A little less conversation, a little more action: Illustrations of the Mediated Discourse Analysis method.

The paper provides an introduction into the innovative use of the methodological approach of Mediated Discourse Analysis (MDA) and illustrates this with examples from an interventionist insider action research study. An overview of the method, including its foundation and association with the analysis of practice and how it can be situated within a reflexive ethnographic and critical realist stance is presented. It offers samples of findings and analysis for each of the different aspects of method, structured by a set of heuristic questions, as well an example showing the possibilities of theory development. The paper constructs and shows an analytical pathway for HRD researchers to use MDA and concludes with a discussion about the advantages of utilising MDA, in terms of theory and practice, as well as the practical issues in conducting an MDA study. The implications for the Human Resource Development (HRD) research community is that MDA is a new, innovative and germane approach for analysing HRD practice within organisational settings