Date/Time
Date(s) - 05/05/2026 All Day
Location
Leeds University Business School
Audience:
NARTI In-Person Training & Development
Action Research workshop
With Professors Lisa Anderson and Paul Ellwood
Tuesday 5th May 2026 (09.30-16.30)
University of Leeds (room tbc)
Workshop summary
Our anecdotal evidence suggest that action research is rarely taught in research methods programmes for doctoral students/early career researchers, nor is it given a great deal of airtime in methods textbooks; this could be both the reason and the cause of the relative paucity of researchers that use this approach. It is, however, a popular methodology for DBA candidates who are often conducting insider research in their own organisation.
This workshop therefore is aimed at a wide group of researchers, including those who:
- are interested in finding out more about action research because they have had little exposure to it
- would like to develop advanced skills and knowledge of action research and its methods
- are not necessarily planning or implementing an action research study but are interested in the relevance of their research and would like critically reflect on their engagement with practice and practitioners.
As passionate advocates of action research, we hope to encourage more researchers to consider it as powerful means of bringing about change in organisations and individuals whilst adopting a person-centred and ethical methodology.
Programme
09.30 Registration and refreshments
10.00 Welcome and introductions The Philosophy of Action Research
10.45 The Action Research Cycle – the ‘How To’ of AR and its three voices.
11.30 Comfort Break
11.45 Examples of action research in practice. Four x 10-minute talking heads of researchers who have successfully completed their doctorate (PhD and DBA) using action research.
12.30 Reflection on talking heads’ experiences and more opportunity for participants to discuss their own experience and plans.
13.00 Lunch and networking
13.45 Action Research methodologies and modalities: Action Learning Soft Systems Methodology Participatory Action Research Insider Research
14.30 Action learning sets This activity gives participants a ‘taster’ of being a member of an action learning set. We would ask them all to come prepared to bring an organisational or personal issue connected to their research to potentially discuss in this session.
15.30 Comfort break
15.45 Writing up and publishing action research studies
16.30 Reflections and close
Speaker bios
Professor Lisa Anderson is Emeritus Professor of Management Learning at the University of Liverpool and now works as an academic career coach and consultant. Professor Paul Ellwood is Director of the DBA at Maynooth University. His research interests lie in two areas, research informed management pedagogies, and technology management and innovation. We both have extensive experience of supervising and examining action research theses. Paul has published action research studies, and Lisa has published in the field of action learning. Our approach is highly participative with a strong focus on building on and adding to learners’ own experience and developing ethical, reflexive and confident researchers
Em P Lisa Anderson | Our people | University of Liverpool
Paul Ellwood | Maynooth University
How to register
There are limited places available for this workshop, so it is important that you only register your interest if you are fully committed to attending. We can only offer places to participants who can join for the full day. Places will be confirmed in due course, and you may be added to a waiting list if there is high demand. Please register using the ‘Register Here’ link at the top of this page.