Which path is this?
In this pathway, the student is both the primary researcher AND the primary participant, exploring a personal leadership issue.
What is a First-person AR Capstone Project?
This person reviews your drafts, provides feedforward, and gives final approval on all your capstone submissions — and is also called your Pod Supervisor for project students.
Who is the Academic Supervisor?
A school principal surveys teachers, tries a new scheduling approach, watches what happens, then reflects and adjusts. This is a real-world example of this research approach.
What is action research?
"I want to study my team's performance, but I'm their direct manager." My advisor flagged this as a major concern due to the ethical issue.
What is power-over?
Unlike traditional research that simply observes, action research always aims to do this alongside generating knowledge.
What is create change (or take action)?
This pathway requires the student to work with an external organization, community, or network and a key individual who can champion the change.
What is an organizationally focused capstone?
For organizationally focused capstone students, this individual must be at an appropriate level of authority in the organization, sign a Letter of Agreement, and review the final report.
Who is the organizational partner (or sponsor)?
A HR manager realizes the problem she wants to study is actually her own leadership style, not her team's performance. She decides to make herself the focus of her capstone.
What is a first-person action research project?
"I finished collecting data but I have no idea what any of it means." My advisor said — welcome to this phase, often the hardest and most rewarding part of the whole process.
What is data analysis?
Action research is described as this kind of process — meaning the researcher plans, acts, observes, reflects, and then starts again.
What is iterative (or cyclical)?
In this pathway, the student works with two or more Feedback Participants who know them personally and can offer honest, reflective feedback on their leadership.
What is a first-person capstone?
These volunteers can assist the research student in roles like mobilizing support, reviewing draft findings, or facilitating methods — but should never be asked to transcribe recordings.
Who are inquiry team members?
For thesis students, this is the final milestone of the capstone journey, in which they present their findings to a committee.
What is the oral defence?
"My organizational partner keeps changing what they want the project to be about. My advisor reminded me that this person needs to formally sign this document to clarify roles and expectations.
What is the Letter of Agreement?
Action research is different from most academic research because the researcher is also this — someone who is part of the very setting they are studying.
What is a practitioner-researcher?
This pathway concludes with a formal oral defence in front of a supervisory committee that includes an external examiner with a doctorate.
What is a thesis?
For First-Person AR students, these two or more individuals provide critical, compassionate, and honest feedback on the student's analysis of their own journaling.
Who are feedback participants?
Before a researcher starts interviewing anyone, she pauses to write honestly about her own assumptions and how they might colour what she hears. This practice is called this.
What is reflexivity?
My participant wants to be named and credited for what they shared with me. My advisor said this is actually permitted in some cases, particularly for these types of contributors.
What are Subject Matter Experts (or Indigenous Elders/knowledge keepers?
In action research, this is why having more than one data collection method matters: it helps cross-check findings and builds credibility.
What is triangulation or trustworthiness?
Both pathways require this board's approval before a single piece of data can be collected from any participant.
What is the RRU Research Ethics Board (REB)?
This individual holds formal expertise in the field you are investigating.
What is a subject matter expert?
A researcher shares her draft findings back with the participants who gave her the data, asking: "Did I get this right?" This trust-building process is called this.
What is member checking?
I want to include my direct reports in my focus group. My advisor said this is generally not permitted but suggested one method in which their voices could still be included ethically.
What is a survey?
All MA Leadership capstones must be grounded in this — meaning the work itself begins to mobilize change.
What is an action orientation?