Responsibility Charting
Using Action Research to Improve the Provision of Healthcare
The use of a responsibility chart facilitates communication about the roles participants play in an action research project, and it ensures that important steps or tasks are not inadvertently left out of the implementation. An additional benefit is that the action research responsibility charting process provides an opportunity for deep thinking about the match between the skills of the participants and the tasks and activities that must be accomplished in order to conduct the action research project. The overarching goal of an action research project is to resolve a practice or policy problem through critical thinking and ongoing in situ testing.
Decisions and Responsibilities
There are four main stakeholders involved in this action research project as indicated in the Responsibility Chart (Appendix I). The responsibilities listed in the Responsibility Chart include the following: Identify project staff; provide project orientation to staff; identify action research questions; develop and pilot interview protocol; identify interview participants using RDS; conduct participatory research; review and synthesize data from multiple sources; develop recommendations; and implement recommendations.
The decisions about what responsibilities are key and who should lead or support each of the responsibilities was based on the experience, education, talents, and aptitudes of the primary stakeholders in the action research project. The primary stakeholders in the action research project, in addition to the author, are as follows: Jim Barfield, co-owner...
Barfield has the authority to approve or veto any or all of the responsibilities in the project -- as does Rich Hall -- however, two responsibilities are explicitly identified for the approval of both Barfield and Hall: Provide the project orientation to staff, as this is a demonstration of the top-down support for the project, and the implementation of recommendations as this serves to give Barfield and Hall a last look at the project overall before it is implemented. When needed, both Barfield and Hall will provide support in the form of suggestions and guidance to project staff as they identify the action research questions, confirm the participants identified through the respondent-driven sampling (RDS) process, and provide oversight for and stay informed about the evaluation of the project.
Sherri Scott will participate heavily in the action research as she has experience as a scientist and researcher in the healthcare field. Her support responsibilities include helping to identify the action research questions, and helping to conduct the participatory research, stepping in as needed to provide guidance and insight. The responsibilities for which Scott holds a primary position…
