8.9 Action research is an approach to evaluation which can help policy makers and practitioners make changes to improve policy at an early stage in policy development and increase the likelihood that a policy will achieve its aims. Action research involves the researcher and those involved in developing and implementing the policy collaborating to diagnose actual problems and develop solutions based on this diagnosis.2 To maximise the benefits of action research, this collaboration should be very active and this type of research is likely to require a lot of input from both researchers and policy makers. Action research often coincides with a policy's implementation to identify issues that might occur at this stage ensuring that implementation is as effective as possible, and anticipating and addressing any issues that arise at this early stage. However, it can successfully be used at all stages of the policy process.
8.10 Examples of when action research might be particularly useful are where:
• a novel way of working or delivering an intervention is being implemented;
• a policy is based on a new or unproven theory of change (see Chapter 5 for more information on theory of change) and little evidence is available about how it might work in practice;
• there are a number of feasible alternative options for delivering a policy and it would be helpful to test them; or
• a policy is being delivered in a challenging implementation environment.
8.11 However, action research is well placed to meet a wide range of policy needs, particularly when a quick, responsive, problem solving approach is required.
8.12 Action research is likely to require collection of data to understand the environment in which a policy is being implemented or delivered and data to diagnose any problems with this process. It also needs to collect data to help identify possible solutions to improve the policy or its delivery. This might include collection of quantitative and qualitative data or a combination of both (possible methods of data collection are discussed below). The key aspect is that the action researchers should regularly feed back their analysis of this data to the policy maker and/ or practitioner and together they should identify key problems and possible solutions. If possible, it is helpful for the action researcher to further evaluate these changes to the policy to ensure that they are having the desired effects.
8.13 Therefore where action research is being carried out, it is important that policy makers and/or practitioners are willing to make changes to the policy as a result of the action research as its value is in changing how the policy is being delivered on the ground. It is particularly important to consider when it would be most appropriate for data collection for any impact evaluation to take place. It is desirable to begin this data collection once the action research has been completed so that only the impact of the improved policy is captured, otherwise a possible finding that the policy has little, if any, impact would be of no value for future decision making.
_________________________________________________________________________
2 See Social Research Methods, Bryman, 2001, Oxford: Oxford University Press