Your Path of Inquiry...

All research is a process of understanding how events relate to one another. The events can be microscopic processes within a single cell, or they can be patterns across the universe. Action research takes place at the social level. The events explored are between and among people, in places, and through community and cultural practices. In action research, one studies activity systems around complex problems and tries to understand the effect of intentional efforts to influence change. And not just any change, but change that aims to move things forward to a better alignment with the shared values of the participants.

Finding your problem, question, or topic of investigation means looking for the overarching question that will guide you. Your inquiry question is often in the form of "How do I improve the way I do...." This tutorial will help you find that overall question or the topic of your action research inquiry. Once you have your overarching question, you will be framing a potential answer to this question in your first cycle. This tutorial will help you frame the overriding question or topic. Please see Tutorial 6 for framing your first cycle question which will be your first guess at how to answer the question you pose in this tutorial.