scholarly journals Participatory action research (PAR) research: critical methodological considerations

2018 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 61-71 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wulf Livingston ◽  
Andrew Perkins
Keyword(s):  
Substance Use ◽  
Action Research ◽  
Participatory Action Research ◽  
Service Providers ◽  
User Involvement ◽  
Research Process ◽  
Participatory Action ◽  
Language Resources ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Methodological Considerations

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore a range of key deliberations with regards to adopting participatory action research (PAR) and privileged access interviewer (PAI) approaches and methodologies within research on substance use. Design/methodology/approach This paper is a reflective piece; it adopts a mixture of applied practice and theory considerations. These conceptualisations capture what are still relatively early understandings and uses of such methodologies, acquired across several decades of research and service provision experiences. The paper is structured around some of the sequences of the research process and as such provides a broad framework for such approaches. Findings PAR and PAI approaches utilise several key theoretical considerations. There are many critical issues associated with adopting these approaches, including those of ethics, funding, involvement, language, resources and support. Three key principle reasons (moral, political and research based) help explain why the authors should see more adoption of such approaches in substance use-related research. Research limitations/implications This paper represents authors’ views which are by their nature very subjective. Practical implications Implementation of the key considerations highlighted within this paper can lead to an active adoption of PAR and PAI methodologies within alcohol and drug research. Increasing the use of such methodologies will allow commissioners, researchers and service providers to develop a more nuanced understanding of the experiences of and responses to alcohol and drug use. Originality/value This paper captures critical conversations at a time of increased calls for service user involvement across all aspects of alcohol and other drug provision, including evaluation and research

Developing academic librarians’ skills in e-book services through Participatory Action Research

2017 ◽  
Vol 118 (9/10) ◽  
pp. 535-546
Author(s):  
Valentina Gamboni
Keyword(s):  
Action Research ◽  
Participatory Action Research ◽  
Personal Development ◽  
Qualitative Methodology ◽  
Research Process ◽  
Formal Learning ◽  
Participatory Action ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Content Selection ◽  
Phase Cycle

Purpose The purpose of this study is to understand how to improve librarians’ skills, using an active and reflective participative process, to develop a university e-book service. This research involved librarians who could not participate in a formal learning course and explored the possibility of improving their skills with e-books by means of informal and non-formal learning. Design/methodology/approach Using a qualitative methodology framework, the research was a participatory action research (PAR) study, utilizing a recurrent five-phase cycle – analysis, plan, action, evaluation, reflection/sharing – that joins research and reflective practice in action. Each phase has been discussed by categories defined from the gathered data, highlighting the evidence of participants’ contributions, to analyse the situation, plan and carry out interventions, and evaluate outcomes. Participants suggested and put into action informal and non-formal methods of learning to develop e-book skills that they named and included in broader categories such as technical, content selection, purchase and management and use. Findings Participants increased their awareness of the topic, and the PAR process also contributed to their personal development. PAR is recommended as a research process that fosters learning outcomes, as well as personal and professional development. Originality/value PAR has been applied in the Italian academic setting to understand how librarians can develop skills in e-book services through informal and non-formal learning methods.

scholarly journals Circles of impacts within and beyond participatory action research with older people

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-21
Author(s):  
Elena Bendien ◽  
Barbara Groot ◽  
Tineke Abma
Keyword(s):  
Action Research ◽  
Older People ◽  
Participatory Action Research ◽  
Group Dynamics ◽  
User Involvement ◽  
Research Process ◽  
Participatory Action ◽  
Community Based ◽  
Community Based Research ◽  
The Impact

Abstract Participatory action research (PAR) advocates end-user involvement in various societal domains. This paper aims to identify and analyse impacts of PAR involving older persons as co-researchers, and how these impacts spread and are enhanced throughout the research process and after its completion. By impact we mean transformational change throughout and after a PAR study. We present a qualitative community-based research project involving older people who live in sparsely populated areas in the Netherlands, and explore three types of PAR impact: personal, interpersonal and community impacts. We demonstrate how these impacts unfold through expanding circles, from a personal to a community level, and how these circles enhance each other. The project was conducted by a PAR team consisting of one researcher and seven co-researchers. The data were collected from observations, interviews and minutes of meetings, which the team subsequently analysed. The results are presented as a narrative account, whereby four project stages are followed by reflection on the impact it made. The discussion addresses the circles of impact, and whether and how they can strengthen each other in community-based projects involving older people. The concluding remarks address the influence of group dynamics on PAR, whether frail older adults can be expected to take an active part in PAR projects and the extent to which the results from such community-based PAR projects can be generalised.

scholarly journals Participatory action and dual lens research

2017 ◽  
Vol 17 (4) ◽  
pp. 283-293 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francesca Robertson ◽  
Jason Barrow ◽  
Magdalena Wajrak ◽  
Noel Nannup ◽  
Caroline Bishop ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Action Research ◽  
Participatory Action Research ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
Participatory Action ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Ethical Implications ◽  
Aboriginal Populations ◽  
New Knowledge ◽  
Cultural Renaissance

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore the idea that, in the last few decades, collaborative inquiry methods have evolved along a similar trajectory to dual lens research. Dual lens research, known in various contexts as both ways, two-eyed seeing Old Ways New Ways, and Koodjal Jinnung (looking both ways), is designed to generate new knowledge by exploring a theme through Aboriginal and contemporary western lenses. Participatory action research and a dual lens approach are considered in a number of projects with a particular focus on the issues such work can raise including conceptual challenges posed by fundamental differences between knowledge sets. Design/methodology/approach The authors hypothesize that a dual lens approach will become a branch of participatory action research, as such, a robust description needs to be developed and its ethical implications are considered. Existing work in this direction, including principles and processes, are collated and discussed. Findings Dual lens research as a branch of participatory action research is of great significance in countries with Aboriginal populations that are undergoing a cultural renaissance. As dual lens practitioners, the authors are finding their research outputs have a high positive impact on both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal populations and make a genuine contribution to reconciliation by finding ways of going forward together. Originality/value This paper joins a growing body of research that supports resonances between Aboriginal and “western” research methods.

Critical Participatory Action Research in a Rural Community Committed to Peacebuilding in Times of Crisis

2021 ◽  
pp. 199-218
Author(s):  
Lina Trigos-Carrillo ◽  
Laura Fonseca
Keyword(s):  
Action Research ◽  
Participatory Action Research ◽  
Rural Community ◽  
Communicative Action ◽  
Research Process ◽  
Community Research ◽  
Process Time ◽  
Participatory Action ◽  
Academic Communities ◽  
Critical Participatory Action Research

Conducting critical community research during the COVID-19 pandemic has brought unexpected challenges to academic communities. In this chapter, the authors analyze the obstacles faced in a Critical Participatory Action Research (CPAR) education project with a rural community of former guerrilla members in the Amazon piedmont in Colombia. After this analysis, the authors present four CPAR principles to support critical community work during difficult times. The authors argue that communicative action, horizontal community participation in all the stages of the research process, time commitment, and the leverage of other competing needs should be guaranteed and maintained during times of crisis. CPAR offers opportunities to advocate better conditions for the most affected communities in moments of increasing inequality.

scholarly journals Reflections From Co-Researchers With Intellectual Disability: Benefits to Inclusion in a Research Study Team

2018 ◽  
Vol 56 (4) ◽  
pp. 251-262 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brittany St. John ◽  
Iulia Mihaila ◽  
Katelyn Dorrance ◽  
Leann Smith DaWalt ◽  
Karla K. Ausderau
Keyword(s):  
Intellectual Disability ◽  
Action Research ◽  
Participatory Action Research ◽  
Research Participation ◽  
Research Process ◽  
Participatory Action ◽  
Research Staff ◽  
Study Team ◽  
Academic Faculty ◽  
The Impact

Abstract Participatory action research methodologies may empower and protect marginalized individuals; however, they remain underutilized. Limited studies have investigated the impact of participatory action research, specifically on individuals with intellectual disability (ID). This study examines (1) the perspectives of co-researchers with ID on their involvement in the research process and (2) the feasibility of their inclusion based on perspectives of research staff (academic faculty and graduate students without ID). Three co-researchers with ID were interviewed regarding their research participation. Thematic analysis of interviews identified four themes: (1) Shared Experience of Disability, (2) Teaching and Guidance, (3) Acquisition of Skills and Knowledge, and (4) Value of Participation. Research staff reviewed field notes and identified benefits and challenges to feasibility of including co-researchers with ID. Inclusion of co-researchers with ID was found to be both meaningful and feasible.

On the news today: challenging homelessness through participatory action research

2018 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 13-25
Author(s):  
Bruno De Oliveira
Keyword(s):  
Social Issue ◽  
Action Research ◽  
Participatory Action Research ◽  
Social Issues ◽  
Homeless People ◽  
Media Representations ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Participatory Action ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Local Media

Purpose How can people with lived experience of homelessness actively participate in contesting their marginalisation? The purpose of this paper is to suggest that involving people who are homeless in participatory action research (PAR) is one such strategy. This paper shows that such an approach can have a significant impact on empowering people with direct of experience of homelessness to challenge prevailing social discourses, particularly in terms of the way in which the local media presents homelessness as a social issue. Design/methodology/approach A PAR approach informed the design, development and dissemination of the study on which this paper is based. Analytically, it is underpinned by Foucauldian discourse analysis (FDA). FDA, with its focus on power relations in society, is noted to be particularly useful for analysing local media representations of homeless people. Findings The research reported here found that academic practitioners and homeless people can work together to challenge media discourses, which serve to marginalise people affected by homelessness. Research limitations/implications The research reported here served to challenge some of the ways in homeless people are victimized and stigmatized. Practical implications The research reported here has the potential to inform future research concerned with understanding media presentations of homeless people. It can be seen as a model for how people affected by a particularly pernicious social issue can contribute to research in ways that go beyond researching for the sake of research. Originality/value The research reported here provides evidence of the emancipatory value of research that seeks to bring academic practitioners and homeless people together in a partnership to challenge vital social issues such as the power of the local media to frame understandings of homelessness.

A participatory action research process with a rural Indigenous men's group: monitoring and reinforcing change

2004 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 130 ◽  
Author(s):  
Komla Tsey ◽  
Mark Wenitong ◽  
Janya McCalman ◽  
Mary Whiteside ◽  
Leslie Baird ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Action Research ◽  
Participatory Action Research ◽  
Personal Development ◽  
Research Process ◽  
Community Action ◽  
Participatory Action ◽  
Group Leaders ◽  
Family Responsibilities ◽  
Medical Practitioners ◽  
Health Group

Since 2001 a team of academic researchers and medical practitioners have been collaborating with Yarrabah Men?s Health Group leaders to implement a participatory action research (PAR) process designed to support the men to (in their own words) ?take their rightful place? in contemporary Australian society. The formative stages of the PAR process and progress over the first 12 months have been documented in previous papers in order to provide much needed direction for others interested in undertaking similar community action-oriented research (Tsey, Patterson, Whiteside, Baird, & Baird, 2002; Tsey et al., 2004). The present paper addresses the need for innovative evaluation methodologies to enable participants in the PAR process to monitor and reinforce the small improvement they are making towards achieving their goals, and to maintain their vision for the future. Participation in men?s group activities resulted in modest but significant change in the men?s personal development and growth and in their response to family responsibilities. Men had the opportunity to dialogue and reflect on their gender responsibilities such as housework, which constitutes a major source of conflict in the family. Several men also gained the confidence and motivation to stand for local government. The study highlights the value of demystifying and making research more relevant to people?s day-to-day living experiences.

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