ABSTRACT
The aim of this chapter is to present a social constructionist framework entitled “the Integrated Framework for Analyzing Dialogic Knowledge Production and Communication” for engaging in critical, reflexive analysis of the tensions inherent in action research. The chapter illustrates the application of the framework in analysis of an action research project that is part of a Danish person-centred health care initiative, “Active Patient Support”, in which nurses counsel patients with chronic diseases in telephone conversations. The framework draws on Bakhtin in order to theorize dialogue in terms of the tensional negotiation of meanings across multiple voices and on Foucault in order to address how tensions arise in the play of power/knowledge in which certain voices dominate and others are excluded. The chapter describes and discusses the use of the framework to cultivate critical reflexivity of the tensions in both counselling conversations and in the action research process – with a view to improving both counselling and action research practices. In conclusion, it considers the learning gained from using IFADIA as a social constructionist framework for critically and reflexively working with the tensions in collaborative practices.
