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.

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.

Quality management effects on operating theater's productivity: a participatory action research

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ali Mohammad Mosadeghrad ◽  
Mahnaz Afshari
Keyword(s):  
Action Research ◽  
Quality Management ◽  
Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation ◽  
Participatory Action Research ◽  
Hospital Setting ◽  
Management Model ◽  
Research Approach ◽  
Participatory Action ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Quality Management Model

PurposeThe operating theater (OT) is resource-intensive, costly and assuring its productivity is a high priority. This study aimed to examine a quality management model's effects on a hospital's OT productivity.Design/methodology/approachThe participatory action research approach was used for the intervention. A multidisciplinary quality improvement team was formed. The team improved OT operational processes using an eight-step quality management model. OT’s key performance indicators such as surgical cases, surgical cancellation, bill deductions, successful cardiopulmonary resuscitation, patients' complaints and employees' job satisfaction were collected before the intervention and compared with those of after intervention to determine the efficacy of the quality management model.FindingsApplying a quality management strategy increased surgical patients' number by 14.96%, reduced surgery operations cancellation by 14.6 %, and decreased bill deduction by 44.9%. Besides, successful cardiopulmonary resuscitation increased by 21.17%, patients' complaints reduced by 61.5% and, finally, staff satisfaction increased by 15.6 %. Improved OT productivity resulted in improved financial performance. As a result, the OT revenue has risen by 68.8%.Originality/valueThis study highlights that implementing the right quality management model properly enhances hospitals' productivity. It also offers suggestions on how to implement a quality management model successfully in a hospital setting.

scholarly journals Participatory action research: tools for disaster resilience education

2018 ◽  
Vol 9 (4/5) ◽  
pp. 402-419 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michelle Annette Meyer ◽  
Marccus Hendricks ◽  
Galen D. Newman ◽  
Jaimie Hicks Masterson ◽  
John T. Cooper ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Action Research ◽  
Built Environment ◽  
Environmental Justice ◽  
Participatory Action Research ◽  
Participatory Research ◽  
Disaster Resilience ◽  
Participatory Action ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Research Activities ◽  
Planning Processes

Purpose Participatory action research can improve scientific knowledge and community capacity to address disaster resilience and environmental justice. Evidence from the literature suggests that resident participation enhances assessment of environmental risks, raises awareness and empowers residents to fight for equitable distribution of hazard and climate risk adaptations. Yet, risk assessment and urban planning processes still frequently operate within expertise-driven groups without significant community engagement. Such fragmentation results in part from a lack of appreciation for community expertise in built environment adaptations and educational tools to support resident involvement in the often technical built environment planning processes. Design/methodology/approach A participatory research and place-based education project was developed that enhanced co-learning between residents and researchers while collecting and analyzing local data on flood resilience in the built environment. Five research activities constitute the curriculum of resilience education on stormwater infrastructure: establishment of partnership agreement/memorandum of understanding, participatory GIS to identify flooding issues, water quality testing and health survey, stormwater infrastructure assessment and urban/landscape design. Partners included high school and college students, residents and environmental justice organizations. Findings Outcomes include a stakeholder-approved infrastructure assessment smartphone application, neighborhood maps of drainage issues, a report of water containments and neighborhood-scaled green infrastructure provisions and growth plans. Findings indicate that participatory research positively contributed to resilience knowledge of participants. Originality/value This paper outlines an interdisciplinary pedagogical strategy for resilience planning that engages residents to assess and monitor the performance of stormwater infrastructure and create resilience plans. The paper also discusses challenges and opportunities for similar participatory projects.

Predicting trust in police: the impact of instrumental and expressive concerns in street-identified Black-American men and women

2020 ◽  
Vol 43 (6) ◽  
pp. 917-933
Author(s):  
Darryl L. Chambers ◽  
Yasser A. Payne ◽  
Ivan Sun
Keyword(s):  
Action Research ◽  
Participatory Action Research ◽  
Black Men ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Participatory Action ◽  
Men And Women ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Original Manuscript ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Trust In Police

PurposeWhile the past few decades have witnessed a substantial number of studies on public attitudes toward the police, a relatively thin line of inquiry has focused exclusively on low income urban Black-Americans, and especially street-identified Black populations. The purpose of this paper, however, is to examine trust in police amongst street-identified Black men and women.Design/methodology/approachRelying on a street participatory action research methodological approach, the authors collected survey data (N = 520) from two low-income unban Black neighborhoods, to examine the effects of an instrumental model versus an expressive model on procedural- and outcome-based trust in police.FindingsThe findings suggested a community sample of street-identified Black men and women were able to differentiate between procedural- and outcome-based trust. The instrumental model was better in predicting procedural-based trust in police, while the expressive model accounted better for outcome-based trust in police.Research limitations/implicationsImplications for street participatory action research methodology, future research and policy are also discussed.Originality/valueThis paper is an original manuscript.

scholarly journals Collaboration for Improving Social Work Practice: The Promise of Feminist Participatory Action Research

Affilia ◽  
2020 ◽  
pp. 088610992095442
Author(s):  
Holly Johnson ◽  
Catherine Flynn
Keyword(s):  
Action Research ◽  
Participatory Action Research ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Work Practice ◽  
Social Work Practice ◽  
Steering Committee ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Structural Barriers ◽  
Participatory Action ◽  
Institutional Power

Feminist research and participatory action research (PAR) share the belief that research should directly serve social justice aims and work to alleviate suffering of marginalized and oppressed people. This article presents the results of a unique feminist PAR (FPAR) approach to designing and implementing an evaluation of an intervention with women who have used violence. The site of our analysis is the steering committee that oversaw this work and the extent to which members adhered to FPAR principles. Over the two decades since feminist critiques of PAR began to emerge, new discourses of collaboration have appeared. As researchers, we must be alert to FPAR discourses that mask ongoing hierarchies. Our findings suggest that, while reflexivity and genuine commitment to collaboration are fundamental to enacting FPAR principles, social workers nevertheless face real challenges confronting structural barriers that impede anti-oppression goals. This study highlights the challenges of adhering faithfully to feminist participatory principles in real-life settings and the need for future research to examine the effectiveness of FPAR processes in achieving authentic collaboration among committee members who are chosen to represent disparate perspectives and are backed by vastly different levels of social and institutional power.

The challenges of scientific journalism according to Mexican university professors, newspaper directors and heads of research

2017 ◽  
Vol 118 (9/10) ◽  
pp. 503-517
Author(s):  
Aixchel Cordero-Hidalgo ◽  
Javier Tarango ◽  
Claudia-Patricia Contreras ◽  
José Refugio Romo-González
Keyword(s):  
Action Research ◽  
Participatory Action Research ◽  
Scientific Knowledge ◽  
Scientific Literacy ◽  
Public Universities ◽  
Participatory Action ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Research Perspective ◽  
Research Areas ◽  
Scientific Journalism

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to determine the challenges of scientific literacy that scientific journalism can promote or suppress as a scientific dissemination activity. To ensure that universities transfer knowledge to society, this vital activity is studied from the perspectives of their stakeholders: professors, researchers, newspaper directors and heads of research areas of two Mexican universities. Design/methodology/approach From a participatory action research perspective that consisted in applying semi-structured interviews, this study was conducted in two public universities in Chihuahua, Mexico. The group of participants constituted of a random sample of 90 Mexican professors, taken from a population of 246 subjects with the status of national researchers (confidence level = 95 per cent; margin of error = 5 per cent; P/Q correlation = 90 / 10 per cent), in addition to six local newspaper executives and eight research managers at participating universities. Findings Evidence suggests that scientific dissemination has a low social impact, its recognition by universities and scientific evaluation institutions is limited, and the act of making scientific content accessible to the general public is highly complex, especially when it comes to content related to the exact sciences. These results are predictable under the complex models that evaluate scientific production, because the measurement indicators that define scientific competitiveness levels prioritize specific scientific products other than dissemination products such as newspaper articles. Research limitations/implications Data were collected from two Mexican public universities under the implication that the behavior identified through data analysis can occur in other similar environments. Although a participatory action research perspective was assumed, and because this research of a projective nature can be a part of a larger research, no particular actions or interventions were planned or executed, apart from the interviews that aimed to collect data that emerged from participants’ own practice and experiences on the issues studied. Further research can consist of developing forward-looking actions that can contribute to the development of scientific literacy, as well as to the exploration and solution of the issues identified through participants’ own practice. Originality/value One of the social roles of universities is to ensure that scientific knowledge reaches all citizens. However, there are not sufficient studies regarding scientific dissemination, especially from the perspective of professors as generators of scientific knowledge, newspaper directors and heads of research areas.

scholarly journals Youth Involvement in Participatory Action Research (PAR)

2019 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jangmin Kim
Keyword(s):  
Action Research ◽  
Participatory Action Research ◽  
Ethical Issues ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Power Relationships ◽  
Ethical Challenges ◽  
Participatory Action ◽  
Effective Strategies ◽  
Potential Risks ◽  
Youth Community

Participatory Action Research (PAR) has been increasingly viewed as an effective strategy to enhance youth, community-based organizations that serve youth, and broader communities. However, young people have not been frequently involved in research and evaluation efforts as co-researchers or partners. This paper explored major challenges and barriers to the active engagement of youth identified in previous PAR projects. This critical literature review revealed relational, scientific, and ethical challenges. The relational challenges included a lack of trust and unequal power relationships between youth participants and adult researchers. The scientific issues were significantly associated with the major components of the PAR, such as transformative purposes, iterative processes, and flexible methods. Finally, significant ethical issues are identified in terms of potential risks to youth, confidentiality, and informed consent. This paper concludes with specific recommendations for effective strategies to deal with the challenges and barriers identified and possible directions for future research.

scholarly journals Evaluating the effectiveness of care coordination interventions designed and implemented through a participatory action research process: Lessons learned from a quasi-experimental study in public healthcare networks in Latin America

PLoS ONE ◽  
2022 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. e0261604
Author(s):  
María-Luisa Vázquez ◽  
Andrea Miranda-Mendizabal ◽  
Pamela Eguiguren ◽  
Amparo-Susana Mogollón-Pérez ◽  
Marina Ferreira-de-Medeiros-Mendes ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Action Research ◽  
Participatory Action Research ◽  
Organizational Factors ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Public Healthcare ◽  
Participatory Action ◽  
Intermediate Outcomes ◽  
Quasi Experimental

Background Despite increasing recommendations for health professionals to participate in intervention design and implementation to effect changes in clinical practice, little is known about this strategy’s effectiveness. This study analyses the effectiveness of interventions designed and implemented through participatory action research (PAR) processes in healthcare networks of Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Uruguay to improve clinical coordination across care levels, and offers recommendations for future research. Methods The study was quasi-experimental. Two comparable networks, one intervention (IN) and one control (CN), were selected in each country. Baseline (2015) and evaluation (2017) surveys of a sample of primary and secondary care doctors (174 doctors/network/year) were conducted using the COORDENA® questionnaire. Most of the interventions chosen were based on joint meetings, promoting cross-level clinical agreement and communication for patient follow-up. Outcome variables were: a) intermediate: interactional and organizational factors; b) distal: experience of cross-level clinical information coordination, of clinical management coordination and general perception of coordination between levels. Poisson regression models were estimated. Results A statistically significant increase in some of the interactional factors (intermediate outcomes) -knowing each other personally and mutual trust- was observed in Brazil and Chile INs; and in some organizational factors -institutional support- in Colombia and Mexico. Compared to CNs in 2017, INs of Brazil, Chile, Colombia and Mexico showed significant differences in some factors. In distal outcomes, care consistency items improved in Brazil, Colombia and Uruguay INs; and patient follow-up improved in Chile and Mexico. General perception of clinical coordination increased in Brazil, Colombia and Mexico INs. Compared to CNs in 2017, only Brazil showed significant differences. Conclusions Although more research is needed, results show that PAR-based interventions improved some outcomes regarding clinical coordination at network level, with differences between countries. However, a PAR process is, by definition, slow and gradual, and longer implementation periods are needed to achieve greater penetration and quantifiable changes. The participatory and flexible nature of interventions developed through PAR processes poses methodological challenges (such as defining outcomes or allocating individuals to different groups in advance), and requires a comprehensive mixed-methods approach that simultaneously evaluates effectiveness and the implementation process to better understand its outcomes.

scholarly journals Participatory action research in schools: unpacking the lived inequities of high stakes testing

2020 ◽  
Vol 19 (3) ◽  
pp. 287-301
Author(s):  
Tiffany DeJaynes ◽  
Tabatha Cortes ◽  
Israt Hoque
Keyword(s):  
Action Research ◽  
Participatory Action Research ◽  
English Language ◽  
School Teacher ◽  
High School Teacher ◽  
High Stakes Testing ◽  
Participatory Action ◽  
High Stakes ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Language Arts Classrooms

Purpose This paper aims to examine a school-based Youth Participatory Action Research (YPAR) project on educational inequity and high stakes testing. Design/methodology/approach A former high school teacher (currently a university professor) and two former students (currently research assistants and university students) take up a youth studies framework to collaboratively resee multimodal artifacts from a tenth-grade course in qualitative research. Findings Findings illustrate the power of finding allies in peers and educators; the transformative power of deep participation; and the longitudinal nature of social change and action. Thus, this research demonstrates that when students are positioned as researchers, experts and knowledge producers, they can collaborate with one another, teachers and administrators to confront social inequities within their schools and beyond. Originality/value This study has value for applying critical, youth-centered pedagogies in secondary English language arts classrooms and schools.

scholarly journals Incorporating Participatory Action Research in Attention Bias Modification Interventions for Addictive Disorders: Perspectives

2019 ◽  
Vol 16 (5) ◽  
pp. 822 ◽  
Author(s):  
Melvyn Zhang ◽  
Jiangbo Ying
Keyword(s):  
Action Research ◽  
Participatory Action Research ◽  
Research Methods ◽  
Cognitive Bias ◽  
Participatory Design ◽  
Cognitive Bias Modification ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Participatory Action ◽  
Addictive Disorders ◽  
Bias Modification

Participatory action research was introduced in the 1960s and early 1970s, but it has only been more widely adopted in the recent years. Such methodologies have since been applied to several web & mobile-based interventions in psychiatry. To date no prior review has scoped the extent of the application of such methodologies for web & mobile-based interventions in psychiatry. In this article, a scoping literature review was performed, and seven articles have been identified. The most common methodologies are that of co-design workshops; and increasingly service users and participants are included in these workshops. There remains a lack of application of such methodologies for addiction research. Increasingly, attention and cognitive bias modification interventions are more commonplace, given that they have been found to be effective in modifying underlying biases amongst individuals with addictive disorders. Unfortunately, there remains to be inherent limitations with web and mobile versions of attention and cognitive bias modification interventions. Participatory design research methods could help address these limitations and future research involving the conceptualization of new attention or cognitive bias modification applications ought to consider the incorporation of these research methods.

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