Participatory action research

Resource type
Authors/contributors
Title
Participatory action research
Abstract
Participatory action research (PAR) is an approach to research that prioritizes the value of experiential knowledge for tackling problems caused by unequal and harmful social systems, and for envisioning and implementing alternatives. PAR involves the participation and leadership of those people experiencing issues, who take action to produce emancipatory social change, through conducting systematic research to generate new knowledge. This Primer sets out key considerations for the design of a PAR project. The core of the Primer introduces six building blocks for PAR project design: building relationships; establishing working practices; establishing a common understanding of the issue; observing, gathering and generating materials; collaborative analysis; and planning and taking action. We discuss key challenges faced by PAR projects, namely, mismatches with institutional research infrastructure; risks of co-option; power inequalities; and the decentralizing of control. To counter such challenges, PAR researchers may build PAR-friendly networks of people and infrastructures; cultivate a critical community to hold them to account; use critical reflexivity; redistribute powers; and learn to trust the process. PAR’s societal contribution and methodological development, we argue, can best be advanced by engaging with contemporary social movements that demand the redressingl of inequities and the recognition of situated expertise.
Publication
Nature Reviews Methods Primers
Volume
3
Issue
1
Pages
1-14
Date
2023-04-27
Journal Abbr
Nat Rev Methods Primers
Language
en
ISSN
2662-8449
Accessed
06/10/2023, 13:02
Library Catalogue
Rights
2023 Springer Nature Limited
Extra
Number: 1 Publisher: Nature Publishing Group
Citation
Cornish, F., Breton, N., Moreno-Tabarez, U., Delgado, J., Rua, M., de-Graft Aikins, A., & Hodgetts, D. (2023). Participatory action research. Nature Reviews Methods Primers, 3(1), 1–14. https://doi.org/10.1038/s43586-023-00214-1