Research in Cooperatives: Developing a Politically Conscious Research Methodology

Cooperatives are distinct from conventional businesses and the technical documents they produce challenge assumptions about documentation practices. To better understand these differences, technical communicators may need a set of tools well-suited to mission-driven, for-profit businesses. In this process-focused article, I draw on action research methodology to take first steps toward articulating the similarities and differences in research between a conventional organization and a cooperative. I demonstrate this framework by using two recent case studies.