FROM UNDERSTANDING TO ACTION - NEW IMPERATIVES, NEW CRITERIA, NEW METHODS FOR INTERPRETIVE RESEARCHERS

Higher education has faced a revolution as challenges to positivist sc ience call into question the grounds for inquiry. The proposed paradig m shift included phenomenological and interpretive stances, and qualit ative methods. Another revolution is on the horizon: a shift from inte rpretation to action, as faculty are challenged to facilitate liberato ry social change anchored in social research. New methods, new criteri a for judging the rigor of social action inquiry, support these new so cial science imperatives. Characteristics of the new action stances ar e high participation by stakeholders, a commitment to social justice, and an ethics of caring.