The article continues the discussion of the five quality principles proposed by

Heikkinen, Huttunen, and Syrjälä, published in 2007 in Educational Action

Research. In the present article, the authors reconsider the five principles: historical

continuity; reflexivity; dialectics; workability; and evocativeness. These five

principles are critically examined from two viewpoints. First, the authors discuss

comments on the quality of the principles published in Educational Action

Research, referring to contemporary discussion within the philosophy of science.

Second, they review some empirical action research reports in which these principles

have been applied. The authors point out some problems in applying these

quality principles as well as successful ways of working with the principles.