Participatory Action Research

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Author: search.filters.author.Tandon, RajeshEnd date: 1979

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    Participatory research as a methodology of development
    (Participatory Research in Asia (PRIA), 0000) Tandon, Rajesh
    This paper questions how development research has usually been done. It points out that classical research keeps a firm line between the researcher and the people being studied, treats the researcher's own values as something to be kept out of the picture, and leaves control of the whole process in the researcher's hands alone. Participatory research is put forward as a way of working that sets these assumptions aside. Here the problem to be studied comes from the community itself, the people affected take an active part in the inquiry, and the researcher works alongside them rather than above them. Three examples from India carry the idea forward. In West Bengal, sharecroppers were registered through village camps under what became known as Operation Barga. In southern Rajasthan, twelve tribal families built a shared irrigation system by reviving an old local practice of water-sharing. In Maharashtra, an organisation called Shramik Sanghatana brought together landless labourers and tribal women around wages, land rights and the effects of alcoholism on their households. Through these cases, the paper highlights some of the more challenging issues that participatory research raises, such as its closeness to political action, the difficulty of applying it in unorganized communities, and the need for a researcher's personal perspective before people are willing to trust the process.
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    Participatory research- An exploratory statement
    (0000) Tandon, Rajesh
    In this paper, Dr. Rajesh Tandon examines the limitations of conventional research that contributed to the emergence of Participatory Research. He identifies concerns such as the emphasis on objectivity, limited attention to the use of knowledge, the assumption that research is value-neutral, and the concentration of control over the research process and its outcomes in the hands of researchers. The paper distinguishes Participatory Research from academic, policy, and evaluation research by comparing who influences the selection of research problems, methods, and outcomes at different stages. It outlines an ideal participatory process based on shared decision-making, collaborative research design, and the joint collection and interpretation of data. Tandon also differentiates Participatory Research from Action Research by highlighting the researcher's explicit ideological position and the active involvement and control of participants throughout the inquiry. The paper concludes by identifying questions related to the validation of knowledge beyond conventional standards, the broader outcomes of participatory inquiry, and the political nature of research in social settings; presenting these as issues to be explored through participatory practice rather than resolved conceptually.
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    From clarity to anarchy: Participatory research approach (A critique of "The methodology of the participatory research approach")
    (1979) Tandon, Rajesh
    In this paper, Rajesh Tandon responds to a critique of a paper on the methodology of the participatory research approach, presented at the African Regional Workshop on Participatory Research in Tanzania in 1979. A central fallacy runs through the original argument that the wide range of political activism within PRA produces naive idealism and methodological adhocism. Participatory research is not an invention of the seventies; only its label is new, since people organising the rural poor had long practised its elements without naming them. Two vantage points inform the approach, the activist's and the professional researchers, and reconciling them forms the real challenge. Classical research confines inquiry to thinking alone, while PRA treats feeling and acting as equally valid modes of knowing. A genuine risk of subjective, superficial analysis remains, addressed through joint analysis between researcher and people. PRA's apparent anarchism reflects unfamiliarity and variety rather than incoherence.
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    The Indian urban elites: An exploratory study
    (0000) De, Nitish R.; Tandon, Rajesh
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    Participatory research
    (0000) Tandon, Rajesh
    This article by Dr. Rajesh Tandon examines the relationship between development with knowledge and research in the context of developing countries, arguing that mainstream development strategies have largely remained Western-centric, adopting a top-down, technology-driven approach and being detached from the lived realities of marginalized communities. He critiques post-WWII development strategies as primarily dependent on knowledge that is controlled by the monopoly of elite researchers to serve the interests of those in power- under the guise of objectivity and neutrality. The article further criticises the irrelevance of sophisticated research methodologies and ethical issues that arise due to seeing humans as mere subjects, and presents participatory research as an emerging alternative. It emphasises the role of ordinary people in generating and utilising their own knowledge to bring socio-economic changes.
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    Issues and experiences in participatory research in Asia
    (1979-06-25) Tandon, Rajesh
    In this paper Dr. Rajesh Tandon examines characteristics and issues of participatory research as practised across Asia during the late 1970s, drawing on meetings held in India and Thailand alongside field reports from researchers. Practitioners engaging with participatory research bring varied motivations, ranging from disillusioned social scientists seeking relevance beyond classical research paradigms to activists redirecting failed development strategies toward decentralized alternatives and educators treating research itself as a vehicle for social transformation. Rural settings dominate the Asian experience, reflecting both the scale of rural populations and the concentration of documented efforts in land, health, and adult education. The paper situates participatory research in close and often uncomfortable relation to social action, tracing the political consequences that follow from this link across varied Asian contexts. It also addresses the largely unorganized condition of underprivileged groups and the corresponding need to build organization alongside inquiry, along with the personal values and behavioural skills researchers need to genuinely facilitate participation rather than reproduce authoritarian patterns. The paper closes by treating these issues as unresolved questions for the ongoing evolution of participatory research in the region, rather than settled conclusions.
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    Action research: Assumptions and practice
    (Participatory Research In Asia (PRIA), 1978) Tandon, Rajesh
    This paper by Dr. Rajesh Tandon examines the assumptions of classical enquiry in social science research and presents the case for action research as a distinct alternative. Can social science research remain valid and relevant when it separates knowledge generation from knowledge utilization, objectivity from subjective experience, and researchers from the communities they research? The paper demonstrates how each assumption proves inadequate for understanding complex social realities and presents action research as an integrative approach that combines understanding and change. It further elaborates upon the three aspects of action research. Ideologically, it recognizes inquiry to be normative and broadens the purpose of social science to knowledge utilisation. Epistemologically, it draws from adult learning theory and embraces multiple ways of knowing. Methodologically, it advocates for transactional and participative relationships between researchers and participants. The paper then concludes by raising five critical questions challenging classical social science research in the context of countries like India.
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    Rural camps: Current assessment and future issues
    (National Labour Institute, 1977) Tandon, Rajesh