This book presents a fresh view of action research as a methodology uniquely suited to researching the processes of innovation and change. Drawing on twenty-five years' experience of leading or facilitating action research projects, Bridget Somekh argues that action research can be a powerful systematic intervention, which goes beyond describing, analyzing and theorizing practices to reconstruct and transform those practices. The book examines action research into change in a range of educational settings, such as schools and classrooms, university departments, and a national evaluation of technology in schools. The opening chapter presents eight methodological principles and discusses key methodological issues. The focus then turns to action research in broader contexts such as "southern" countries, health, business and management, and community development. Each chapter thereafter takes a specific research project as its starting point and critically reviews its design, relationships, knowledge outcomes, political engagement and impact. After an introduction, this book is divided into the following nine chapters: (1) Agency, Change and the Generation of Actionable Knowledge; (2) Doing Action Research Differently; (3) Action Research from the inside: A Teacher's Experience; (4) Action Research and Radical Change in Schools; (5) Action Research for Organizational Development in Higher Education; (6) Action Research in a Partnership between Regional Companies and a University; (7) Action Research in the Evaluation of a National Programme; (8) Action Research and Innovative Pedagogies with ICT; and (9) Reflections on the Process of Writing This Book and Its Purposes. The book concludes with a list of references; and an index.