Looking back on Kurt Lewin: From field theory to action research

Author(s):  
Erling Eng
2011 ◽  
pp. 51-66
Author(s):  
Victor J. Friedman

The goal of this paper is to argue for the importance of ‘meta-theories', or "theories about how to build theories", in action research. Meta-theories express the fundamental assumptions about the world that underlie a theory and influence our ability to combine knowledge and communicate. Action research was originally based on "field theory", a meta-theory developed by Kurt Lewin but largely abandoned by his followers. One of the few meta-theories to have emerged from action research is "action science", which developed by Chris Argyris and Donald Schön. Although there appears to be little similarity between the two meta-theories (i.e. field theory and action science), this paper argues that they actually complement each other. It suggests that integrating field theory and action science into a unified meta-theory can provide action researchers and practitioners with concepts that can enable them see their "behavioral world" in ways expand the range of possible goals, actions, and relationships.


2018 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 173-193
Author(s):  
Rizka Dwi Seftiani ◽  
Siti Dieny Hafshoh ◽  
Irawan Irawan

This research focuses on the process of strategic planning completion of the Ma'had Aly Pondok Quran establishment in Bandung Regency. This research uses Kurt Lewin model of action research method which consists of planning, acting and fact finding on the result of the action. The results of this study indicate that there are several efforts to meet the conditions that have been determined by the Minister of Religious Regulation 71/2015 on the establishment of Ma'had Aly Pondok Quran. The contributing factors of the succesful strategic planning are the results of the present and expected future conditions analysis, the results of Ma'had Aly SWOT analysis, the Master Plan Development Document (RIP)of Ma'had Aly Pondok Quran, Strategic Plan Cycles and Strategic Plan Matrix of the Ma'had Aly performance. These constitute as the guidelines for the realization of the ideal establishment of Ma'had Aly which is in accordance with the Guide of Establishment of Ma'had Aly as stated on the operational guidelines of the Ministry of Religious Affairs.  


2019 ◽  
Vol 23 (3) ◽  
pp. 3 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jorge Rodrigues ◽  
José C.V. De Sá ◽  
Luís P. Ferreira ◽  
Francisco J.G. Silva ◽  
Gilberto Santos

<p><strong>Purpose:</strong> This study comprised two main goals. The first goal demonstrates how LT (Lean Tools) allows the highest impact during the implementation phase.The second goal consisted of introducing procedure changes based on the Management of Human Resources through Lean Leadership tool. The target for these two objectives is to achieve an increase of 5% in machine occupancy rate and a reduction of 10% regarding the costs of defective products per hour.</p><p><strong>Methodology/Approach:</strong> The research methodology is a Action-Research/Research-Action developed by Professor Kurt Lewin of MIT that goes through cycles of five stages: Diagnosis; Planning; Implementation; Evaluation, Conclusions.</p><p><strong>Findings:</strong> Regarding the two objectives above mentioned, it was observed an increase of 8.5% in machine occupancy rate and a reduction of 27.9% regarding the costs per hour of defective products. It was created an additional motivation in the employees and very satisfying results in every production.</p><p><strong>Research Limitation/implication:</strong> The study is limited to a Portuguese Small and Medium-sized Enterprise (SME) in the metalworking sector.</p><p><strong>Originality/Value of paper:</strong> Lean tools can be rapidly and easily implemented and quickly understood by the workers. With that implementation, the occupation of the machines has increased and the defects and their costs have decreased, so the added value grows.</p>


Author(s):  
Karen E. Watkins ◽  
Aliki Nicolaides ◽  
Victoria J. Marsick

The contemporary use of action research draws on the exploratory, inductive nature of many qualitative research approaches—no matter the type of data collected—because the type of research problems studied are complex, dynamic, and located in rapidly changing contexts. When action research is undertaken to support social and organizational change, support from stakeholders affected by the research problem is essential, creating further complexity. Action research may serve as an alternative to more traditional views of social science. In this chapter, the authors describe action research as envisioned by Kurt Lewin, its originator. They show how two variants of action research—action science and collaborative developmental action inquiry—advance insight into how action research can be used to develop personal capability to address system changes that action research seeks to unveil. They conclude with reflections on criteria for rigor and relevance in action research in today's post-modern, complex world.


2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 49-60
Author(s):  
Agung Prihantoro ◽  
Fattah Hidayat

The paper explores the classroom action research as one of research methodologies. This kind of research methodology aims to solve learning and teaching problems and improve the quality of education. There are four models of classroom action research, namely Kurt Lewin model, Stephen Kemmis and Robyn McTaggart model, Margaret Riel model, and Robert P. Pelton model. To make the models easy to apply, the authors show an example of classroom action research framework.


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