DOI
https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1022908820784

Summary
The process of knowledge acquisition which has the strongest truth claim is the research process of natural science, based on testing hypotheses to destruction. But the application of this process to phenomena beyond those for which it was developed, namely, the natural regularities of the physical universe, is problematical. For research into social phenomena there is increasing interest in “action research” in various forms. In this process the researcher enters a real-world situation and aims both to improve it and to acquire knowledge. This paper reviews the nature and validity of action research, arguing that its claim to validity requires a recoverable research process based upon a prior declaration of the epistemology in terms of which findings which count as knowledge will be expressed.

Relevance for Complex Systems Knowledge
The point of departure in this article is that the paradigm model of organized inquiry is that provided by natural science. This is not surprising since the investigation of natural phenomena via the method of science is undoubtedly the most powerful form of knowledge generation ever devised. The scientific method can be expressed as being based on three fundamental principles which characterize it and give it its power: reductionism, repeatability, and refutation. The replicability of experimental results stems from the fact that the phenomena investigated must be, in Keynes' phrase "homogenous through time”. This creates problems for social scientists. Can the method of science be applied to material which is not homogeneous through time, making complete replicability impossible? If not, what else can be done?
In this article, based on experiences from management research using the soft systems methodology, the response is that social scientists in general and Action researchers in particular must declare an epistemological framework of ideas about the situation and the methodology. This could make the results, if not replicable, recoverable, so that other scientists ( and laymen) may follow how the results were obtained.

Point of Strength
This is an article that may contribute to masters students to make better research designs when doing systems research in the social sciences