ABSTRACT
This chapter attempts to point to some of the reasons for the difficulty of formulating a valid, generally accepted definition of action research. It states why action research should not be confined; and it suggests that action research must both be clarified for communication and open for development. It stems from afterthoughts and reflections which had been individually written by the authors as responses to some events and issues of the International Symposium in Brisbane in 1989. The chapter cannot claim to put forward a unique and unified solution to the problems it states but rather presents different approaches to dealing with them. Above all, it argues for a sound balance of seriousness and looseness/pragmatism in approaching the question of definition.
