Action research a Handbook for Students

participatory action research, in which members of the community are given the 
possibility to take part in the study from the very beginning. Thirdly, empirical 
action research which involves a long period of collecting empirical data in the 
daily analysis of workplaces and phenomena which occur there. Fourthly, and 
finally, experimental action research, based on conducting experimental attempts 
to implement change in a controlled environment.
2.5 The criticism of Lewin’s approach to action research
Lewin developed the action research approach, but equally important was the 
way he directed the research towards the improvement of democratic processes 
in society. As a Jew and refugee from Nazi Germany, he searched for the possibil-
ity to empower disadvantaged groups [Johansson, Lindhult 2008]. His contri-
bution to action research is invaluable: he directed the production of knowledge 

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towards solving particular problems in the organisational and — more broadly 
— social life. Following his approach, a good theory is the one which allows so-
cial problems to be solved. This assumption gave impetus to a stronger anchoring 
of academic research in the social world. Lewin also changed the researcher’s 
role. A distanced and omniscient expert, involved in learning processes with 
other participants, became the facilitator.
If we take a look, however, at Lewin’s approach to work processes, his 
perspective seems to be deeply rooted in functionalism: the main purpose of 
change here is to stay in line with the guidelines concerning the effectiveness 
of the organisation’s operations [Greenwood, Levin 1998; cf. Zawadzki 2014]. 
Lewin gave little attention to managerial power as an inherent trait of organ-
isational change, neither did he conduct critical diagnoses of social relation-
ships between managers and employees. In fact, his approach does not leave 
much room for change through the critical emancipation of people. What is 
mostly visible in his approach is the ‘empowerment’ through striving for a con-
sensus and avoiding conflict, which could result in adaptation to organisational 
structures of dominance, and not overcoming them. This is why, as pointed out 
by Greenwood and Levin [Greenwood, Levin 1998], Lewin’s ideas were often 
used by global corporations in an instrumental manner. For instance, even 
though companies based in Sweden, like Volvo, Saab, or Alfa Laval adopt-
ed the idea of joint, democratic participation in organisational change, they 
treated the innovation only as a means of increasing the company’s economic 
productivity, and not for improving the level of justice, or increasing social 
satisfaction in the workplace.
If he had not died perhaps Lewin would have had the opportunity to 
develop his concept of action research in a more emancipatory direction [1]
1
. 
In fact, as Peters and Robinson emphasise [1984], throughout his life Lewin 
produced only 22 typed pages directly on action research. A more emancipa-
tory approach was the characteristic of the second, southern tradition of action 
research, connected to participatory research (PAR) [Brown, Tandom, 1983]. 
“South” does not mean here only the geographic region where PAR ideas had 
a strong presence (such as South America), but primarily it indicates the in-
terest in oppressed groups that can exist anywhere (therefore, as Greenwood 
and Levin note, we can speak of a “south in the north,” cf. Greenwood, Levin 
1998, pp. 13–34).
1
As , one of his friends, Dorwin Cartwright, reports, several days before his death Lewin came to 
his house and stated excitedly: “Freud was wrong, and Marx was right” [Cartwright 1978].

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3. EMANCIPATORY APPROACH TO ACTION RESEARCH: PAR
The postmodern breakthrough in science and the orientation towards social 
constructivism among researchers in the 1960s reinforced the intervention-ori-
ented dimension of action research. Lewin’s concepts became popular. But not 
only was its usefulness for the organisational practice emphasised, but they were 
also improved so that they could achieve a more emancipatory potential. It was 
observed, that due to the fact that action research has an immense impact on 
changes in organisation, it should be used for helping disadvantaged groups. 
This help would consist of discovering, in the research process, negative traits 
of the organisations which do not allow people to develop and to fight against 
these processes by recommending changes [Sandberg 1976]. 
Therefore, from the second half of the 20th century, more emancipatory ap-
proaches to action research started to form. The purpose of such research is the 
transformation in the area of human values, including challenging forces that limit 
humans and developing critical awareness to overcome pathology [Kemmis 2010]. 
Research in this orientation should involve a creative clash of opinions represented 
by different sides of the process, such as researchers’ or organisational members. It 
is assumed that the different viewpoints among people involved in the research are 
natural processes enabling the emancipatory change [Greenwood, Levin 1998].