Participatory/Collaborative Research Principles
• • • • • • • • • An orientation, not a method(s) Equitable partnerships in all phases Balances action and research: mutuality, praxis The unit of identity is community Strength-based Promotes co-learning & capacity building Long term process and commitment External validity: Local relevance, dissemination Iterative, dialogical, relational
Participatory action research in post-disaster recovery: Collaborating from the start
Gonzalo Bacigalupe, EdD, MPH University of Massachusetts Boston
4th International Congress of Qualitative Inquiry University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Action Research
(The North Tradition)
• Systematic & reflective study of one's actions and their effects in a relational context • Deep inquiry into one's professional action; Researchers examine their work searching for opportunities to improve • Cycle of action, reflection, program-solving and rational decision to inform new actions (Kurt Lewin) • Reflective practitioner: the professional engaged in a continuous process of practice and research (Donald A. Schon)
Participatory Action Research
(The South Tradition)
• • • • • • • Does it improve social practice by changing it? Is participation authentic? Is it collaborative? Does it establish self-critical communities? Is it a systematic deliberative learning process? Do participants theorize about their own practices? Does it require to put people’s practices, ideas and assumptions about institutions to the test? • Does it keep records, collect and analyze the groups judgments, reactions and impressions? • Do participants objectify their own experiences (i.e., journaling, blogging, photographing, etc.)?
From: McTaggart (1989)
PAR (cont.)
• • • • Is it a political process? Does it critically analyze institutional structures? Does it start small and establish shared agreements? Does it start with small cycles of planning, acting, observing, & thus defining more powerful questions? • Does it start with a small group of collaborators that widens to include more of those affected? • Does it document and record its improvements • Can it justify the outcome to others and in turn challenge the practice of others?
Community-Based Participatory Action Research
• • • • Research to impact alleviation of health disparities Focus on “partnership synergy” (Minkler, 2003) Incorporates AR, PAR, culturally competence principles Drawn interest from variety of funders leading in part to focus on pragmatic outcomes (plus the dilemma of collaboration with funding institutions) • Shared control of research by academic institution and community • Addresses social justice and institutional racism • Re-defines academic norm of value-neutral research
Dilemmas at the start
• Researcher’s Location (personal/political)
– research stories and the politics of context
• • • •
Outsider (relational therapeutic metaphors) What is research? Participants’ stories Other(ing) paradoxes The construction of disaster/crisis and the temptations/dangers of agenda setting • Balancing intrusion, intervention, and shared collaboration • What do we know about collaboration?
– Trust, curiosity and listening, commitment – It’s not simple
Linking Collaborative and Relational Practices
• “Natural” focus on the relational and reflexive processes • Negotiation of goals resembles the therapeutic process • Interdisciplinary and heterogeneous team • Various forms of expertise • Long term commitment • Social networking technology is a plus
