ABSTRACT
Access in some contexts is unlikely, for example few researchers will be able to gain access to presidents and prime ministers or leaders of industry, or be able to observe decision-making in ministries or within global conglomerates. However, access may also be a difficulty in more everyday contexts. There are some who argue that access should be gained covertly in some contexts so that the researcher pretends to play a role in order to minimize ‘reactivity’ or the observer effect. Action research has widespread appeal and projects are carried out by practitioners within many different fields including community activism and development, citizenship, professional learning and product design. Many researchers have a particular interest in the interplay between individual agency and social structure – this is explored in Berger’s striking study of a gang member in the USA who was shot and paralysed and subsequently became a world-class wheelchair athlete.
