Chapter 1: Participatory Action Research: General Principles and a Study with a Chronic Health Condition

TitleChapter 1: Participatory Action Research: General Principles and a Study with a Chronic Health Condition
Publication TypeBook Chapter
Year of Publication2004
AuthorsBalcazar F, Taylor R, Kielhfner G, Tamley K, Benziger T, Carlin N, Johnson S
EditorJason L, Keys C, Saurez- Balcazar Y, Taylor R, Davis M
Book TitleParticipatory Community Research
PublisherAmerican Psychological Association
CityWashington
Abstract

Participatory action research (PAR) is defined and the scope and limits of the term are explored according to a continuum of control, collaboration, and commitment in the research process. Some researchers are committed to what appears to be a purist ideological paradigm of PAR that wholly locates control in the hands of participants and produces higher order social action and change. Others appear to endorse a more inclusive vision of PAR that can be defined by any number of approaches to involving community members in research. Acknowledging these differences, this chapter attempts to represent a diverse range of projects and theoretical approaches to participatory work. Other aspects of PAR are explained, including researcher reflexivity and redefining the researchers role as a catalyst for social change, empowerment, learning how to learn, social change and transforming social realities, and approaching data collection and interpretation using multiple epistemologies. The authors discuss the relevance of PAR to community psychology, cover general principles for implementing PAR in community research, and share their experiences using this research approach with people with chronic illness and disabilities. (from PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2009 APA, all rights reserved)