Action research includes a variety of methods engaged in by practitioners who wish to learn more about their work and the possibility of constructively changing it. This paper describes an action research dissertation project that focused on the work of a group of community activists to construct new understandings of their work and, as a result, of their community. The process of doing action research in this setting and the findings of an action research project conducted by the author serve as the focus of the paper. Implications for practitioners and researchers are discussed. (Contains 4 notes.)