Action Research Support Resources
The ANROWS Library contains a comprehensive collection of sector specific resources. This page contains action research related resources that would be helpful to researchers, community workers and others working on action research projects.
Action Research Primer – A how-to guide to planning and implementing an action research project.
Action research project story template – a guide to capture, analyse and share their project processes, successes, challenges, outcomes and learnings.
Presentations
Action research methodology
This webinar is led by Dr Peta Cox, Senior Research Officer with ANROWS. She provides an excellent starting point for coming to grips with literature reviews, with specific advice about how practitioners working outside academia might undertake research. Topics discussed include: 1) What is a literature review? 2) Academic literature searching outside the academy. 3) Finding full text for free. 4) Writing carefully. 5) Cautious data analysis.
Downloads
Resource
Measuring change to prevent violence against CALD women and to create safer pathways
Download
Guidelines
Evaluating Victorian projects for the primary prevention of violence against women : a concise guide
Download
Powerpoint
inTouch: Supporting migrant and refugee women who experience family violence
For further information please contact inTouch. inTouch also offers training throughout the year and has recently trialled training via Skype
Download Related links
See below for links to a range of other useful websites
Interviewing techniques and questions
- Creating good interview and survey questions – Purdue University On-line Writing Lab
- Interviewing Techniques – Purdue University On-line Writing Lab
- Strategies for Qualitative Interviews – Harvard University Department of Sociology. Includes discussion of recording and transcribing interviews, characteristics of a successful interviewer, and guidelines for developing interview questions.
- Designing Interview Questions – Research Observatory, University of the West of England. Describes and provides examples of nine different types of question.
Surveys and questionnaires
- Surveying – Purdue University On-line Writing Lab
- Tip sheet on question wording – Harvard University Program on Survey Research
- Designing a Survey – Science Buddies. Includes example of strong and weak questions, and questionnaire layout tips.
Observation
- Observing – Purdue University On-line Writing Lab
- Observation – Qualitative Research Guidelines Project. Includes participant and non-participant observation, when to use observation, using video or audio recording, making field notes, and the benefits of observing.
- Non-Participant Observation – Better Evaluation. Includes a description of the method, its limitations, and advice for its use.
- Participant Observation – Better Evaluation. Includes a description of the method and advice for its use.
Online survey tools
- Survey Monkey – questionnaires with up to ten questions are free; web-based, no software download required
- LimeSurvey – free software for downloading or develop your own web-based survey
Other useful sites
- Research in Action: A Guide to Best Practice in Participatory Action Research. Department of Families, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs, Canberra
- Action Research and Action Learning for Community and Organisational Change – Essential action research site that proves that good information never goes out of style
- Borderlands Cooperative. An “independent network for holistic community development, activism, sustainability and action research”
- Borderlands Cooperative. An “independent network for holistic community development, activism, sustainability and action research”
- What is action research? From Guiding school improvement with action research(Ch. 1), by Richard Sagor. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.
- Bystander interventions in violence prevention – Australian Human Rights Commission
See also
PROJECT
ANROWS Action Research Support (ARS) Initiative: Building Safe Communities for Women
Find out morePROJECT
Evaluation of the Local Council Domestic and Family Violence Prevention Toolkit
Find out more