Beyond Theory

Changing organizations through participation

Editors

Stephen Toulmin | University of Southern California

Bjørn Gustavsen | National Institute for Working Life, Stockholm

Paperback – Available

ISBN 9789027217721 (Eur) | EUR 68.00

ISBN 9781556198267 (USA) | USD 102.00

e-Book –

ISBN 9789027276162 | EUR 68.00 | USD 102.00

Action Research is one of the most practical and down-to-earth ways of doing research into working life. Beyond Theory draws on examples and actual cases to discuss action research within the framework of the modern, and postmodern, theory of science debate. While action research has been much criticized by the traditionalists, the book reflects a convergence between action research and positions emerging out of the critique of scientific traditionalism. Discussions between these two fields of knowledge, originally so very different, can enrich both. The book will be useful not only to researchers and academics but to anyone who is interested in the role and use of knowledge in social and organizational development.

[Dialogues on Work and Innovation, 2] 1996. viii, 233 pp.

Publishing status: Available

https://doi.org/10.1075/dowi.2

Table of Contents

Preface | p. vii

Introduction | p. 1

1. Development and the Social Sciences: An uneasy relationship

Bjørn Gustavsen | p. 5

2. Workplace Development and Research: Two examples

Kjell Eriksson | p. 31

3. Creating Reflective Dialogue

Robert W. Putnam | p. 41

4. Workplace development, Gender and Communicative Competence

Marianne Ekman Philips | p. 53

5. Strategic Management from the Bottom Up: The start of a process of managerial, organizational and institutional change

Annemieke J.M. Roobeek | p. 67

6. Action Research and Regional Development

Werner Fricke | p. 83

7. The Development Organization as Communicative Instumentation: Experiences from the Karlstad program

Per H. Engelstad | p. 89

8. Searching for a Program in National Participation: An action research experiment in Turkey

Oğuz N. Babüroğlu | p. 119

9. ‘This is Not the Whole Story…’: On the demand for scientific reports of action research

Øyvind Pålshaugen | p. 137

10. Pragmatizing Communicative Reason

Thomas McCarthy | p. 159

11. Reflections on the Epigenetics Significance of Action Research

Hans van Beinum | p. 179

12. Concluding Methodological Reflections: Élitism and democracy among the sciences

Stephen Toulmin | p. 203

About the Authors | p. 227

Index | p. 231

“[...], this book is making an important contribution in arguing strongly that the core of action research is the development of democratic dialogue.”

Peter Reason (University of Bath, UK)

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Subjects & Metadata

Miscellaneous

Industrial & organizational studies

BIC Subject: KJM – Management & management techniques

BISAC Subject: BUS085000 – BUSINESS & ECONOMICS / Organizational Behavior

ONIX Metadata

ONIX 2.1

ONIX 3.0

U.S. Library of Congress Control Number: 96013109 | Marc record