An action researcher in an advisor’s hat: A short reflection on lessons the OECD has learned from undertaking action research in the realm of policy and politics

2021 ◽  
Vol 17 (1-2021) ◽  
pp. 102-107
Author(s):  
Rebecca Santos

Action research has enormous potential for policymakers, and those who advise them, to work in more iterative, reflective, and collaborative ways. For complex systems facing wicked problems, any approach that gets it closer to framing a problem well and drawing upon diverse forms of knowledge to bring about change, is good. Advisors who do action research in policymaking or political settings should be sensitive to the fact that this methodology may confound expectations regarding the ‘traditional’ advisor role. As such, some careful navigation of this approach (and what it means for the relationship and perception policymakers may have with those they engage to advise them) is required. This opinion piece shares lessons from an advisor working in the OECD’s innovation team, which embraced the action research methodology to reflect on and design innovative policy interventions with public sector policymakers. Action researchers who are using this methodology to produce policy advice may be more successful in auguring, and better navigating, new kinds of relationships with government if they heed the following lessons: frame the value of action research with decision makers, diversify your data and follow the story, and prime practitioners to participate.

Author(s):  
Ook Lee

This chapter presents the result of an action research conducted by an IS scholar who was involved in establishing and running a digital library which was government initiated in South Korea. The lessons from the national digital library’s case include the issue of the relationship between national IT infrastructure and the success of the national digital library. As a part of building the national IT infrastructure, a digital library that combines all digital libraries which already existed in various universities and that can provide overseas information such as journal articles instantly to every Korean researcher for free was established. An empirical survey was done as a part of the action research which included identifying the user satisfaction rate of the newly established national digital library. After obtaining results out of the survey, the action researcher recommended to go ahead with the current way of running a nationwide government-owned digital library.


2012 ◽  
pp. 9-35
Author(s):  
Marco Giuliani

Someone would argue that in accounting studies time tends to be left out from discussions and therefore research designs or theories risk to be temporally incorrect or incomplete as well as processes are misunderstood or misrepresented. Assuming that accounting is not only able to measure and report time but can also contribute to the construction of specific aspects of it, the purpose of this paper is to analyse the relationship between time and management accounting. To investigate this idea a case study will be examined adopting an action research methodology. The main findings of the study are the following. Firstly, in accounting there is the need to combine the different conceptions of time (objective vs. subjective; cyclical vs. non-cyclical) in order to fully understand a phenomenon. Secondly, accounting tends to capture time only from a quantitative perspective, overlooking its qualitative aspects. Moreover, accounting enables talking about time and achieving a more and more sophisticated and shared perception of the temporal dimension.


2018 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 21-37
Author(s):  
Bharat P. Bhatta

This paper analyzes and synthesizes the fundamentals of discrete choice models. This paper alsodiscusses the basic concept and theory underlying the econometrics of discrete choice, specific choicemodels, estimation method, model building and tests, and applications of discrete choice models. Thiswork highlights the relationship between economic theory and discrete choice models: how economictheory contributes to choice modeling and vice versa. Keywords: Discrete choice models; Random utility maximization; Decision makers; Utility function;Model formulation


Author(s):  
Johannes Lindvall

This chapter introduces the problem of “reform capacity” (the ability of political decision-makers to adopt and implement policy changes that benefit society as a whole, by adjusting public policies to changing economic, social, and political circumstances). The chapter also reviews the long-standing discussion in political science about the relationship between political institutions and effective government. Furthermore, the chapter explains why the possibility of compensation matters greatly for the politics of reform; provides a precise definition of the concept of reform capacity; describes the book's general approach to this problem; and discusses the ethics of compensating losers from reform; and presents the book's methodological approach.


2021 ◽  
pp. 194084472199108
Author(s):  
Michelle Lavoie ◽  
Vera Caine

In this paper, we explore, name, and unpack the possibilities that printmaking, as an art form, holds in visual narrative inquiry. We also explore the relationship between visual narrative inquiry and narrative inquiry, a relational qualitative research methodology that attends to experiences. Drawing on two different ongoing narrative inquiry studies, where we engage with either trans young adults or refugee families from Syria with pre-school children, we explore how printmaking practices facilitate processes of inquiry. The etymology of the word “frame” helps us understand framing as a process that is future oriented and reflects a sense of doing, making, or preforming. In this way, framing allows us to see otherwise, to respond to and with participants, and to engage with experiences in ways that open new possibilities of inquiry.


Author(s):  
Vijitashwa Pandey ◽  
Deborah Thurston

Design for disassembly and reuse focuses on developing methods to minimize difficulty in disassembly for maintenance or reuse. These methods can gain substantially if the relationship between component attributes (material mix, ease of disassembly etc.) and their likelihood of reuse or disposal is understood. For products already in the marketplace, a feedback approach that evaluates willingness of manufacturers or customers (decision makers) to reuse a component can reveal how attributes of a component affect reuse decisions. This paper introduces some metrics and combines them with ones proposed in literature into a measure that captures the overall value of a decision made by the decision makers. The premise is that the decision makers would choose a decision that has the maximum value. Four decisions are considered regarding a component’s fate after recovery ranging from direct reuse to disposal. A method on the lines of discrete choice theory is utilized that uses maximum likelihood estimates to determine the parameters that define the value function. The maximum likelihood method can take inputs from actual decisions made by the decision makers to assess the value function. This function can be used to determine the likelihood that the component takes a certain path (one of the four decisions), taking as input its attributes, which can facilitate long range planning and also help determine ways reuse decisions can be influenced.


1985 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 255-264 ◽  
Author(s):  
Avi Rushinek ◽  
Sara F. Rushinek ◽  
Joel Stutz

The present study suggests a method of integrating user performance and attitudes toward the computer system into the quality control procedures (QCP). The objective of this approach is to enable the decision makers to manage by exceptions (MBE) and thus be more effective and more efficient. Accordingly, this study computes the correlations between performance related variables and users' attitudes. The computer facility management will investigate only systems whose users have demonstrated performance or attitudes below a desirable minimum level and thus manage by exception. Likewise, the relationship between performance and attitude will be investigated.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Venugopal Prabhakar Gantasala ◽  
Swapna Bhargavi Gantasala ◽  
Tareq Na'el Al Tawil ◽  
Prerana Prasad

PurposeThe intention for this study was to explore any relationship that might exist between quality of learning experience (QLE), the second construct student satisfaction (SS) and the third construct perceived overall experience (POE) among undergraduate students within the higher education context. This study also attempts to explain the path direction between QLE, SS and POE.Design/methodology/approachThe researchers utilized structural equation modeling to analyze the variables considered for this study – QLE, SS and POE and for hypotheses testing. Respondents for this study were medical students' coordinators of the undergraduate level of medical colleges in the 28 states of India. Data collected for the study were possible by utilizing a questionnaire that was emailed to these student coordinators. The emailing effort returned 198 (n) filled questionnaires (complete) representing 198 institutions offering undergraduate-level medical programs out of a total of 542 institutions that offer undergraduate medical programs.FindingsFindings from this study confirm the relationship between QLE with SS, and PLE. Interestingly, the findings established a significant relationship between SS and POE.Practical implicationsDecision-makers and administrators of higher education institutions (HEIs) can utilize the findings from this study to focus on strengthening important elements of QLE in ways that positively impact SS and POE of students taking online courses and program offerings. The study reiterates the importance of course content, course structure, lecture-delivery quality, instructor mentoring and student-instructor interactions on SS and POE. The role of SS in reinforcing confirmation, perceived usefulness, perceived openness of the online courses and the perceived reputation was established. This relationship is key to administrators while they focus on improving SS and building on the institutions' reputation in addition to their efforts to support marketing and enrollments during the pandemic.Originality/valueResearchers in the past have examined the relationships between QLE and another construct of this study – SS. Past research has also examined the relationship between QLE and POE. However, there is not enough research exploring the relationship between SS and POE. This study establishes the relationship between SS and POE that benefits decision-makers in higher education.


2021 ◽  
Vol 02 (01) ◽  
pp. 16-28
Author(s):  
Feryal Zafar ◽  
Shaheera Munir ◽  
Muhammad Saqib Khan

The study attempts to figure out the relationship between the performance of the firms and corporate governance in Pakistan. Governance mechanisms used in this study are CEO duality, Independence of Board, Size of Board, and Ownership Concentration. While, the ROA and ROE have been used as dependent variables to measure the performance of firms. Using regression analysis technique on 10 listed firms trading over four years from 2014-2017, the results have been derived. The data regarding all the variables have been collected from all the companies’ annual reports. The discoveries of the study direct that fundamentals of corporate governance such as the Size of the Board, Ownership, and Duality Concentration of CEO have negative effects on performance of organization, as measured by ROA and ROE. While Board independence positively affects the performance of firms. The results are thus significant and provide valuable information for the decision makers about the research issues under consideration.


2018 ◽  
Vol 120 (12) ◽  
pp. 2762-2777 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aleksandra Michalec ◽  
Martin Fodor ◽  
Enda Hayes ◽  
James Longhurst

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to present results from the action research project, where sustainability professionals, local businesses and academic researchers collaborated on exploring barriers for food waste recycling in SMEs food outlets in order to inform local policy and business practices in Bristol, UK. Design/methodology/approach The researchers conducted face-to-face, qualitative surveys of 79 catering businesses in three diverse areas of the city. The action research methodology was applied, where a range of co-researchers contributed towards study design and review. Findings The research reveals the main barriers to recycling and how such perceptions differ depending on whether the respondents do or do not recycle, with “convenience” and “cost” being the main issue according to the already recycling participants. On the other hand, participants who do not recycle state that their main reason is “not enough waste” and “lack of space”. Practical implications Participants recommended a range of measures, which could improve the current food waste services in Bristol. For example, they suggest that business engagement should address the barriers voiced by the participants applying the framings used by them, rather than assuming restaurants and cafes are not aware of the issue. By inviting a variety of non-academic stakeholders into the process of research design and analysis, the project addressed the imbalances in knowledge production and policy design. Originality/value Despite the local and qualitative focus of this paper, the results and research methodology could act as a useful guide for conducting food waste action research in the policy context.


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