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Action Research ReadingFocused on the types of action and operational research methods used in

International Development

Marian Zeitlin and Brooke McKean, updated February 1, 2008

Technical problems of development (natural resource protection, sanitation, agriculture, foodsecurity, health, education, planning and engineering) manifest themselves in conditionsthat fail to meet technical, physical and biological standards, although their causes andpotential solutions are rooted in the social world. Classical scientific and bureaucraticapproaches have proven inadequate to integrate the technical and social perspectives inefforts to understand and address these problems. This failure often results in ineffective,inappropriate, harmful, controversial and/or unsustainable actions. As such, development practices have begun to utilize participatory action research methods that involvecommunity members in their own development.

To introduce the concept and practices of action research, this document provides both theory andtools for action. The first two sections include context, theory and a brief summary of participationmethods, including the Triple A diagram. Sections three through five provide methods of action

research as well as the strategies at GENSEN. Section six includes three case studies in Uganda,illustrating different degrees of action research. Finally, section seven introduces additionalhandbooks, templates and manuals for conducting research. The text finishes with further readings.

1. Context and Theory of Action Research

At the height of the so-called modern era end of the 19 th century up through the 60s and 70s(lingering into the present), the model for solving social problems had evolved in a formalizedmanner, which assigned the functions of social problem solving to different institutions. Asdiagramed in Figure 1. on the following page, social services such as schools, health centers, social

security offices, and police forces sit in Box 1 carrying out their functions in society. The researchinstitutes and firms that evaluate these programs (environmental, medical, educational, etc.) sit inBox 2. Policy and decision makers such as government ministries, the US Congress or the WorldBank Social Fund sit in Box 1, from where they take action by mandating changes in the socialservices in Box 1. They may do this by decree or by contracting the actors in Box 2 to design, trainand set up new models of services in Box 1.

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for interaction across groups and institutions. In a move that could be referred to as part of thepostmodern deconstruction ofmodern categories, the technical procedures developed at the level ofFigure 2. are being put back into the localized naturalistic holistic evolutionary settings of Figure3.

This is similar to a melting process. In almost every field of social research, structures that were

previously solid are cracking, articulating, becoming more fluid. The term Action Research (AR) isappropriate to describe the more fluid approaches that result from the deconstruction of rigidlyinstitutionalized research and policy formation procedures in order to make these more flexible andresponsive to immediate local needs. However, this is a natural process cutting broadly acrossdisciplines. Most of the actors have discovered the need for change in their own work lives. Thedifferent disciplines have spontaneously invented their own methods, and labels, often withoutknowing that other groups were doing the same thing, and without applying the term AR to the processthey use.

Action research creates positive social change at the level of detailed process, adding scientifictheory to the natural processes of evolution and human problem solving that are occurring

in Box 1. Participatory Action Research (PAR) models are based on models of how people and organizations evolve naturally. Action Research adds scientific theory towhat we sometimes call trial and error. Like many social science paradigms andprocedures, action research parallels common sense so closely that lay people debunk it asa fancy name for an every day activity. Action Research consciously works with theprocess of natural evolution, speeding it up, using it towards optimal ends. Because ARand other social science applications generally deal with the stuff of everyday life, onegroups formalized system may look to another group like an unnecessary elaboration oncommon sense.

Figure 3. Natural Evolution

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3. Survivorsconsolidateand integratesurvivalfactors backinto step 1.They analyzeand correcttheir homeo-static system,

as much aspossible.

1.Life formsexist/actthroughtime. Threatsoccur. Lifeforms andthey cope asbest theycan.

2 Some die.Some survive,regroup andassess theirsituation, todegree possible.


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Figure 3. places natural evolution into the three box framework above, and demonstrates that theprocess of problem solving on the basis of experience is fundamental to life itself. This cycle is ascomplex as life itself. In lower life forms it isnt conscious (take the example of germ resistance inbacteria). However, humans have conceptualized and institutionalized these cycles into problemsolving social structures, from the council of village elders to the town planning commission to thesocial research institute.

Figure 4. is UNICEFs Triple A Cycle AAA formula for action research, designed to involveactors at all levels, particularly including local communities to engage in this research together.TheSwedish regional director of UNICEF based in Nairobi, Urban Jonsson, introduced the UNICEFTriple A model when he was head of nutrition for UNICEF from 1987-94. With roots in theScandinavian industrial democracy experience, the Triple A is now broadly used in other nationaldevelopment activities such as improving decentralized governance in Senegal. The Triple A wasdeveloped in Iringa, Tanzania to improve the nutritional status of young children in an indefinitelyon-going program that used the weight-for-age of young children as an indicator measuredquarterly for community planning. UNICEF now applies this model world wide in nutrition andother development sectors. Fgure 5. is the same model in a more recently designed version by Bob

Dick (http://www.scu.edu.au/schools/gcm/ar/arp/aandr.html).

Figure 4. UNICEF Triple A diagram

Figure 5. Bob Dicks model of Action Research

The UNICEF Triple A diagram, and conceptual framework below typify the post-modernformulation. UNICEF trains its program officers and their counterparts in national and local program planning and implementation agencies to use the Triple A diagram and a ConceptualFramework in a series of two or more workshops, which are run using group dynamics methods.

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The Triple A attempts to base the research/planning/design/implementation process back to theprimacy of the evolutionary cycle in Figure 3.

Figure 6: UNICEF Conceptual Framework - Causes of Malnutrition in Children

Poor water/sanitation and

inadequate healthservices

Child malnutrition,death and disability

Inadequatematernal and child-

care practices

Insufficient accessto food

Quantity and quality of actualresources - human, economicand organizational - and the

way they are controlled

Potential resources: environment, technology, people

Figure 1: Causes of Child Malnutrition

Inadequatedietary intake

Disease

Basiccauses atsocietallevel

Outcomes

Immediatecauses

Underlyingcauses athousehold/family level

Political, cultural, religious,economic and social systems,including womens status, limit theutilization of potential resources

Inadequate and/orinappropriateknowledge anddiscriminatoryattitudes limithousehold access toactual resources

Source: The State of the Worlds Children 1998

The key to transforming every day problem solving into action research is to upgrade the symbolicand theoretical thought processes brought to bear on each problem. Action research methods takeprocesses we do every day and add scientific theory and practice to these processes in order tomake them more powerful, since knowledge is power. Accurate theory enhances effective action,as shown in the following example:

The germ theory of disease:In every culture, everywhere, people like to be clean, and they have habits of cleanliness. Manyanimals also have habits of cleaning themselves. Most human cultures understand that dirtinessleads to illness, but without modern education they dont understand the theory and practice of thegerm theory of disease. In a hygiene, illness and growth study carried out in rural Bangladesh infrom 1984 87, we taught hygiene practices and taught about germs to illiterate villagers. Laterwe tested whether the children whose mothers understood germ theory had children with better

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health. We ran statistical tests on the strength of the links from good cleanliness and hygienepractices to health. We discovered that mothers who followed the hygiene instructions of theirsociety had children with less illness. However, their children had more incidents of illness thanthose of mothers who followed both the hygiene instruction of their societies and understood thegerm theory of disease. In other words, these mothers could prevent contamination in newcircumstances unforeseen in the hygiene instructions.

Figure 7. Germ Theory of Disease

2. History of the term Action Research, pedigrees of name brand approaches to(P)AR

Kurt Lewin, in the 1940s, is said to be the first to use the term action research:A process wherebyone could construct a social experiment with the aim of achieving a certain goal. Researchers ina real life context invite or force participants to take part in an experimental activity (DavyddGreenwood, 1997, p. 17). Greenwood notes that one of Lewins first experiments tried to gethousewives to use tripe instead of beef, which was scarce during World War II. This project was verysimilar to action research carried out by nutritionists today in developing countries to teach poorhouseholds to switch from expensive high status foods to affordable and nourishing low status foods.

Lewin also carried out work on group dynamics, identifying factors and forces important fordevelopment, conflict and cooperation in groups. Group dynamics skills, brought in by an outsidefacilitator or an outside team, form the basis of some types of action research, which focus on creatinggroups that can take positive action, rather than breaking down under social stress and the

tensions of development. In fact, project leaders of all forms of action research must have basicgroup dynamic skills. Lewin created T-groups. The T in T-group refers to a group structure, inwhich the outside facilitator plays a key social role, sitting at the T-junction of a T-shaped group. Thefacilitator is present but deliberately refuses to take command of the group for long periods of time.Having a non-functional authority figure forces the group to come to terms with their own approachesto authority and to take leadership themselves and make the group function in new ways. T-groupswere forerunners of sensitivity groups, experiential learning, and the personal growth movement

(Greenwood, 1997). EST (Erhards sensitivity training), which became Landmark Education, is anongoing example of one of this movement. This work also developed into the field of managementconsulting.

Although almost every discipline now has its own brand of PAR practitioners, it is possible to listsome of the main streams that led into field. Programs vary from only consultation with

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Participation Good practices

Understanding germ theory

Fewer illnessesin children


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community members to active control and involvement by the community. The types of programscan be put into three broad categories, each with different interests and intentions, which can beseen in Table 1. on the following page. First, at the commercial level, management consulting,commercial market research, and operations research (3-5) need participation in order to create andmarket products and skills that people want to purchase. For these practitioners, the bottom line ismoney.

Second, consultative participation allows community members to voice their concerns about projects but they have little control over final decisions. This research engages communitymembers with Western educated social and physical scientists. It builds on the fact that community participation is the key to successful projects, and therefore includes participation into thefeasibility study phase. The majority of social, economic, environmental and other developmentprograms follow this form of participation. They need participation because their projects wontwork unless people are willing to participate and create solutions to their own development problems. They seek empowerment of local populations in order to reduce the amount ofassistance they will need in future. These types of programs have been highly criticized as ritualswithout results because they still fit within the modern conceptions of development such as Figure

1. (refer to additional readings for further analysis).

Finally, the third type of participation works actively with community members to encourageeducation, self-awareness and social change. This includes the social justice and democracy-oriented practitioners who are most concerned with the right of poor populations to participate intheir own self-determination. This type of participation works to empower groups with skillsneeded to create positive social change. Analysis focuses on liberation and class struggles.

Table 1. Examples of Participation

Type Examples

1. Commercial Organizational management/consulting, commercial market research,operations research (often geared towards the functioning of factories andmachinery)

2. Consultative Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA), MARP, Farming systems research,systems research, formative research (evaluation), social marketing,consultative research, adult education/literacy, applied anthropology

3. Active Industrial Democracy Movement Norway (includes socio-technical design,industrial management, and management research), Southern ParticipatoryAction Research including worker priests in Latin America, Paulo Freireswork, Brazils Landless Movement (MST), grassroots democracymovements

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3. Understanding the Cyclic Process of Action Research

To quote Bob Dick1, a key feature of Action Research is its cyclic process: you achieve change andunderstanding by alternating between action and reflection. Reflection guides action. Actioninforms reflection.

Two very important features of Action Research are its cyclic nature and the use of regular criticalreflection.

A cyclic process allows later cycles to build upon lessons learned in earlier cycles by directresponsiveness to each situation: these cycles are like rehearsals for a musical or theatricalperformance with the exception that in many cases the score or script also are completed duringthe rehearsals.

The critical reflection stage is often when the insights and creative ideas emerge fromexperience. This reflection feeds back into the next cycle of action to improve the nextrehearsal.

In the very early stages of an AR project, you often don't understand enough to know where to start.You may not start at the best starting place. In other words you must be willing to start at the"wrong place" and to persist until you arrive where you want to go.

At the start of an AR project you may not know what questions to ask, or what methods of datacollection to use. You may therefore have to start with a very general question. Your methods fordata collection will probably have to be broad and flexible. Think of it as starting with a fuzzyquestion, and fuzzy methods. The best you can then hope for is a fuzzy answer. But if that fuzzyanswer allows you to refine the question or the method, that is enough for the first cycle. On thesecond cycle, a less fuzzy question and a less fuzzy method can yield a less fuzzy answer. Overtime the questions, methods and answers become more precise.

Figure 8. Repeating the cycles

Another model for the type of action research we use in international development was proposed byJohn Croft:

1 http://www.scu.edu.au/schools/gcm/ar/arhome.html, http://www.scu.edu.au/schools/gcm/ar/bd.html

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1st Cycle:Fuzzy

2nd Cycle:Less fuzzy1. Question 2. Method

3. Answer

3rd Cycle: Someanswers and

new questions


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Figure 9. John Crofts Action Research Model

Theory

Practice

4. The Two Major Categories of Action Research

One type of action research focuses on PROBLEMS; another focuses on PRODUCTS. Figure 8.provides an overall scheme of how the two work together.

A. Problem focused action researchProblem focused action research is process oriented. It can lead to on-going, open-endedtransformation of the capacities of the group and the system as a whole to resist disintegratingforces, improve its quality of life and to assess, analyze, and act on its problems. Figure 4., theTriple A, diagrams this process. It can continue indefinitely, as a philosophy as well as amethodology, and this is the sense in which we operate in the EcoYoff sustainable developmentprogram. This continuing form can be represented by a spiral that progresses in an upward orforward direction by moving circularly through assessment, analysis and action, as in Figure 8.The spiral approach starts with a group of people who are engaged in activities together,responsible for the welfare of the group (des responsables), like the employees and interns workingat CRESP and GENSEN. They can be responsible for almost any type of activity.The system involves the following:

Assumptions:1. Rapid social change results in the need for changing norms of communication and interaction -

the normal operating rules for social behavior are no longer are sufficient to deal with everysituation.

2. Therefore, there will be frequent frustrations, when the needs of different members of the group

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Analysis

Action Assessment

Environment

Or

ExternalWorld ofobjectivereplicablemeasurement

Individual/group

Or

Internalworld ofconsciousperceptionand groupconsensus


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5) of iteration take place in the realm of verbal interviews, observations, focus groups, anddiscussions with stakeholders at all levels, from policy makers to participants. Typically, followingthis stage, a series of one to three or more trials will start, supervised by a design team made up ofspecialists and participants. At the end of each trial cycle, which may be compared to the rehearsalof a play, the product is refined and redesigned for the next cycle. During each cycle of action,the design team collects indicators to assess the parameters of the product(s), how far these

parameters differ from desired goals. The team then analyzes the changes needed in the next cyclein order to bring the end result closer to the goal, and designs the next cycle. The key to eachproject is to recognize the differences of contexts, as every cycle depends on the previous resultsand this will vary depending on the topic, location, and community involved. Figure 10. illustratesthe stages of product-oriented action-research

Figure 10. The stages of product-oriented action research

5. The Ecovillage Approach to AR at the Senegal Ecovillage Network (GENSEN)

GEN Senegal has as one if its missions to serve as an action research laboratory for long-termsustainable development of Senegals villages with a time horizon of at least 25 years.2 As alaboratory, GENSEN welcomes and adopts researchers and interns into its action researchcommunity. International members live with families and often take Senegalese names thatintegrate them into a family. Paired with a Senegalese work partner, the international memberscome to learn from and with Africa. They discuss with their partners and in seminars approachesthat may be sustainable for Yoff and also elsewhere in the world.

2 An Ecovillage is a community committed to restoring the environmentally healthy, holisticworldview of indigenous ecosystems in modern terms, within the land boundaries of theadministrative unit of their local government. Its goal is to apply ancient and modern technologies,such as information systems, to reunite the human and non-human ecosystem into the sameplanning framework.

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Trial cycle 1

Trial cycle 2

Trial cycle 3

Trial cycle 4

Fuzzy conceptand early

version of testproduct

Cycles ofbrainstorming,

reflection,discussion,qualitativeanalysis

Cycles ofreading,literature

review, writtendocumentation

Cycles of KIinterviews, focus

groups, observe,(mini)surveysif

needed


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A. An AR PhilosophyThe AR approaches of GENSEN are both process and product-oriented. GENSEN views AR as a philosophical value and guide to action that allows our culturally mixed working groups towelcome each breakdown in plans, achievements, schedules, cultural interactions, as opportunitiesto learn from each other and to research more effective ways of working together. We call theanalysis of setbacks and misunderstandings AR. This is our method of creating groups that can

take positive action, rather than breaking down under social stress and the tensions ofdevelopment.

We also use the concept of AR to define sustainable development. We dont attempt to definesustainability in absolute terms, but we see around us in Senegal, as elsewhere, many trends that areunsustainable. And in most development activities it is possible to differentiate between choicesthat are more, versus less sustainable. Sustainable development for the year 2020 and beyond is:"the other side of the mountain." Action research is our method for getting there. AR permits us ateach decision point to take the more sustainable rather than the less sustainable path. It revealssimple actions behind which we can unite and move forward. In the context of sustainabledevelopment we broaden the concept of PAR to cover all approaches we can use to understand

sustainable development and to create sustainable solutions. We apply classical product-orientedmodels of AR to designing programs and products.

B. Antecedents in International NutritionThis approach to AR as a holistic operating principle for long term sustainable development of thecommunity and its eco-system was started by Serigne Mbaye Diene and Marian Zeitlin, bothprofessionals in international nutrition. This field has led naturally to whole systems-oriented AR.Around 1970, nutritionists became aware that nutritional problems are embedded in complexsystems. High malnutrition rates often above 50% affect very young children in manydeveloping countries. In the Yoff neighborhood of Tonghor, for example, 82 % of 2-4 year oldchildren suffer from iron deficient anemia (hb


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Three scenarios one with a local preschool, one with the local office of the Christian ChildrensFund office, and one with a neighborhood womens group implement each step of the Triple A indifferent contexts, permitting the emergence of alternative ways of organizing the program.

It aims to prepare preschool children to succeed in elementary school by increasing their self-confidence in expressing themselves in words, their ability to recognize and name pictures, and

their vocabularies in the local and the national languages. This program also aids in adult literacyand in reading practice for older children.

The Pictures project followed the entire Figure 10. sequence, conceptualized as described in Table2. The process produced diverse results adapted to local capacities for project infrastructure, asillustrated in Table 3.

Table 2: The PAR process of the Pictures for Preschoolers project

Cycle 1Fuzzy Concept

Fuzzy Research: Conducted rapid assessment of the existing educationalenvironment of preschoolersFuzzy Results: Need to create a context where parents and children can play

together and learnCycle 2Brainstorming

Brainstorming and Discussion: Identified need for pictures (i.e. visualmaterial) in the home to stimulate enjoyable parent-child conversations andto build young children's vocabulary

Cycle 3Pre-test

First Trial: Pre-tested picture pages in 61 homes in 1997Results: Project was extremely popular

Cycle 4Formal Project andResearch

In response to community demand and availability of modest resources,launched formal PAR project in summer of 1999. New Research: Re-established local project team of young professionalpreschool teachersIdentified community authorities, interested group leaders, stake holders,key decision makers and worked out strategies for contacting themMethods: Conducted informal key informant meetings, interviews, andfocus groups around sample picture pages and the idea of creating"libraries" for lending these pages

Cycle 5ProgramDevelopment

Developed Programs: Synthesized reactions and suggestions fromconversations to create three concrete project scenarios involving threedifferent groups wishing to appropriate the program, according to thecircumstances and resources available to each group.Held workshop to design and produce a set of 80 picture pagesInvolved the Community: Received approval and blessings fromappropriate village authorities (i.e. the Muslim Khalif of the Layenebrotherhood and local spirit priestesses).

Cycle 6Action andReflection

Started structured action research to pilot three different scenarios in weeklypage lending.Reflection: Reflected on weekly experience and made minor structuralchanges in weekly cycles. Held prize distributions monthly to motivateparticipating families and hold family life education lessons.Results: Altered program methods and policies on a regular basis (i.e. made

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evaluation registers more user-friendly, required mothers to pay a fee ifthey lost a picture page)

Cycle 7Finalized systems

Regular Reflection: Evaluated overall project effectiveness in monthlycycles and made significant structural changes at the beginning of each newcycle

Results: Established a Community Advisory Council which defined its ownroles and subcommittees and which convened for the monthly programevaluationWorking with this committee, wrote up by-laws and other documents thatlegitimized and clarified the program structures, described procedures, andset forth goals for the future

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Table 2. Characteristics of the three scenarios

Sponsoringinstitutions:UNICEF

, PDEF

ChildParticipants

Whereprojectsupplies arestored

Animators whowork withthefamilies

andchildren

Where-whenchildrenareevaluated

andparentsare

counseled

Trainers/technicalconsultants,

supervisors

Where andwhen theprizedistribution

ceremoniestake place

Prizesand otherincentivesforchildren.

Sourceoffinancing

Parentcontribtions

1.Elementary school,Diamalaye 2, onSaturdays

60preschoolchildrenclose tocenter whocannotafford

regularpreschoolprograms

Preschoolcenter

Oneteacher ofthepreschooland othermembersof the

projectteam whodevelopedtheprogram

PreschoolcenterSaturdaymornings,childrenand familymembers

drop in fora programofactivitiesusingcenterfacilities

Projectteam ofpreschoolteacherswhodeveloped the

program

In an openlot acrossfrom theCenter orinside theCenter,using rented

chairs

Small notebooks,crayonsand othereducational prizes.Children

stringcoloredbeads -one foreach wordlearned -and usebeads tobuy smalltoys

CRESP,EcoYoffProgram andparental

contributions.Preschooldonatesitsfacilities.

Motherhavecreatedsavingclub, towhichthey

contribe$0.29/wek(25cfa/y) Arollingcreditfundloans $to 2paid-upmembe/ month

2. ThelocalNGO oftheChristianChildren's FundFosterParent

Program

Flexiblenumber ofchildren ofCCFbeneficiary families,selected onbasis offinancial

need

Neighborhoodofficeof CCFsocialworker.

Adolescent girls whoarebeneficiaries of theCCFprogram

In thehomes ofthe 3-6year-oldbeneficiary childrenAdolescentteachers

visitspecifichomes onspecificafternoons

Projectteamadvisetheneighborhoodsocialworker,who

trainsandsupervises theadolescent

In the socialcenter orother CCFcommunitymeetingplace.

Smallnotebooks,crayonsand othereducational prizes.

CCFfinances thisprogram foritsbeneficiaries

None, membeare CCbeneficries

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beneficiaries

3.Village/Neighborhood

family

Up to 30children ofeachsponsor

and his orherneighbors,preferablythose notalready inpreschool

In thehomeof thesponsor

ingfamily.

Ananimator/evaluator,who is a

member ora neighborof thesponsoringfamily

In thehomes ofthesponsoring

families

Projectteammemberstrain,

adviseand assistthevolunteeranimator/evaluator

In thesponsorshome,sitting on

mats in thecentralcourtyard

Smallnotebooks,crayonsand other

educational prizes.

CRESPandparentalcontrib

utions.Familiesdonatehomefacilities andthe timeof theirvolunteers.

Eachmotherpays$0.17 p

weekwhen hchildexchans his olpicturepage foa newone.

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6. Case Studies: Analyzing Approaches

In the following case studies, various successes and failures are analyzed. Three examples areillustrated, using a range of participatory strategies and models in Uganda. The first case addressesthe Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSP) required by the World Bank, which involveconsultation with local communities. This process is purely consultative and only adds consultation

into the modern framework in Figure 1.

The second case is the Uganda Health Days, which were developed in 1994 in two districts andnow have been adopted for the country as a whole in the latest World Bank nutrition loan project.It was an action research project that started directly at the trial phase. The final case used actionresearch to identify key problems for youth in a local community and developed projects based onresearch results in a model similar to the Triple A process. The analysis indicates the Triple Aprovides full flexibility to innovate. The product-oriented approach, Figure 10., can be appliedflexibly from start to finish and this type of application may be far more useful than using amanual.

Case 1. Ugandas PRSP3

Acknowledging the failures of the modern era to achieve successful development, the World Bankbegan supporting participatory projects and research in the early 1990s. The Community DrivenDevelopment (CDD) projects and the PRSPs were two strategies for integrating community voicesinto development policies. The World Bank now requires that countries develop PRSPs to receivefunding.

In response, Uganda began its Participatory Poverty Assessment Project (UPPAP) in 1998, whichtargeted poor Ugandans and asked communities about their development needs. The intent of theresearch was to direct the nations macro-policy development strategies based on the concerns ofpoor Ugandans. The strategy involved community meetings throughout the country over a three-

month period.

However, the resulting document hardly represented the interests of the average Ugandan.Although local governments are supposed to conduct the research, the team was led and directed byWorld Bank officials. As such, rather than fuzzy questions, the content necessary for the reportwas pre-determined. The data collected was mostly numerical, providing little space for humanperspectives and non-quantifiable data. Additionally, the needs of specific groups was ignored.For example, womens needs were only referred to once in the entire report. Rather than collectingdata, identifying needs, and working with community members to develop appropriate programs,numbers were collected and aggregated. The finished report is illegible to an average Ugandan andprovides a framework for action with few differences from previous modern models.

Case 2. Child days in Uganda - one-stop-shopping for servicesIt looked like a school fair. The primary school in Katete Parish, high in the hills near the RiftValley in Rukungiri District, Uganda, consists of facing rows of red brick classrooms joined by alush green lawn. Festively dressed families relaxed on the grass. A teacher led 35 fifth graders in

3 For more on this topic, see Cooke 2004, Wordorfa 2004, and Zuckerman 2002.

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peach-colored uniforms through colorful exhibits set up in the classrooms. On the back lawn undershade trees were big vats of nutritious porridge, where mothers who completed the day's activitiesrested and fed their babies.

We were pilot-testing a rural health day, as a context for community nutrition activities. Babyweighing scales hung from three umbrella trees on the central lawn. After answering a short

questionnaire at a registration table at the entrance, more than 350 participants first brought theirchildren under five to be weighed and to have their weights plotted on growth charts. Then theyvisited the different classrooms on the right, which had been set up for immunizations, curativetreatment of children, a demonstration of nutritious diets for children and mothers, ante-natal care,and contraceptive distribution. Under another tree, the family planning educator illustrated her talkwith picture cards showing how babies grow.

Exhibits in the row of classrooms on the left were of more interest to village men, who had beenencouraged to attend childs day. One displayed improved methods of agriculture, animalhusbandry and poultry rearing. A water and sanitation room sold cement latrine tops. A communitydevelopment room demonstrated and sold the products from income-generating projects, including

embroidery, pottery, basket weaving and bee keeping. In an education room, a school departmentrepresentative explained to parents how important it was to send their girls to school and to come toparent-teacher activities.

This health day was part of an operational research project conducted by the district medical teamsof two high-risk districts of Uganda, with the Child Health and Development Center (CDHC) ofMakerere University. I had the privilege of providing technical assistance to this research under theUS AID Women and Infants Nutrition Field Support (WINS) Project for which Tufts is asubcontractor to the Education Development Center (EDC).

I would like to highlight three aspects of this experience: the value of fast forwarding to the endproduct of operational research; the difficulties of nutrition counseling in this setting; and the severe

limitations of the project.

A. Fast forwarding to health day researchDrs. James Mugume and James Baguma were district medical officers (DMO) in the WINS projectdistricts of Rukungiri in the Southeast and Iganga in the West of Uganda. Both had as eventualgoals some day in the future to create integrated rural health days, based on model health days theyhad visited in Tanzania. In preparation for this future the Rukungiri team wanted data to help themto integrate the nutrition and health information collected by their different vertical health services(nutrition, immunization, curative, ante-natal, water and sanitation...) The Iganga team wanted datato help them to mobilize attendance for immunization, so that they could get together a sufficientlylarge number of mothers and children to also conduct baby weighing. During our planning

exercises they realized that they could carry out the same research better by fast-forwarding to theireventual goal, i.e. by putting on health days, and researching their questions during the health days.

A reason for fast forwarding to stage rough rehearsals of the future program types that one wishesto develop is that programmatic research is only valid in context. e.g. research on attendance atimmunization, carried out as a single activity, does not necessarily apply to attendance at

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immunization carried out as one of many health day activities.

The rough rehearsal method of conducting operational research collects data at each rehearsal anduses it to make the next rehearsal better than the last one. These rehearsals continue until thenascent program crystallizes into a set of popular service activities, shown by the data to beeffective. A technical term for this process is iterative approximation. As science, it uses statistical

methods to test hypotheses about the improvements in effectiveness indicators that can be achievedfrom one iteration to the next. These improvements have limits. To quote Lovelock, the Gaiatheorist, "The practice of science is that of testing guesses; forever iterating around and towards theunattainable absolute of truth." The fact that the truths of different programs are context specificdifferentiates this applied research from pure science. By starting with the future concept in roughapproximation, this process lends meaning to the political slogan of the Green movement: "Neitherleft nor right, but in front."

B. Nutrition Counseling ProblemsA nutrition counselor should talk to each mother about her child's diet and health after her baby'sweight has been graphed on the growth chart and the child's growth trend has been interpreted.

Katete health day set aside a special room for this counseling. The room was empty most of themorning because it proved almost impossible to refer mothers from the weighing post to thecounseling room. The moms clustered three-deep with their babies in the shade under the treeswhere the scales were suspended. Babies cried; elbows were everywhere, as volunteers struggledwith the scales, the weighing towers and the growth charts. Of those mothers that the volunteersdid refer for counseling, most never arrived at the counseling room. Yet, at any time, severalbabies in the yard were visibly emaciated and listless or had the sparse orange hair or swellings thatindicate malnutrition. At about noon, the counselor, who was a trained clinical assistant, begansimply to bring the mothers of these obviously sick children from the yard into the counselingroom.

Plans for the next health day, made at a debriefing session after the families went home, included

ten weighing scales to handle the crowd and ushers to lead the mothers of severely malnourishedchildren to the counseling room. Yet counseling remains problematic because of the low skill levelsof the available weighers and counselors.

C. Severe Project LimitationsThe WINS program, like most foreign assistance programs targeted to the poor, operated on theassumption that very simple and inexpensive activities created using foreign funds can bemaintained and expanded using local resources when the project is over. Throughout my visit toUganda we worried how to keep this popular form of health/nutrition activities alive after theWINS project terminates at the end of September. We saw no local source of money, unless frompoliticians running for office. External funds from NGOs and technical assistance sectors present at

health day, such as family planning, could support a few more health days. But expansion, evenquarterly, to every parish in Uganda seemed unimaginable.

Of all the services at health day, only immunization, curative treatment and, possibly, ante-natalcare were comparable in effectiveness to services delivered in the developed world. Family planning, agriculture, community development, sanitation, and education all were present in

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iconographic form as ideals to strive for. Chances that poor Ugandan villagers could succeed inemulating these icons were about as high as their hopes of winning the national lottery. It is betterto have icons out there than not, but we shouldn't be lulled into believing that the people have theassets needed to activate them.

The health day service structure appeared to be more suited to a triple A (Assessment, Analysis,

Action) strategy of child weighing than to nutrition counseling. Under the triple A approach, thecommunity leaders would: weigh the children quarterly (without counseling); calculate the numbersof well nourished and malnourished children; analyze the reasons for malnutrition; and organizecommunity action, which could include frequent follow-up and counseling for the seriousmalnutrition cases. Understanding the root problems is key. If malnutrition is caused by a lack offood or famine, counseling mothers in nutrition will do little to improve the ability of poor familiesto feed their children. However, if malnutrition is caused because families do not supplement theirdiets with more nutritious low status food such as vegetables, training in personal gardens could beuseful. As such, rather than having a health day as an end product, which cannot be financiallysustained, an action research strategy would focus on sustainable solutions focused on root causes.

Case 3. Redd Barna Ugandas Action Research

4

Redd Barna Uganda (RBU) is a non-governmental organization working in rural Uganda, focusingon designing a development plan based on the needs of children using participatory action research.Rather than entering the community with a clear end-product or goal, the organization began byconducting research in the community to understand the interests of youth. The organizationapplied adaptive planning processes that focused on negotiating differences within communities andcreated both small group and community-wide plans to serve everyones needs.

After conducting a survey of community needs, the organization found that the interests of thecommunity varied dramatically, as Table 3. illustrates. As they began conducting communitymeetings, they found that women and youth spoke less and had lower attendance. They thusactively worked to encourage participation by conducting both small and large group discussions

and encouraged members to speak. In doing so, they created projects based on the needs of boththe small and large groups. For children, they determined a need for improving education becauseteachers would arrive drunk or not at all. Thus, another cycle of research was developed todetermine the problems with the education system and how to improve them.

Table 3. Extract from the Issues Matrix for the Redd Barna Project

4 See Guijt et. al 1995 and 1998

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7. Templates, Handbooks and Manuals

A. HandbooksMost action research today follows guides or templates developed using free-flowing applicationsof the process or the product oriented models and then packaging these. The process-orientedguidebooks for workshop facilitation typically are proprietary, in part because facilitators require

special training that cannot fully be explained in a guidebook. As such, handbooks alone are oflimited usefulness. Product-oriented guidebooks are widely available.

A typical example for nutrition and infant feeding starts with guidelines based on human biologythat hold true cross-culturally, as depicted in:

Sanghvi T and Murray J. Improving Child Health through Nutrition: the NutritionMinimum Package. Ibid. BASICS publication, 1997

It then provides step-by-step guidance in using the approach in Figure 10. to adapt the biologicalguidelines to the local culture, using a manual such as the following:

Dickins, K, Griffiths, M, and Piwoz, E. Designing by Dialogue: A Program Planners Guide

to Consultative Research for Improving Young Child Feeding(SARA/HHRAA/USAID/AFR/SD, 1997) Academy for Educational Development, 125523rd Street, NW, Washington, DC 20037, June 1997. (See bibliography at end of documentfor continuation of references)

The World Banks participation sourcebook provides case studies and tools that offers a moremainstream perspective on the topic:

The World Bank participation sourcebook. The World Bank, 1996.http://www.worldbank.org/wbi/sourcebook/sbintro.pdf

Robert Chambers at the Institute for Development Studies at Sussex has contributed to participatoryprojects and handbooks for major development organizations, including the World Bank. His keytexts include:

Chambers, Robert.Rural Development: Putting the Last First. New York: LongmanScientific & Technical, 1983.

Chambers, Robert. Whose Reality Counts?: Putting the First Last. London: IntermediateTechnology, 1997.

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B. Example of Participatory Action Research Schedule for teaching parenting in Indonesia.

Months:1 Oct. 1996 2 Nov. 1996 3 Dec. 1996 4 Jan. 1997 5 Feb.-May1997 - - ->

Weeks 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 23 - ->

OR Site 1 train present kader mother Module 1 (RM1-1) kader Module FG FG(Parent roles) Home trials------------------------

train present kader mother Module 2 (RM1-2) kader Module FG FG(Sympathy-empathy) Home trials------------------------

train present kader mother Module 3 (RM1-3) kader Module FG FG(Street foods and food safety) Home trials------------------------

Module 4 (RM1-4) train present kader mother

(Family resource Management) kader Module FGFG

Home trials------------------------Revision of presentation, activities and materials Module 1 Module 2 Module 3

4 - ->At GMSK Headquarters

OR Site 2 train present kader mother Revised Module 1 (RM2-1) kader Module FG FG(Parental role models) Home trials------------------------

train present kader mother

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Revised Module 2 (RM2-2) kader Module FGFG

(Sympathy-empathy) Hometrials------------------------

traipresent

Revised Module 3 (RM2-3) kader Module

(Street foods and food safety)Home trials->

Revised Module 4 (RM2-4, to be continued according to diagram)(Family resource management)

Finalization of third revision (RM3), presentation, activities and materialsModule 12 ->

At GMSK Headquarters

Materials production, drafting of package

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C. Designing by Dialogue: A product-oriented modelA commercial food advertising firm, Manoff International, first adapted the commercial equivalent of ARto design and promote nutritious home-made baby foods in the Philippines and Indonesia in the mid 1970sand early 80s. These evolved into the Designing by Dialogue model that is most commonly used todayto design international nutrition education and behavioral change programs. Part of this group created thismodel in Indonesia, for the World Bank in 1979. Then we used the educational terms formative

evaluation, and concept testing to describe the cycles of identifying and testing educational conceptsand then testing educational materials. The Designing by Dialogue manual represents its version of theFigure 10. schema as shown in Figure 11.

Figure 11.

Step 1 Revue of existing information

Step 2 Exploratory : interviews andObservations in the household

Exploratory : trial of improvedrecipes and meal patterns anddirected group discussions

IEC Sessions

Trials of improved practices (TIPS)

Checking focus groups to validateTIPS findings

Step 3 Communications plan and trainingProgram

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d. The Sustainable Livelihoods Approach: A tool for analysis

Figure 12. The Sustainable Livelihoods Framework

Developed by Scoones, Farrington, Chambers, et al at the Institute for Development Studies (IDS) atSussex, the livelihoods approach is used to understand local environments and how people cope with them.The approach acknowledges the diverse factors that influence peoples decisions and activities andattempts to develop projects and process to improve livelihoods in a sustainable manner. Beginning withthe local environment and the resources available to individuals (their capital), and acknowledging theinfluence of various local actors and social norms, the framework determines the way peoples livelihoodscan be improved in a sustainable manner.

In Action Research, this tool can assist research and project development by acknowledging the diversefactors that influence human actions and interactions. In research, one can identify where the needs fit onthe diagram. For a detailed description of the process, see:

http://www.ids.ac.uk/ids/research/env/index.html.

Scoones, I., Sustainable Rural Livelihoods: A Framework for Analysis, IDSWorkingPaper 72, 1998.Hussein, K. and J. Nelson, Sustainable Livelihoods and LivelihoodDiversification,IDS Working Paper 69, 1998.Chambers, R., Sustainable livelihoods, environment and development: puttingpoor rural peoplefirst, IDS Discussion Paper 240, Brighton: IDS, 1987.

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8. Bibliography

Background Papers, World Bank/UNICEF Nutrition Assessment, Nutrition Section, Programme Division,UNICEF,New York, Health, Nutrition and Population Unit, The World Bank Washington, D.C. September 2002

(Narrative Pelletier Final. Dochttp://www.google.com/search?

hl=fr&q=UNICEF+Conceptual+framework+and+triple+A+cycle&btnG=Recherche+Google&lr=)

Dick, B. (http://www.scu.edu.au/schools/gcm/ar/arp/arphome.html )

Dickins, K, Griffiths, M, and Piwoz, E. Designing by Dialogue: A Program Planners Guide to ConsultativeResearch for Improving Young Child Feeding (SARA/HHRAA/USAID/AFR/SD, 1997) Academy forEducational Development, 1255 23rd Street, NW, Washington, DC 20037, June 1997.

Chambers, R., Sustainable livelihoods, environment and development: putting poor ruralpeoplefirst, IDS Discussion Paper 240, Brighton: IDS, 1987.

Chambers, Robert. Rural Development: Putting the Last First. New York: Longman Scientific & Technical, 1983.

Chambers, Robert. Whose Reality Counts?: Putting the First Last. London: Intermediate Technology, 1997.

Checkland, P and Holwell W. Action Research: Its Nature and Validity. Systematic Practice and Action Research11(1), 1998:9-21.

Cooke, B. The Managing of the (Third) World. Organization, 11:5, 603-629, 2004.

J Farrington et al. Sustainable Livelihoods in Practice: Early Applications of Concepts in RuralAreas, Natural Resource Perspectives (ODI) 42, June 1999.(http://www.oneworld.org/odi/nrp/42.html).

Freire, Paulo. Pedagogy of the Oppressed. USA: Continuum International Pub, 1970.

Greenwood, D. Action Research, 1997.

Guijt, Irene et al. Agreeing to Disagree: Dealing With Gender and Age in Redd Barna Uganda. in The Myth ofCommunity: Gender Issues in Participatory Development. eds. Irene Guijt and Meera Kaul Shah. London:ITDG Pub, 1998.

Higgins. A special issue of PRACTICING ANTHROPOLOGY on Handbooks and Manuals in Applied Research(Higgins, Nov. 1999) discusses a number of these, more of which are listed in the bibliography.

Hussein, k. and J. Nelson, 'Sustainable Livelihoods and Livelihood Diversification',IDSWorking Paper 69, 1998.

Initiative Rgionale pour le Renforcement des Comptences en Nutrition Communautaire. Atelier dEchanges

dExpriences, Dakar 23-27 mars, 1998, Rapport Final, Tomes 1-3. Une initiative conjointe de lUSAID(Projets BASICS et SARA/SANA), ORANA, Banque Mondiale, aavec la collaboration de lAGETIP

Keith, N. Nutrition/IEC Qualitative Research and Training in Kaolack and Louga. Ibid. BASICS publication. July4-9, 1996.

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Murray J, Adeyi, GN, Graeff J, Fields R., Rasmuson M, Salgado R, and Sanghvi, T. Emphasis Behaviors inMaternal and Child Health: Focusing on Caretaker Behaviors to Develop Maternal and Child HealthPrograms in Communities, Ibid. BASICS publication, 1997.

Parlato, M and Seidel, R. Large-Scale Application of Nutrition Behavior Change Approaches: Lessons from WestAfrica. Ibid. BASICS publication, 1998.

PRSP (Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper). Uganda Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development.

.

Sanghvi T and Murray J. Improving Child Health through Nutrition: the Nutrition Minimum Package. IbidBASICS publication, 1997.

Scoones, I, 1998, 'Sustainable Rural Livelihoods: A Framework for Analysis', IDS WorkingPaper 72

Scoones, Ian and John Thompson. Knowledge, Power and Agriculture: Towards a Theoretical Understanding fromBeyond Farmer First: Rural Peoples Knowledge, Agricultural Research and Extension Practice. eds. IanScoones and John Thompson. London: Intermediate Technology Publications, 1994.

Sternin, M., Sternin J and Marsh D, Designing a Community-Based Nutrition Program Using the Hearth Model andthe Positive Deviance Approach, Save the Children, Dec. 1998.

Wordofa, Dereje. Poverty-Reduction Policy Responses to Gender and Social Diversity in Uganda, in Gender andDevelopment vol. 12: 1 (2004), JSTOR, (http://www.jstor.org/).

World Bank. Community Driven Development: Overview. (http://go.worldbank.org/3RB76M9CU0).

The World Bank participation sourcebook. The World Bank, 1996.(http://www.worldbank.org/wbi/sourcebook/sbintro.pdf )

Zuckerman, Elaine. Engendering Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSPs): The Issues and Challenges, inGender and Development, vol. 10: 3 (2002), JSTOR (http://www.jstor.org/).

9. Further Readings*Available to borrowa. Action Learning Bibliography developed by Shankar Sankaran, 1996, is available online:

Sankaran, S. (1996) Action research bibliography [On line]. Available athttp://www.scu.edu.au/schools/gcm/ar/arp/al-biblio

b. Critiques of the modern model:* Corbridge, S. The (im)possibility of development studies. Economy and Society, 36, 179-211, 2007. Provides a

summary of different perspectives and leaves an optimistic conclusion.

* Hall, A.Social policy and rural development: from modernization to sustainable livelihoods, Chapter 3 in A Hall& J Midgley, Social Policy for Development, Sage, London, 2005. Good history of development practices.

*Escobar, A. Planning. In Sachs, W. (Ed.) The Development Dictionary. London, Zed Books, 1993.Highlycritical of development

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------------, A. Encountering Development: The Making and Unmaking of the Third World. Princeton: PrincetonUniversity Press, 1995

*Ferguson, J. (1994) The Anti-Politics Machine, Minneapolis, University of Minnesota Press. (Preface,introduction), Case study in Lesotho offers thorough critique of classic practices.

*Murphy, J. The Rise of the Global Managers. IN COOKE, B. & DAR, S. (Eds.) The New DevelopmentManagement: Critiquing the Dual Modernization. London, Zed Books, forthcoming. Scathing critique of

current development practices.

c. Analyses of participation:* Brett, E. 'Participation and accountability in development administration', (Mimeo, 2000).Provides the

conservative critique of participation practices.

* Craig, D. & Porter, D. Framing participation: development projects, professionals and organizations. In Tegegn,M. (Ed.) Development and Patronage: A Development in Practice Reader. London, Oxfam, 1997.Arguesthat the development system makes true participation impossible.

* Crewe E. & Harrison, E. Whose Development? An ethnography of aid, London, Zed Books. (Chapter 5), 1998.Good example of how projects take on very different meanings for different groups of people, looking atcooking stoves.

*De Herdt, T. & Bastiaense, J. (2004) Aid as an encounter at the interface: the complexity of the global fight againstpoverty. Third World Quarterly, 25:5, 871- 885. Very theoretical critique of mainstream participationfailures.

* Ebrahim, A. Accountability in Practice: Mechanisms for NGOs. World Development, 31:5, 813-829, 2003. Goodpractical critique of development practices.

Farrington, J. Organisational Roles in Farmer Participatory Research and Extension: Lessons from the LastDecade, Natural Resource Perspectives, ODI, 27, January 1998. Good background summary.

* Freire, Paulo. Pedagogy of the Oppressed. USA: Continuum International Pub, 1970. The classic class strugglemodel.

* C Garforth & A Lawrence Supporting Sustainable Agriculture Through Extension in Asia, Natural ResourcePerspectives, ODI, No. 21, June 1997. (http://www.oneworld.org/odi), Useful case study.

Guijt, Irene and Meera Kaul Shah (eds.). The Myth of Community: Gender Issues in Participatory Development.eds. Irene Guijt and Meera Kaul Shah. London: ITDG Pub, 1998. Provides a gendered perspective onparticipation.

* Kane, L. Popular Education and Social Change in Latin America, Latin America Bureau, London, 2001. Chapter

1. Worker priests in Latin America.

* La Belle, T.J. 'The Changing Nature of Non-Formal Education in Latin America', Comparative Education, 36,1,2000, pp. 21-36. Worker priests in Latin America.

* Mosse, D. Cultivating Development: An Ethnography of Aid Policy and Practice,London, Pluto. (Chapters 1 and 10), 2005.An anthropologists perspective on development practices in India.

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*Nelson, Nici and Susan Wright. Introduction: Participation and Power, in Power and Participatory Development:Theory and Practice. London: Intermediate Technology Pub, 1995. Classic leftwing critique of the problemswith mainstream participation.

* Okali, C. et al (1994) Farmer Participatory Research: Rhetoric and Reality, IT Publications. Chapter 2, pp. 13-25.Leftwing critique of the problems with mainstream participation.

*Wignarama, Ponna, Genesis of the intellectual quest: and overview, in Wignarama & others, Participatorydevelopment: learning from South Asia, Karachi, OUP, 1991. Useful case study.

d. General Development Texts:Allen, T. & A. Thomas. Poverty and development into the 21st century, Oxford, OUP, 2000. Textbook-style

introduction.

* Birdsall, N. Seven Deadly Sins: Reflections on Donor Failings. In Center for Global Development (Ed.) WorkingPaper Series No 50. Washington DC. Critique of the aid industry.

J Blauert & S Zadeck (eds) Mediating Sustainability: Growing Policy from the Grassroots, Kumarian, 1998. SeeIntroduction and Chap. 1.

Eyben, R. (2003) Donors as political actors: fighting the Thirty Years War in Bolivia. IDS Working Paper No. 183,1-32. (http://www.ids.ac.uk/ids/bookshop/wp/wp183.pdf) Good case study highlighting failures indevelopment practices.

S Lele Sustainable Development: A Critical Review, World Development, 19 (6), 1994, pp. 607-21.Highlights thechallenges of sustainability.

*Sachs, J. D. (2005) The End of Poverty: How we can make it happen in our lifetime, London, Penguin. (chapter 12)Optimistic perspective on development.

Sen. A., Development As Freedom. Oxford: OUP, 1999. Nobel-prize winning economist whose work is hailed for

his definition of development.World Bank, World Development Report 2006, Equity and development, Chapter 6. Equity, institutions and the

development process, Washington, World Bank

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