ERIC Number: EJ1173124
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2017-Dec
Pages: 7
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: EISSN-2353-5415
EISSN: N/A
Transformative Research: Personal and Societal
Mertens, Donna M.
International Journal for Transformative Research, v4 n1 p18-24 Dec 2017
Transformative researchers have the potential to contribute to both personal and societal transformation. In this article, I argue that the two are intertwined and that personal transformation is a necessary component of research that is designed to support change at the societal level in the form of furthering human rights and social justice. I describe a transformative framework that examines assumptions related to ethics, the nature of reality, epistemology, and methodology that can guide researchers who choose to address both the personal and societal levels of transformation. Ethically, researchers need to examine who they are and who they are in relation to the community in which they are working. This process goes beyond self-examination to a critical analysis of the cultural blinders that might obscure our ability to contribute to positive impacts. I put forth the hypothesis that if we design our research so that it explicitly addresses issues of discrimination and oppression that the probability of personal and social transformation increases.
Descriptors: Action Research, Participatory Research, Social Change, Civil Rights, Social Justice, Ethics, Epistemology, Research Methodology, Researchers, Research Design, Social Discrimination, Indigenous Knowledge, Educational Research, Educational Theories, Hypothesis Testing
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A