I will have the
ability to interact with its team of experts to develop the super mobile
application as I will be doing my internship in this company. Intellectsoft employees are the people
talented in mobile, bespoke application development and software consultancy
for all the major platforms, that is, Windows Phone, Android, Blackberry, iOS
and others. I will have involvement in
conducting thorough business analysis and enterprise applications development
because this is the task that the company engages in, and it will also give an
opportunity to develop my skills as an android, application developer. The company combines a deep insight of native
as well as hybrid mobile technology integrated with IT expertise
(Crunchbase.com, 2016). Its plethora of clients around the world comprising of big
and renowned companies will give me the opportunity to create the intended
Android platform mobile application that has a market orientation.
My major goal
for doing my internship in this company and developing such a super market
mobile, application on Android operating system is for the purpose of reducing
the shopping time of the client by getting the required product first from the
client and then navigating it precisely. That will help me understand what the
customer wants and then tailor the application to meet its needs. The company
gives a chance for the interns to carry out market analysis and gather
requirements before which they can then develop projects with the assistance of
the company’s team of experts. RUP, Agile and SCRUM methodologies for software
development will be very useful to me particularly because I will combine them
with the Action Research methodology.
One of the
problems in the company that I intend to improve during my internship is the
elimination of the quantitative data collection and research that is not very
effective. I will replace it with Action Research as I integrate the skills and
experience of the company experts to find practical solutions to the problems
prevalent in the organization. There is also no effective sharing of knowledge
among the company employees because of the old research methodology used.
Action Research will be very substantial in ensuring g that the experts share
their knowledge and experience as appropriate, and this will result in the
improvement of their practice and the improvement of the organization at large.
I intend to produce the culture of closely working with the clients so as to
better understand their needs and meet them appropriately.
Methodology
Action Research
is a research meant to solve an immediate problem. It entails a reflective
process of continually refining and action to find a perfect solution to a
problem guided by a team of researchers that work together to improve the way
they address issues. Their methodology
is either a participator or practical based. It uses a reflective nature in all
the steps that take place in an interactive manner for the purpose of reaching
a particular solution to a problem and producing guidance for the best practice
while carrying out research at the same time (McNiff & Whitehead, 2005).
When the practices of the researchers improve, there is a consequent of
improvement in the entire organization or their working environments. The researchers must work with all the
stakeholders in the organization so as to understand the problems that are in
that environment in a better way.
Action Research
is an interactive process of action inquiry whose aim is to strike a balance of
the problem-solving tasks taking place in a collaborative manner via a data-driven
research or analysis (Meyer, 2006). The
aim of leveraging that kind of collaborative data-driven research or analysis
is to enhance the understanding of the causes of the impending issues and
enable future predictions in light of individual and organizational
change. It helps the researchers to
focus more on their actions or the research using a reflective understanding of
their actions. That process if
empowering for the researchers that are taking part in the research. It has the guarantee of relevance to the
researchers because they are the ones that determine the focus of the research
projects apart from being the consumers of the research findings (Hughes,
2008).
History of Action Research
Action Research
originated from Kurt Lewin in the 1940s.Lewin was a Germany social and
experimental psychologist whose concern was finding a solution to social
problems. His focus was on using participative groups to address crises,
changes as well as conflicts in organizations. ‘Action Research and Minority
Problems’ is the first book that he wrote on how to use Action Research to
solve organizational problems. Lewin characterized Action Research as a
comparative study of the conditions and impacts of various types of research as
well as a social action leading to social action (Lewin, 1946). The process of inquiry that he used was in
the form of a spiral that entailed the steps of planning, acting, observing and
fact-finding of the result of the action. In the late 1950s, Eric Trist also
began engaging in applied social research whereby his aim was to repatriate
German prisoners after the First World War. Both of these researchers
emphasized on a professional-client cooperation and they applied the rules of
group relations as the basis for solving problems (Morley, 1991). During the
onset of 1970, the term ‘Action Research’ became the norm and many researchers
developed interest on the same, and they came up with various types of Action
Research useful today.
Types of Action Research
Four types of
Action Research do exist, and they include traditional, contextual, radical and
Educational Action Research. Traditional Action Research stemmed from the work
of Lewin, and it included concepts and practices of the field theory, T-Groups,
Group Dynamics and the clinical model. That type of Action Research tends
towards conservatism as it emphasizes on the status quo regarding the power
structures within an organization (McNiff, 2013). The contextual Action
Research is an approach that stemmed from Trist’s theory on work relations
among enterprises. It also includes the construction of the natural relations
existing among community members in a given social context. It aims to involve
all the affected parties and stakeholders.
The radical
Action Research came from Marxian’s dialectical materialism as well as Antonio
Gramsci’s Praxis believes. Its strong focus is on the emancipation plus the
conquering of power imbalances. It uses
advocacy to achieve social transformation and empower the peripheral/minority
groups just like the Feminist Action Research or Participatory Action Research.
Lastly, Educational Action Research stems from John Dewey’s work who was a
renowned American educational philosopher between the 19290s and 30s. His tenet
was that educational practitioners must have involvement in solving community
problems. The educational practitioners that use this type of Action Research
mainly focus on curriculum, development as they apply learning in a social
context to develop their professions.
Relevance to my Research
The application
of Action Research methodology to my research as an intern in Super Market
mobile (Android), application development in Intellectsoft LLC, will help me
gain essential skills and experience. Those skills and experience will not only
enhance the development of my skills, but there will also enhance the
development of the organization in which I will be working as an intern. That
is because Action Research emphasizes the active participation of all the
researchers as they work with other experts to find a perfect solution to a
problem affecting their organizations (Chisholm & Max, 1993). While I will
be using this methodology, I will have the opportunity of participating fully
in critical company projects particularly those that involve mobile application
development. That will result in the improvement of my skills and thus
appreciate my career as an Android mobile application developer.
References
Chisholm,
R. & Max, E. (1993). Features
of Emerging Action Research. Human Relations, 46(2), 275-298.
Clutch (2016). Intellectsoft Developing serious software solutions.
Crunchbase.com (2016). Intellectsoft.
Hughes, I. (2008). Action research in healthcare, in
P. Reason and H. Bradbury (eds), The SAGE Handbook of Action Research:
Participative Inquiry and Practice. London: SAGE.
Lewin, K. (1946). Action Research and Minority Problems. Journal
of Social Issues, 2(1),
34-46.
McNiff, J. & Whitehead, J. (2005). All You Need
To Know About Action Research. London: SAGE.
McNiff, J. (2013). Action Research: Principles and practice. New
York: Routledge.
Meyer, J. (2006). Action research, in K. Gerrish and
A. Lacey (eds), The Research Process in Nursing. Oxford: Blackwell.
Morley, D. (1991). Resource Analysis as Action Research. Resource Analysis Research in
Developing Countries. (Ed.),
Toronto: York University. Pp 1-16.
Zoominfo.com
(2016). Intellectsoft LLC.
Sherry Roberts is the author of this paper. A senior editor at MeldaResearch.Com in article critique writing service if you need a similar paper you can place your order for top research paper writing companies.
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