Wadsworth, Yoland. “What is Participatory Action Research?” Action Research International, http://www.scu.edu.au/schools/gcm/ar/ari/p-ywadsworth98.html (accessed April 15, 2010)
Yoland Wadsworth is one of Australia’s pioneers in the use of integral and transformative social research and evaluation methodologies in human and community services, including the use of action research, dialogic, participatory and ‘whole systems’ inquiry.
The author summaries Participatory Action Research (PAR) as action which is researched, changed and re-researched, within the research process by participants.The author’s key assertions are that in participatory action research the researcher is, “more conscious of ‘problematising’ an existing action or practice and more conscious of who is problematising it and why they are problematising it; more explicit about ‘naming’ the problem, and more self-conscious about raising an unanswered question and focusing an effort to answer it; more planned and deliberate about commencing a process of inquiry and involving others who could or should be involved in that inquiry.”
The paper is justifiably a leading article in the field of PAR. The language is very accessible however it can tend to be too casual at times. There was a single statement made that I disagree with which is that PAR is more systematic and rigorous than other research methods. PAR struggles to obtain research-funding predominately because it is generally felt that it lacks the rigor of traditional research systems. Regardless, this is a must read for anyone intending to do any research in the field of community cultural development.
Tawanda Gadzikwa
http://www.scu.edu.au/schools/gcm/ar/ari/p-ywadsworth98.html
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