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What is the Action Research Issues Association? (ARIA)ARIA is a small group of around 30 people who for more than 20 years have been particularly committed to doing and popularising forms of social research driven by the interests of those whose situations, problems, or desires give rise to the questions. The group is an intentional 'community of practice' (Etienne Wenger's term) and new members are nominated by a group of existing members. (Membership of the SPIRAL network is open to all, and that is a good way of getting to know ARIA members if you might be interested in joining with the Association. ) Please explore through the ten Members' pages (in the Main menu -- on the lefhand side bar) for some of the kinds of contributions people have been making. We hope you find there is a feast of information contained in these pages! What are its purposes?We have organised around the following set of purposes.
The key two methods for pursuing these purposes are through the work of the Projects Sub Committee which oversees the Association's centres or programs (currently this virtual ARC), and through our own individual working efforts, for which ARIA operates as a peer support community. CONSTITUTION - Extract 28 April 1988 THE ACTION RESEARCH ISSUES ASSOCIATION INCORPORATED STATEMENT OF PURPOSES 1. To develop, support, promote and popularise a participatory action or critical theoretical research methodology; that is, a research methodology which assists groups to develop their own action‑oriented understanding in order to overcome situations identified by them as problematic (e.g. situations which are a result of disadvantage, discrimination or disability). 2. To apply such a research methodology in order to : - assist users and providers of field services to make better sense of community needs and the services required to meet these needs; - maximise people's control over their own services, their participation in decision‑making, and their own self‑management. 3. To support the development of participatory research methods that are self‑conscious, reflexive, rigorous, comprehensive and sceptical. 4. In order to fulfil these objects, the Association shall : (a) Provide a forum, or encourage the development of other forums, for discussion of the development of this research methodology; (b) Provide a forum for discussion and critical evaluation of members' own research work; (c) Develop models of practice, accessible written materials, and mutual group‑learning experiences useful to a large number of people and services; (d) Assist, or ensure there are others to assist, critical reference groups to design and carry out their own participatory action research; and, (e) Develop, or ensure the availability of, a network of other specialised research resources.
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