ABSTRACT
Research—the questions, methods, and findings of research projects—is strongly influenced by the larger society. Similarly, the larger society is oftentimes influenced by research. Research is a social process, and researchers are participants in society. Producing new knowledge is a major industry, often serving specific social interests and values. Each of us has a position, or really a number of specific positions in society, and these affect the ways we see the world in very basic ways. Transformative action research can be done by non-professional researchers, who are engaged in doing rather than only studying, and who want to use their research for transformative improvements, large or small. In considering the history of research, we should be mindful that our ignorance of the methods of inquiry used by our distant ancestors is paralleled by the consistent exclusion of histories of non-European cultures. Our society and our culture, and especially those groups and people with the greatest power, influence, and privilege, may significantly influence, and distort, our inquiry in ways that we may not always readily appreciate. Action research cannot realize its transformative potential without a consistent and continual awareness of the challenges involved in addressing these biases.
