Participatory Action Research
Participatory Action Research (PAR) pursues both action and research outcomes. It is most commonly conducted with high levels of participation. Its purpose is to bring about planned change in such a way that there is also a contribution to understanding of the system that is being changed (Cunningham, 1993). Whyte (1991) suggests that in PAR some of the people in the organisation under study participate actively with the researcher throughout the research process, from the initial design to the final presentation of results and discussion of their action implications.
PAR is an especially participatory form of action research. Hart and Bond (1995) selected seven criteria to distinguish action research from other methodologies, i.e., it:
- is educative
- deals with individuals as member of social groups
- is problem focused, context-specific and future-oriented
- involves a change intervention
- aims at improvement and involvement
- involves a cyclical process in which research, action and evaluation are interlinked is founded on a research relationship in which those involved are participants in the change process
Participatory Action Research at Clear Horizon
Jess has facilitated with a number of PAR processes over the years, and loves this technique. After all these years it still seems to be one of the best ways of local problem solving. It’s so empowering. Of course, there are many parallels with participatory evaluation and PAR, to the extent that most of Clear Horizon Consultants are pretty comfortable facilitating the process, after all they are great facilitators, and they can offer advice and counsel in this methodology of inquiry.
References
Click here to view Participatory Action Research references
