Buddhism and action research: towards an appropriate model of inquiry for the caring professions

This article traces parallels between the basic principles of action research and some key Buddhist doctrines. The argument is that action research's methodological focus on values, collaboration, dialectics, change and creativity is reinforced and clarified by the Buddhist emphasis on practices such as meditation and on the doctrines of ‘metta’, ‘harmonious speech’, ‘kamma’ and the impermanence of all phenomena, including the self. Finally, the issue of validity in social inquiry is addressed: Buddhist ‘enlightenment’ is grounded in a rationally argued model of human capacity for self-transcendence, whereas action research's model of ‘emancipation’ is necessarily a ‘contested’ concept and thus dependent on political optimism.