Action research on residents' meeting for drafting policies for the disabled people and discussion of the methodology involved

Action Research on Drafting Municipal Policies for People With Disabilities in Japan

“…Unlike focus groups, which are implemented to collect opinions as data, RMs aim to listen to resident opinions to prioritize those opinions and use them to develop agreements. Tagaki (2007) studied a series of RMs held by a local government in a rural city in western Japan that spanned nearly 2 years. While participating in the meetings, he employed an action research methodology (see Sugiman, 2006) and the sense-making theory (see Weick, 1995) to evaluate themfocusing, in particular, on the problems discussed.…”

“…The main topics discussed were establishing a newsletter, developing a website, creating a forum on disability issues in the city, and supporting employment opportunities for PWDs. Tagaki (2007) believed that using group dynamics and community organization theories (Ross, 1955) improved the RMs and enhanced the process by which members participated in the RMs. Ross (1955) argued that three organizational aspects are important to consider when researching a community organization: task, process, and relationship.…”

“…Ross (1955) argued that three organizational aspects are important to consider when researching a community organization: task, process, and relationship. After analyzing the RMs based on those three aspects, Tagaki (2007) discovered that the goals of the meetings (e.g., establishing a newsletter) were not accomplished because participation was lacking, meeting preparation was inadequate, and supporting documentation was insufficient. Tagaki (2007) pointed out that his role, as a researcher, was to understand the members' discussions, whereas that of the members was to describe accurately their experiences.…”

“…After analyzing the RMs based on those three aspects, Tagaki (2007) discovered that the goals of the meetings (e.g., establishing a newsletter) were not accomplished because participation was lacking, meeting preparation was inadequate, and supporting documentation was insufficient. Tagaki (2007) pointed out that his role, as a researcher, was to understand the members' discussions, whereas that of the members was to describe accurately their experiences. He further suggested that researchers in this field should focus on members' narratives regarding matters they believed should be discussed to provide local governmental officials with suggestions for disability policy.…”

“…He further suggested that researchers in this field should focus on members' narratives regarding matters they believed should be discussed to provide local governmental officials with suggestions for disability policy. Despite Tagaki's (2007) contribution, additional RMs should be analyzed to learn which issues are discussed and how members address them. Such an analysis could help resolve problems that interfere with successful meetings, such as a reluctance to share personal experiences.…”