%0 Journal Article %J Technology Innovation Management Review %D 2019 %T Scientific Excellence in Participatory and Action Research: Part II. Rethinking Objectivity and Reliability %A Erik Lindhult %K action research %K objectivity %K participatory research %K reliability %X The purpose of this article is to deal with the following question: Can the concepts of reliability and objectivity be reconceptualized and reappropriated to enable understanding of scientific excellence in participatory and action research? The article shows that it is fruitful to consider the “subjective” and active role of researchers as vital in enabling scientific objectivity and reliability. As an expansion from a replication logic, reliability can be conceptualized as adaptive, goal-seeking, dynamically regulated processes enabled by effective organization of interactive and participatory learning processes where all participants can contribute to learning and correction in inquiry. Instead of erasing subjectivity, objectivity can be enabled by critical subjectivity, intersubjectivity, practical wisdom, impartial norms of inquiry, and open democratic dialogue. Reliability and objectivity in this understanding can be enabled by participatory and action research through skilful performance of research practices such as reflective conversations between parties, dialogue conferences, experimentation, and experiential learning as part of action-research cycles, etc., which are common in participatory and action research initiatives and projects. By rethinking validity, reliability, and objectivity, recognizing the substantially more active and participatory stances enables scientific excellence, it can expand the repertoire of strategies for promoting research quality, and it helps to mainstream this type of approach in the scientific community. %B Technology Innovation Management Review %I Talent First Network %C Ottawa %V 9 %P 22-33 %8 05/2019 %G eng %U https://timreview.ca/article/1238 %N 5 %1 Mälardalen University Erik Lindhult (PhD) is a Senior Lecturer in Innovation Management and Entrepreneurship at Mälardalen University in Sweden. He received his doctoral degree in Industrial Management from the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, in the area of Scandinavian dialogue democratic approach to innovation and action research. His main area of research is participatory, collaborative, and democratic innovation and change management, as well as entrepreneurship for a sustainable development of society. His research interests also involve collaborative research methodologies, including action research and interactive research. He has been involved in a wide range of collaborative R&D projects in the private, public, and cooperative sectors, in areas such as organizational development, incubator and science park development, service innovation, societal entrepreneurship, sustainable innovation, and school development. He is a board member of the Swedish Participatory Action Research Society (SPARC) and the Swedish Interactive Research Association (SIRA), as well as an expert advisor to the EU SWAFS Horizon 2020 research committee. %R http://doi.org/10.22215/timreview/1238