Chapter 21

Participatory Action Research

Maggie Walter

Introduction
Participatory action research (PAR) or action research, as it is sometimes known, has in
its implementation and underpinning philosophies an action purpose. This action purpose
differentiates PAR from methods whose primary aim is to research or investigate. Although
nearly all social research has some form of social change as motivation, only PAR has change
and action as an embedded and critical element of its approach. Participatory action research
has therefore been defined as having a double objective:
One aim is to produce knowledge and action directly useful to a group of people through
research, adult education or sociopolitical action. The second aim is to empower people at a
second and deeper level through the process of constructing and using their own knowledge
(Reason 1998:71)

The term action research was coined in 1946 by Kurt Lewin to describe a spiral action
of research aimed at problem solving. Community involvement was important for Lewin,
writing and working after World War II, and he saw participatory action research as a
tool for bringing about democracy in postwar countries (Robson 1993). Lewin, as a social
psychologist, felt that the best way to move people forward was to engage them in their own
enquiries into their own lives. He stressed the fundamental role of democratic collaboration
and participation within this project (McNiff 1988:22).
The key to PAR is in its name. The concepts of participation and action form the basics
of the method.
1
2

Action: Research should be more than just finding out; research should also involve an
action component that seeks to engender positive change.
Participation: Research is a participatory process that requires the equal and collaborative
involvement of the community of research interest.

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In other words, by its collaborative and participatory nature, PAR moves right away
from the idea of the outside expert coming into a community to examine, theorise and
propose solutions. As such, PAR is:

a form of applied research: the research is intended to have some real world effect
increasingly popular: at the trendy end of the research method spectrum
guided by a research topic/question that emerges from the community of interest.

PAR: A methodology rather than a method

The components of participatory action research make it different from other social research
methods. They also delineate PAR as more of a methodology rather than a method (see
chapter 1). PAR comes with its own in-built value system (axiology) and way of perceiving the
reality of an issue or problem (ontology) and values the knowledges and knowledge systems of
the community of research interest above others, thereby exhibiting a specific epistemology.
Its qualities of being both an active research practice and one based on the principles of
democracy are what draw many social science researchers to PAR, particularly those coming
from more qualitative paradigms. The diffusion, or even relocation, of power from the
researcher to the community of interest is a central element of the research method. Within
participatory action research the researcher is the tool for facilitating change, rather than the
owner, director and expert in the research project. Or as Whyte puts it, the researcher has
the role of research coach (1991:40).
The requirement for equal and open collaboration between researcher and research
community is central to participatory action research. More particularly, within this
collaboration it is the researched, or the subject group, who are the owners and instigators of
the research rather than the researcher. In the words of Rapoport (1970:1 cited in Robson
1993:438): Action research aims to contribute to both the practical concerns of people in
an immediate problematic situation and to the goals of social science by joint collaboration
within a mutually acceptable framework. As such, participatory action research as a research
method/methodology is characterised by the strong and active involvement and high degree
of participation of those with the research objective (Whyte 1991).

Using participatory action research

The use of participatory action research for social research in Australia is rapidly rising.
Because of its focus on problem solving, it is particularly suited to practitioner based
research. For example, a local community welfare agency uses PAR at their regular staff

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Chapter 21: Participatory Action Research

meetings as the base for working through work-related problems. Participatory action
research is also widely used in educational research, especially around improving teaching
and learning practice. Because of its problem solving aims and its community locus
of control, participatory action research is a primary method in much contemporary
Indigenous research focused on solving problems at the community level. The internal
development and ownership of the research, rather than diagnosis and imposition from
outside, makes participatory action research a social research method far more amenable to
Indigenous research paradigms and Indigenous research agendas.

Starting with the PAR problem

An essential element of PAR is that the problem that needs solving or the objective that
needs reaching must arise from the community of interest. That is, it is those who have
the problem or desire the objective that must decide what the problem or objective is and
that they want to achieve some change. It cannot be imposed or diagnosed from outside,
especially by the researcher. The action part of PAR is situational in that attempts to
resolve the problem or achieve the objectives are also located within and with the
community of interest.

Putting PAR into place

Although theoretical insights are gained through research practice, PAR is essentially
applied research. Rather than taking a standard linear model of research, participatory action
research is cyclic, working its way through various iterations of planning, acting, observing
and reflecting. The cyclical nature of PAR is its fundamental process feature (Wadsworth
1998). The following diagram summarises how PAR operates in an iterative, cyclical mode.
Observation
Action

Observation
Action

Initial
planning

Reection
informed
planning

Observation
Action

Reection
informed
planning

Cycle
continues
until issue is
resolved or
agreed by
all parties

Issue

Figure 21.1: The iterative cycle of participatory action research (PAR)

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The cycle takes the following steps:

A problem, issue, or desire for change is identified by the community of research

interest.
Initial collaboration takes place between the community of research interest and the
researcher and planning how to tackle the problem then begins.
The developed plan is then put into action.
The action and its outcomes are then observed again by the community of research
interest and the researcher.
The final stage in the first cycle is to reflect on the action and its outcomes.
If this reflection leads to an assessment that the first action step was effective, then the
process of planning, action, observing and reflecting starts again, building on this initial
success.
If the reflection deems the first action unsuccessful or not as successful as anticipated,
then these outcomes are taken into consideration in the planning of new or different
action in the next cycle of planning action, observation and reflection.
The cycle continues in as many iterations as needed to resolve the problem or reach
the objective. As with all aspects of PAR, the deeming of a problem as solved or an
objective as reached is a collaborative one.

From method to practice

As demonstrated in the model, the new cycle of the PAR process does not repeat the
old cycle. Rather the planning, acting, observing and reflecting of the previous cycle inform
and shape the next cycle. The PAR process is therefore self-evaluative, involving a constant
evaluation of its process and modifications to adjust the research problem articulation and
research practice.

The methodological nature of participatory action research limits its full applicability in broad social
research. It is much easier to locate literature that discusses how to undertake PAR or the principles
of PAR than it is to ind literature reporting a completed PAR project. For broader community social
research, PAR demands that the problem or issue must emerge from the community of research
interest, that the research is fully collaborative at all stages with the community and that the
cyclical process of PAR does not inish until the problem is resolved. These requirements are
problematic and often unfeasible. In the real world of social research practice, much research
involving PAR takes place with discrete and limited communities, such as classrooms.
The following example of PAR in action summarises a position description for a PAR
coordinator. The researcher is being recruited to work on a cooperative project between the
Yorta Yorta National Aboriginal Corporation and the Friends of the Earth MelbourneBarmah

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Chapter 21: Participatory Action Research

problemdeveloping a partnership model for joint management of traditional Yorta Yorta lands
and waters by Yorta Yorta people and the Victorian State Governmenthas emerged from the
Yorta Yorta people via the Yorta Yorta National Aboriginal Corporation. It is only after the objective
has been developed that the researcher is brought in.

Project description
To develop a partnership model with the Victorian State Government to facilitate the active
involvement of the Yorta Yorta people in the management of traditional lands and waters in ways
that utilise Yorta Yorta knowledge and perspectives.

Position objective

From method to practice

Millewa Campaign (Melbourne Friends of the Earth 2008). As can be seen from this example, the

The PAR coordinator will assist the Yorta Yorta people to deine their aspirations for working
on country and an ideal joint management model to achieve these aspirations, by organising
workshops and facilitating Yorta Yorta nation members to illustrate their interests and capacity to
work on country.

Participatory action research position roles

>

Ensure project objectives are met by clearly communicating community engagement

principles and practice (including PAR)

>

develop and maintain relationships with Yorta Yorta family group and other Yorta Yorta groups

>

organise, conduct and facilitate workshops with Yorta Yorta family group and other Yorta
Yorta groups, utilising PAR techniques and tools

>

coordinate meeting logistics: travel and accommodation, meeting minutes, task list

>

develop and implement monitoring and evaluation methods and activities.

Evaluating participatory action research

As a methodology, participatory action research critiques the theoretical and methodological
bases of conventional social research. Winter frames it this way:
it challenges a scientific method of inquiry based on the authority of the outside observer
and the independent experimenter, and it claims to reconstruct both practical expertise and
theoretical insights on the different basis of its own inquiry procedures (Winter 1989:2).

Its proponents see this radical shift away from standard research practice as providing
huge research benefits. These benefits accrue at both a practical expertise and theoretical
level. It is argued that when the researcher and community of interest work together in a

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collaborative and participatory way, expertise and insights develop that would not otherwise
be possible. In turn, these insights and access to broader expertise provide for more workable
and innovative problem solutions.
However, PAR has been strongly criticised by other social researchers. These criticisms
tend to focus on how its participation, democracy and external ownership aspects can greatly
reduce the validity of the research and the rigour of the methods used, and question whether
PAR methods lead to good, scientific, valid, reliable, usable research outcomes. Another
criticism centres on what is perceived as a moralising tone in PARs methodology. For
example, Adelman (1989, cited in Robson 1993:440) argues that PARs claims, of being an
alternative research paradigm, as a democratising force and means of achieving informed,
practical change arising from issues at the grass roots are overbearing. The essential critique
here is that PAR might be seen more as an ideology of how research should be undertaken
that is, a methodology or a paradigmrather than a practical research method.
The other difficult issue for PAR is the research end date. Unlike most other research
methods, which tend to be timed undertakings with clear start and stop periods, the
iterations of PAR continue until the problem is resolved. Conceivably, this process could
repeat forever. The key question here is: when is a social problem solved? In the natural
sciences, finding a resolution to a problem, such as developing a formula for unshatterable
glass, can often be clearcut; however, in the social world, with all its complexities, defining
a problem is often difficult enough without also having to decide unequivocally that the
problem is resolved.
The strengths and weaknesses of PAR are summarised in box 21.2.

Box 21.1: Advantages and disadvantages of participatory

action research (PAR)
Advantages of PAR

PAR is applied research.

The problem solving focus means that PAR is research with practical outcomes and
positive change.

PAR is collaborative research.

Involving the community of research interest with the research objective aids in producing
practical outcomes that are workable.

PAR is committed research.

The commitment of the community of interest enables the research project to access
community understanding, knowledge and collective memory.

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PAR originates with the researched.

The community locus of control leads to the identiication of problems that are important
to the community, not diagnosed from outside.

Disadvantages of PAR

PAR has no research leader.

The group involvement and democratic processes may lead to competing research
agendas.

PAR may be impractical.

Categorising a group with a shared interest or problem as a community does not
automatically result in a consensus on what the problem is and how it might best be
addressed.

PAR usually has no timeline.

The process, by its nature, has no set end date. The question then becomes: how do we
know when a problem is resolved, or when has the process become inefectual?

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References
McNiff, J. (1988). Action Research, Principles and Practice. London: MacMillan Education.
Melbourne Friends of the Earth (2008). Position Description: Participatory Action Research
Coordinator <http://www.melbourne.foe.org.au/files/imce/Position_Desc_YY_PAR_
Coordinator_1.pdf>.
Reason, R. (1998). Three Approaches to Participative Inquiry, in Denzin, N. K. and Lincoln, Y.
(eds), Strategies of Qualitative Research. London: Sage: 26191.
Robson, C. (1993). Real World Enquiry: A Resource for Social Scientists and Practitioner-Researchers.
Oxford: Blackwell.
Wadsworth, Y. (1998). What is Participatory Action Research?, Action Research International,
Paper 2.
Whyte, W. F. (1991). Participatory Action Research. Newbury Park: Sage.
Winter, R. (1989). Learning From Experience: Principles and Practice in Action-Research. London:
Falmer Press.

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