Participatory Action Research

Ordinarily, consultants who have knowledge of the issue to be investigated are commissioned to carry out research.  Their past or current personal experience is not necessarily like that of the people in the target group.  This produces sound results but the reports generated are too frequently shelved.  They do not generally provide the kind of insight that makes a powerful impact on ideas and practice or stimulate developments that bring about significant change.

Participatory Action Research is different, because it involves people from the target group in all stages of delivering the research.   People from the same community of experience, interest, identity or place as the target participants are trained so that they can play a central role in designing and delivering the research. 

Because of that Participatory Action Research gives a more detailed, truthful picture of people's experience of the issue you are investigating, their feelings, thoughts and ideas about it and their needs in relation to it.

How Participatory Action Research works

The ways in which research sessions are structured and the questions are put also cause people to rethink their ideas about issues.  The researchers as well as the people they talk to, gets new clarity and insights.  This rekindles enthusiasm and helps people to see that there may be new ways forward.

Members of the research teams are trained so that they can deliver their work to a high professional standard.  People who have not benefited from formal education can become skilled in the theory and practice of research, provided that they are trained in imaginative ways that respect what they have learned from their other experiences.  Their training helps them to collect and present their findings in ways that capture the voices of the people that took part and to produce strong recommendations that can be put into action.  For the training and research to be thorough, neither can be rushed.

As well as collecting and communicating detailed and invaluable information, the process of Participatory Action Research also overcomes barriers to and scepticism about participation and engages more people in decision-making.  Research participants become involved with subsequent stages of the process through the connection they make with researchers.  The trust that participants have in the researchers means that they give more and expect more as a result.  They are encouraged to become assistant researchers and help with further interviews or focus group sessions, the analysis of the findings, writing and presenting the report, arguing for and promoting action based on the findings.  This transforms the research into a dynamic developmental process, produces more authentic, profound findings with practical proposals and leads to genuine concrete results.

Participatory Action Research is informed and underpinned by issues of equality and diversity and it is a particularly powerful way to focus on, uncover and enrich everyone's understanding of those issues.

The quality of the research and the way it is presented by the researchers and participants, means that it can change the way people think about and act upon issues.  It can be instrumental in strengthening the voice of a community, raising its profile and enabling it to make a genuine impact on policy and practice. 

Training for Participatory Action Researchers

The research training lasts several months and as well as guided learning sessions it includes supported work experience and tutorials covering the following elements: 

• Introduction to research
• Explaining and discussing Participatory Action Research
• Research methods
• Types of research questions
• Research Ethics
• Handling the research commission
• Problems that all researchers face
• Structuring the research session
• Different tools for helping people to answer questions
• The research sample
• Collating and analysing data
• Organising the research
• Rehearsing and testing
• Recording answers during interviews
• Deciding on the findings
• Writing the report
• Maximising the impact of research
• Reviewing and evaluating the research work

Team members learn how to conduct interviews, focus group sessions, surveys and research workshops, how to work out what the findings mean, identify recommendations and present them to different audiences for different purposes. 

They find out about ways to collaborate with and influence different stakeholders, learning about delegation and representation skills, advocacy and influence, handling meetings, coping with conflict and power relationships.

The benefits for Participatory Action Researchers

The benefits to participants have been well documented and evaluated.  The evidence gathered shows that the experience has a direct positive affect on their wellbeing as well as their educational development and employment opportunities.

In addition, the researchers can work towards a recognised qualification awarded at a level equivalent to NVQ level 4.

Participatory Action Research that Synthesis has facilitated

Synthesis Associates have recruited and trained more than fifty people of different ages, abilities, genders, origins, sexual orientations and social circumstances to gather and convey the experience, ideas and opinions of people like themselves.   Our youngest trainee researcher was seven years old when she joined the course and the oldest was over sixty.

The research was always related to real opportunities for the findings to affect the planning and provision of resources and services.  The input of research participants into public decision-making bodies and processes was more informed and strengthened.  The researchers' capacity to participate in and speak with more authority on public decisions was greatly enhanced.

We have facilitated research into issues affecting:

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