Ethics in action research - some points for reflection

Abstract

Action research is currently accepted in scientific circles, although not consensually, and there are many critics who condemn it for failing to be neutral and rigorous in order to guarantee scientific quality. It is not intended here to make the apology of action research to the detriment of others. Rather to say that action research can also distinguish and consider criteria of rigor that guarantee its quality, as well as reflect and affirm that what is understood by quality and ethics in action research has common rules and rules of its own in relation to other ways of doing research. It is intended, above all, to reflect on the ethical responsibility of research and on the quality of action research. In addition to a brief reference to specificities associated to different paradigms, theories and research modalities, a reflection on the credibility of action research from an ethical and pragmatic point of view is proposed, and some issues with an ethical dimension are presented, put in concrete projects of action research, realized in educational context.