Dialogue as a Social Research Orientation, Method, and Social Practice

Looking at Participatory Action-Research and Beyond

Abstract

Dialogue is proposed in this article as a legitimate and useful research orientation and method in the social sciences. This approach has been successfully applied in problem-solving studies in various disciplines, and in the discovery of innovations in different fields. It challenges, moreover, the elitist and vertical division of labor, that separates researchers from “subjects of research,” herewith regarded as co-researchers. Dialogue is viewed as a central value and theoretical construct to guide the use of participatory action-research. It contributes to the production of scientific and applied knowledge, and also fosters inclusion, mutual learning, creativity, and human development among co-researchers. It also invites researchers cum citizens in the formulation of public policies and strategies of action in real-life situations. This research orientation and methodology requires of participants personal attitudes of humility and openness to learn from each other. This alternative research perspective contributes to knowledge-democracy, by sharing with the knowledge thus produced in collaborative settings, where researchers contribute to knowledge-creation on equal basis. Ontologically, it supports a paradigmatic shift from the reified view that takes “social reality as given,” to a paradigm oriented towards a process-oriented and inter-subjective approach to “constructed realities,” attained via dialogic communication.