cochran-Smith & Lytle, 2009; Noffke & Somekh, 2009), arts-based action research (Brydon-Miller, Antal, Friedman, & Gayá Wicks, 2011), appreciative inquiry (Cooperrider, Whitney, & Stavros, 2003; Ludema & Fry, 2008; Reed, 2007), and feminist action research (Brydon-Miller, Maguire, & McIntyre, 2004; Maguire, 1987; Reid & Frisby, 2008).
