Partnerships for Collaborative Action Research

This chapter presents a collaborative university-community action research model that complements and supplements traditional research. In addition to distinguishing the collaborative research model from traditional, discipline-based research, it also draws finer distinctions between collaborative university-community action research and other participatory action research models. The author argues that as a form of service-learning, collaborative action research can help students understand the connections among knowledge, service, and social change. A case study of the Loyola University Chicago Center for Urban Research and Learning (CURL) provides the foundation for a discussion of the challenges and opportunities of collaborative research.