Chapter 11 - Participatory Action Research

Question 1

What is Participatory Action Research (PAR)?

Answer 1

Involved with this idea of committing to social justice by taking a transformative philosophical worldview approach

• Provides more insight into social and cultural issues

Question 2

How did PAR emerge?

Answer 2

In response to distrust of traditional postpositivist research that does not include participants as active agents in production of knowledge

Question 3

PAR involves researchers and particpants working together to achieve what?

Answer 3

Understand a problematic situation and change it for the better

• Researchers co-generate knowledge with participants
• Conducted alongside participants
• Practical outcomes for participants

Question 4

Who is PAR approached by?

Answer 4

Researchers who would like to turn social issues around by getting community members to participate as active participants in identifying and addressing community and social issues

Question 5

What is action research and how does it connect to PAR?

Answer 5

Action research is an umbrella term that encompasses other terms (broader framework) and it actually encompasses PAR

• Action research, PAR and the other terms that Action research encompasses all result in benefitting a participant

Question 6

What is key to Action Research (AR)?

Answer 6

Although there are various approaches to Action research, they are all collaborative & result in benefitting the participant

Question 7

Who was Lewin and how did he create modern action research?

Answer 7

He fled Nazi Germany and he was against the idea of researchers being objective outsiders who just observe and record
* He believed that active participation of researcher and inclusion of variety of everyday people in his research would be good which is what lead to modern action research

Question 8

What is similar between Strategies of Inquiry and PAR?

Answer 8

They are both collaborative so sometimes it’s hard to distinguish between PAR and critical ethnography for example because critical ethnography ends up benefitting and being advocacy to underrepresented groups

Question 9

What has PAR been defined as by Brydon-Miller?

Answer 9

The sum of it’s individual terms

Individual terms include:
* Participatory - Researchers and participants involved in all phases of the research process
* Action - Primary goal is to create positive change to address injustices
* Research - social process of gathering and asserting knowledge

Question 10

How many defining features of research are there?

Answer 10

Seven features:
1. Social Process - Researchers and participants engaged in PAR committed to examining relationships and how they exist
2. Participatory - Engaged throughout various processes
3. Practical & Collaborative
4. Emancipatory
5. Critical
6. Reflexive
7. Process to transform both theory and practice

Many SOI’s incorporate some of these defining features of PAR

Question 11

What are characterizing traits and how do they help with defining features of PAR?

Answer 11

PAR needs to be of good quality in terms of the research or else the insights into it and the injustice that the community is facing might not fully be shown. Characterizing traits help build the quality of the research so that the social issues can be fully shown

Question 12

Examples of Characterizing traits that PAR can take on?

Answer 12

1. Community-driven - Community is involved in identifying RQ and methods
2. Prolonged engagement and consultation - Establishing & nuturing relationships to support ongoing collaboration
3. Project deliverables - Community receives mutual benefits and practical outcomes from engagement in research process

Does not have to be all three but having them would be beneficial to providing richer data for the PAR to come out better

Question 13

How did Dr. Hayhurst in the textbook use a PAR approach?

Answer 13

Used to examine sport for peace programs with Indigenous young women in Canada and young women in Nicaragua

• Features of participatory and emancipatory allowed participants to generate data and facilitate this data generation
• PAR resulted in them creating awareness among key decision makers
• Brought forth the structural barriers impacting young women’s experiences & participation in sport

Question 14

Is the research process for PAR a set method?

Answer 14

It is flexible and there are no distinct set of guidelines because remember that there is no objectivity like quantitative.

• It is not a linear process either more or so spiral (iterative and cyclical process)
• It is emergent and flexible

Question 15

What are the two possible study designs for engaging in PAR?

Answer 15

1. Action Research Spiral
2. Five-phase PAR approach

Question 16

What does the action-research spiral emphasize and what does it include?

Answer 16

Emphasises self-reflective cycles which include:
* Planning
* Acting and observing
* Reflecting

Question 17

How does the action research process actually work?

Answer 17

Begin with a plan for change
Act and observe with respect to the change processes and anticipated consequences
Reflect on such processes and consequences

Iterative cycles of Action Research Spiral

Based on 1st cycle, researchers and participatns then re-plan, act and observe again, and then reflect again

Question 18

Why is it important to go through the spiral over and over again?

Answer 18

The more you go through the cyclical process the more you understand it

Question 19

Example of PAR in Syrians new to Canada participating in sports (Textbook) at community’s recreation

Answer 19

Action research spiral was more fluid and included multiple steps in each stage

• Stage 1 - Reflecting and planning where participants developed relationships with researchers, engaged in focus groups identifying barriers to
• Stage 2 -Acting, observing, reflecting and planning; youth engaging in four-season sport
• Stage 3 - Reflecting and planning involved mutliple meetings and additional photovoice with youth

Question 20

What was the purpose of the five-phase approach?

Answer 20

Spiral process may not have enough detail that some researchers may prefer when conceptualizing, engaging in or writing about PAR
* More detailed approach that systematically identifies and addresses issues and problems

Question 21

What are the five-phases of the PAR approach? and explain each one

Answer 21

1. Setting the RQ/Research Design - initiating the study by developing a picture of the study in terms of key issues and people that are affected
2. Building trust
3. Data Collection/data gathering - participants’ perspectives explored
4. Data Analysis - key features of such experiences identified in this process
5. Communicating results for action - # of avenues like writing reports & action is process whereby solutions are created for issues identified

Question 22

How is five-phase and action research spiral similar?

Answer 22

Non-linear; considered to be an iterative cycle that can have overlap amongst phases

Question 23

What is important in Data generation and Data Analysis in PAR?

Answer 23

• Researchers and participants collaborate to identify the most relevant measures of data generation to address RQ’s
• Identify processes of data generation that will extend understandings of issues being explored
• Data analysis should align with RQs and processes of data generation (methodological coherence)

Note: No specfic measures or processes of Data gen. & Data analysis for PAR

Question 24

Example of data generation in the textbook in which PAR is founded on belief that people of all ages have a deep understanding of their own lives so they can address issues in their community

Answer 24

• One-on-one interviews and group interviews common process for generating data
• Observation is another form of data generation used in PARs
• Personal diaries, photographs, visual artwork works with data generation in PARs

Question 25

Which type of data generation is more common in PARs? Quantitative or Qualitative?

Answer 25

Qualitative process is more common within PAR but can use Quantitative:

• Surveys or questionnaires used as relatively inexpensive process for acquiring information from large groups of people