ABSTRACT
Discrepancies between the ways in which different people view one and the same situation. Action research begins with reflection upon such discrepancies and tries to save them from being forgotten in the maze of everyday work. This chapter discusses how starting points for action research can originate from discrepancies in one's practice. It looks at discrepancies to get some ideas of the type of gaps that there may be in our practice. The chapter provides some insights and methods for finding a starting point for our action research. One can think of a starting point as the first impression or the first interpretation of our practice situation. The chapter gives a number of hints for clarifying the starting point of research. This process of clarification is not value-free. It provides us with the tools that we need to go beyond a causal perspective and to uncover the systemic aspects of our practice situation.
