Puzzled, I did as I was told. The day before the ceasefire there was a bus
bombing in Tel Aviv and a raining down of missiles on Gaza. Therefore,
conducting research in conflict zones should never be the lone enterprise
that social scientific inquiry is often presented to be, but rather, such stu-
dies are fundamentally made possible by maintaining relations of trust with
networks of supporters and local mentors. Such close collaborations and
working relations not only improves researchers’ safety, but ultimately also
leads to better insights that might benefit both researchers as well as the
people with whom they work. Indeed, working in conflict zones brings the
advantages of workingwith, rather thanon, communities into particular
stark relief. Given the many potential pitfalls of studying marginal commu-
nities in violently divided societies, Collaborative Action Research meth-
ods, that entail participatory and socially engaged approaches, are thus
same of the more effective tools in researchers’ tool kits (Andrews et al.,
2010 ; Greenwood, Whyte, & Harkavy, 1993; Lundy & McGovern, 2006;
Ramsden, McKay, & Crowe, 2010; Van der Meulen, 2011; Wallerstein &
Duran, 2006).
Such research methods draw on the complementary know-how of both
academic researchers and local stakeholders. The competencies of academic
partners typically include: grant writing, research design, the use of relevant
methods and theories, as well as data analysis and dissemination. They also
tend to have access to university-based resources, funds, and services.
Community partners, on the other hand, are likely to be more knowledge-
able about such issues as: local institutional structures and constraints; how
to navigate their communities; and how to gain access to relevant intervie-
wees and forums for disseminating germane findings. Furthermore, as local
stakeholders are often best positioned to understand local processes, their
collaboration in identifying relevant topics and designing and analyzing
interviews can produce more reliable results. Taking local expertise ser-
iously may not only produce more accurate, valid, and useful knowledge,
but can also be mutually beneficial as researchers may use findings for
academic purposes, whilst community partners might employ them to
address social problems, call for social improvements, and implement bet-
ter evidence-based policies. Indeed Action Research is a way to renew the
universitysociety relationship at a time when universities have increas-
ingly become entrepreneurial centers and are frequently working with and
for the military industrial complex (Brydon-Miller & Greenwood, 2006;
Brydon-Miller, Greenwood, & Maguire, 2003).
Already the philosopherSchu (^) ̈tz(1967)argued that scientific knowledge
consists off “second-order constructs” that are based on “first-order
30 CHRISTINE LEUENBERGER