Submissions to Ethics Committees about Action Research - Invitation to Assist Creation of a Guide

A number of people have commented to members of the ALARA Board about the difficulty action researchers have experienced in trying to gain approval from Ethics Committees at some universities. These difficulties arise from an apparent lack of understanding of action research and its ethical basis. A similar problem faces some practitioners working in organisations. The conditions inherent to action research (or action learning) seem to fly in the face of the preconceived expectations on research held by many Ethics Committee members.

A member of ALARA, Dr Pamela Carey, has offered to work with a small team to build a guide with supporting information that doctoral and master candidates can use to assist them in their submissions to their Ethics Committees. Information within this guide may also be useful for practitioners working in commercial projects.

The ALARA Board is seeking anyone who would like to contribute to the body of knowledge that will assist in the development of the guide, and who might wish to review initial drafts. Examples of Ethic Committees' submission forms and information supplied to Ethics Committees would be very useful. Another useful contribution would be stories of barriers faced and overcome when submitting to Ethics Committees. As we are aiming to produce information that will be useful to all action researchers submitting to Ethics Committees, we are seeking examples and content from many countries.

If you would like to help or contribute, or if you have any questions about this project, please contact ALARA at admin@alarassociation.org.

Colin Bradley

President