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Research & Inquire

ARINA aims to broaden ideas about what "research" is, while it also pursues some traditional forms of social science research. The term research means different things to people, depending on their life experience, yet we can all use its broad dictionary definition: careful or diligent search. Because ARINA has a process approach to reality, all of its efforts are research, broadly understood. This is because careful or diligent search is an integral part of the whole process of acting / researching / integrating that characterizes our approach to transformative change.

We invite you to join us in Our ARINA Room and in all settings where we engage these and other forms of research and inquiry, in the near and long term.

   Timely action inquiry

   Action research

In a broad sense, all human behavior is action research, because we're figuring out and adapting to our environments all the time. An informal action research approach is timely action inquiry, described above. More formal action research entails some form of capturing, reflecting on, and reporting on what happens in social endeavors. This is a form of social science, which is one of ARINA's purposes. Various kinds of action research will take place in Our ARINA Room, and in funded projects. We welcome hearing your research interests and questions!

   Publish

   Theorizing, developing mission-relevant research questions, & hypothesis testing

An integral approach to transformative change takes seriously the need for new theorizing, well-conceptualized research questions, and an investment in testing hypotheses and reporting widely on our findings. Our ARINA Room serves as the space for these pursuits and correlating and integrating related research interests. Unfunded or funded projects and other venues test and report on hypotheses tested.

   Domestic & international issues integral research & analysis

As the ARINA Network grows and as more people learn how to employ an integral approach, we hope to set the standard for research and analyses that aim at appropriate on-the-ground transformative social change.

   Integral issue framing for deliberation

In one of the Learn the How's modules, in Our ARINA Room, in public projects, and in published formats, we aim to disseminate the use and know-how of integral approaches to issue framing so it can be used widely to address complex issues. Once the know-how is developed, the need for various kinds of research into certain aspects of those issues is required. This is a generative research need, because commonalities across issues mean the issue-framings can be widely used in different contexts.

   Integral "think tank"

We hope to develop and attract a cadre of focused thinkers who coalesce around particularly challenging mission-relevant questions and are willing to pursue them in depth with an integral approach. Initially, we expect this will happen organically and informally as the ARINA Network grows and "we find each other" here. We will offer attractors in the form of periodic announcements at the home page What's NEW link, and we invite you to submit key questions that need a think tank approach.