Understanding Participatory Action Research: a Qualitative Research Methodology Option

Participatory Action Research (PAR) is a qualitative research methodology option that requires further understanding and consideration. PAR is considered democratic, equitable, liberating, and life-enhancing qualitative inquiry that remains distinct from other qualitative methodologies (Kach & Kralik, 2006). Using PAR, qualitative features of an individual’s feelings, views, and patterns are revealed without control or manipulation from the researcher. The participant is active in making informed decisions throughout all aspects of the research process for the primary purpose of imparting social change; a specific action (or actions) is the ultimate goal. The following paper will contextualize PAR in terms of its history, principles, definitions, and strengths, as well as discuss challenges and practical suggestions for using PAR. In addition, it will examine focus groups and interviews as methods for data collection, the role of PAR in education, and the types of research for which PAR is best suited. "You cannot understand a system until you try to change it" (Lewin, 1946) Participatory Action Research (PAR) is one option in qualitative research methodology that should be considered and understood. Qualitative research integrates the methods and techniques of observing, documenting, analyzing, and interpreting characteristics, patterns, attributes, and meanings of human phenomena under study (Gillis & Jackson, 2002; Leininger, 1985). The purpose of qualitative methodology is to describe and understand, rather than to predict and control (Streubert & Carpenter, 1995). Qualitative methods focus on the whole of human experience and the meanings ascribed by individuals living Understanding Participatory Action Research MacDonald 35 the experience; broader understanding and deeper insight into complex human behaviours thus occurs as a result (Lincoln, 1992; Mason, 2006). Lincoln (1992) argued that qualitative methods are naturalistic, participatory modes of inquiry that disclose the lived experiences of individuals. Consequently, “there are no single, objective reality, there are multiple realities based on subjective experience and circumstance” (Wuest, 1995, p.30). The primary goal of qualitative research is to interpret and document an entire phenomenon from an individual’s viewpoint or frame of reference (Creswell, 1998; Leininger, 1985; Mason, 2006). Greenhalgh and Taylor (1997) contended that researchers who employed qualitative research sought deeper truths while aiming “to study things in their natural setting, attempting to make sense of, or interpret, phenomena in terms of the meanings that people bring to them” (p.740). Similarly, Gilbert (2001) maintained that qualitative researchers aspire to uncover the world through another’s eyes, in a discovery and exploratory process that is deeply experienced. Qualitative features of the individual’s feelings, views, and patterns are revealed without control or manipulation from the researcher (Leininger, 1985). Qualitative research reflects the values of subjectivity, individualism, holism, relativism, and interpretation (Streubert & Carpenter, 1995). Further, it permits information sharing between the researcher and participant, affording both an opportunity to share and learn. This paper discusses participatory action research (PAR), one option for conducting qualitative research. PAR is a qualitative inquiry that is considered democratic, equitable, liberating, and life-enhancing (Kach & Kralik, 2006), and which remains distinct from other qualitative methodologies, particularly concerning the roles played by the researcher and the participants (Gibson, 2002). This paper will present an in-depth literature review of PAR, as well as discuss the use of focus groups and interviews as methods for data collection. It will further contextualize PAR in terms of its history, principles, definitions, strengths, and challenges, and conclude with practical suggestions for using PAR and the role of PAR in education. PARTICIPATORY ACTION RESEARCH Participatory action research (PAR) is considered a subset of action research, which is the “systematic collection and analysis of data for the purpose of taking action and making change” by generating practical knowledge (Gillis & Jackson, 2002, p.264). Action research discourse includes myriad terms, such as: participatory action research, participatory research, community-based participatory research, and other forms of participative inquiry, which may seem ambiguous for novice researchers intending to conduct action research (Greenwood & Levin, 1998; Gibson, Gibson & MacAulay, 2001). Ideally, the purpose of all action research is to impart social change, with a specific action (or actions) as the ultimate goal (Greenwood & Levin, 1998; Kach & Kralik, 2006; McNiff & Whitehead,