Praiseworthy pragmatism? Validity and action research.

Background: Action research has been promoted as a suitable methodology for nursing, but is located in a discourse that challenges its claims of validity. This discourse, influenced by positivism, is similar to that which qualitative researchers have faced.

Aim: This article contributes to theoretical discussion of the validity of action research.

Findings: Because of similarities, the emergent debates around the reconceptualization of validity in qualitative research are outlined, prior to a consideration of the relative arguments in relation to action research. Three avenues of thought are discerned: that no criteria are required; that parallels with other schools are appropriate; and that new concepts specific to one school of thought should be developed.

Conclusions: Because of its ethical and action-oriented principles, action research offers the potential to address validity issues that remain problematic to 'pure' qualitative researchers, and it can be claimed that its pragmatic approach is validity-enhancing. We argue for the rejection of naïve rule-based formulae and for recognition of the impact of contextual and pragmatic concerns, so that the potential for the added value of action research might be realized.