Knowledge Democracy / Participatory Research
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Welcome to the Knowledge Democracy / Participatory Research Community. This community serves as a comprehensive repository of resources on participatory approaches, community-based research, and collaborative inquiry methods. Our mission is to foster knowledge sharing and support initiatives that empower communities to contribute to research, ensuring their voices shape the knowledge that impacts their lives.
Explore a wealth of materials, including case studies, policy papers, training guides, and research publications that highlight the practice and principles of participatory research worldwide.
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Item Description of the methods of participation research(1978) Le Boterf, GuyThe article describes a research method used to identify the basic educational needs of rural populations in six villages in Central America. The research method is an approach that combines experimental research with a participatory survey of the community to identify educational needs. The communities participated by defining the problems they were facing, discussing their situation, identifying their educational needs, and developing possible solutions. This is different from a typical survey, since community members were given an active role in the research activities. Moreover, they provided feedback and were actively involved in discussions at various stages of the study and research process. This allowed the researchers to discuss and analyse the results with the community and to use their feedback in understanding and addressing specific problems. The study began with an initial exploration of the community, followed by the identification and prioritisation of needs, setting educational goals, developing strategies, discussion with the community, and implementation of the strategies. Researchers and technical specialists acted as facilitators and educators rather than being the sole producers of knowledge. The study links research, education, and community action, which is intended not only to analyse the situation in the communities but also to contribute to solving the problems that were identified.Item Participatory research: A new methodology for adult educators?(National Center for Research in Vocational Education, 1979) Griffith, William S; Cristarella, Mary CParticipatory research is a term which has been appearing within the past several years in international adult education conferences and which some commentators believe has the potential of redirecting research within the field of adult education. The International Conference on Adult Education and Development held in Dar-es-Salaam in June, 1976, proposed that "all adult educators should receive training in the theory and practice of participatory research as well as in complementary quantitative research techniques" (Dar-es-Salaam Design for Action, 1976, p.32). The UNESCO program action plan for 1977-1982 includes the support of future participatory research (Hurly, 1976). Cain states "the forces producing the demand for something called 'participatory research' are numerous and compelling" (Cain, 1977, p.7).Item The use of participatory methods in a community based adult education programme(Women and Development Unit (WAND) Extra Mural Department, UWI, 1982) Ellis, PatriciaThe document highlights the design of an adult education programme in Rose Hall using a participatory approach. The main areas covered by the programme include agricultural knowledge, home improvements, personal development, numeracy and English, which are taught depending on the needs and capabilities of the community. Participatory techniques such as discussion groups, role playing, stories, drawings, demonstrations and participatory evaluations have been used in the programme. Community members, education committee, resource persons and project coordinator take part in evaluating the programme and determining any problem and possible solutions. The programme helps in improving knowledge, self-confidence, communication skills, critical awareness, problem solving, decision making and community participation. This programme faces certain challenges in the form of participation, attendance, gender roles, time, human resources, attitude and documentation. The exercise illustrates how participation, dialogue, reflection and collective analysis could assist community members in analyzing their situation, knowing their strength and weakness and taking more responsibility in their development and that of their community.Item Investigating reality in order to transform it: The Colombian experience(Dialect Anthropology, 1979) Fals-Borda, OrlandoThere exist relatively few occasions, in the course of a lifetime, which provide the opportunity to confront processes of radical, social transformation. As a generation, it is our privilege to live this process today, and to do so with the advantages and disadvantages offered by contemporary development. It is also our responsibility, as members of a scientific community, to know how to interpret this process of change and derive from it the adequate information necessary for under-standing and catalysing this transformation so that we may help to construct the future.Item The application of participatory action-research in Latin America(International Sociology, 1987) Fals-Borda, OrlandoA research methodology that combines theory, action and participation (PAR) committed to further the interests of exploited groups and classes has been initiated and tried in many Third World countries since the 1970s. PAR claims inspiration from phenomenological and Marxist trends adjusted to regional realities and factors; it challenges established academic routines without discarding the need to accumulate and systematise knowledge, and to construct a more comprehensive and human paradigm in the social sciences; and it proposes a series of techniques to combine knowledge and power without falling into the dangers of world annihilation. This is illustrated with actual field studies and projects in Nicaragua. Colombia and Mexico.Item A case study of participatory research among farmer-settlers in Southern Phillipines(1980) Belamide, EileenThis case study examines the use of participatory research as a tool for rural organizing among farmer-settlers in Southern Philippines. The study describes a community of migrant farmers facing persistent poverty, land conflict, displacement, and violence following a corporation’s claim to their cultivated land. Participatory research was integrated into a rural organizers’ training program and subsequently applied within the village through continuous dialogue, community immersion, data gathering, collective analysis, and organizing. Local farmer-settlers were involved as research partners in identifying problems, gathering and interpreting information, analyzing the economic, political, and cultural structures affecting their situation, and developing plans for collective action. The research process emphasized that data gathering should serve community action and strengthen self-reliance rather than function solely as an academic exercise. Through the transfer of research and analytical skills to community members, the villagers developed a broader understanding of their land struggle and its connections with wider social, economic, political, and cultural structures. The process also contributed to stronger community organization, collective decision-making, self-reliance, and initiatives in areas such as economic activities and community health. The study identifies the principal outcomes as changes in the community’s perception of its social conditions and gradual changes in aspects of the village’s social organization.Item Lambatlaya(Institute of Social Work & Community Development (ISWCD), 1984) Abad, Henedina; Hall, Budd L; Gawasnon, Banika; Sadulla, Jaime; Veneracion, Ma. Corazon J; Tolentino, Carmina; Freire, Paulo; Lanot, Marra P.L; Lacaba, Jose F; Tan, Rene; Torres, Amaryllis T; Magno, NengThis bulletin is about participatory research as an alternative to traditional social science research practice in the Philippines, particularly research “with” and “for” the people. The contributions review research practices in which professional social scientists assume total or partial responsibility for defining problems, collecting, analyzing, interpreting data, and presenting findings to poor and vulnerable communities as if they are only research subjects. This bulletin draws lessons from the authors’ varied experiences in community development, adult education, health, rural and urban organizing, and social action. Participatory research is discussed as a praxis, that is, a process of inquiry, reflection, learning, and action. Participatory Action Research, participatory conscientizing research, community participation in research, alternative approaches to research, and building community research capacity are some of the issues taken up. Emphasis is placed on people’s participation in problem definition, data collection, analysis and interpretation, decision-making, and action. The contributions also take up issues of professional researchers’ monopoly over knowledge production, people’s concepts and analysis, community organization and empowerment, connecting research with action, and people’s participation in development planning. The bulletin further raises questions concerning methodology, research evaluation, community participation indicators, scientific validity, cost effectiveness, and research linkages with development planning. The contributions are by Henedina Abad, Rene Tan, Budd L. Hall, Amaryllis Torres, Neng Magno, and Ma. Corazon J. Veneracion. This bulletin also contains bibliographic essays by Jaime M. Sedullo, Ma. Corazon J. Veneracion, and Carmina Tolentino.Item Conscientizing the evaluator(1979) Etherington, AlanThis document aims to discuss the political and social aspects of the assessment of non-formal education and community programs. The text claims that social research and evaluation are intrinsically linked to politics since determining goals, methods, values, and priorities is inevitably connected to power relations. This document tries to demonstrate that traditional or dominant forms of research are intrinsically linked to oppressive social relations because they simplify social change, separate individuals from their environment, impose quantification, and favor evaluators. Therefore, it is essential to take a more emancipating approach that would allow the participants to realize their values, judgment, and power through reflective dialogues, reciprocal conversations, and shared learning. Moreover, Freire’s approach requires engaging in action research, understanding connections and interactions through the lens of oppression and power, asking who benefits and who loses from the research, and taking a holistic view of the object of research. The text also mentions that evaluators should make their assumptions and power positions over the communities assessed clear, as community projects seeking social change require critical awareness of how their evaluators contribute to the change.Item Rural technology and collective analysis: Improving water supplies and sanitation(1979) Jackson, TedThe late 70s witnessed the problem of the insufficient supply of water and sanitation in rural areas become a serious threat to health and everyday living. Set in this period, this paper aims to demonstrate the way in which the described issue integrated into the life of the villages and towns. In this way, the research was concentrated on the implementation of technologies and the ideas behind them and the reactions of people who were a part of the process. This paper, therefore, tries to demonstrate the importance of such projects in context of changing people’s perceptions and building awareness, rather than focusing on the scale of the innovation itself. The research, thus, raises more questions than it answers, leaving the reader amazed by the ability of one idea to change the lives of thousands of people but at the same time skeptical about the potential role of similar movements in other contexts.Item Participatory research - An integral part of the development process(Women and Development Unit (WAND) Extra Mural Department, UWI, 1983) Ellis, PatEllis develops the concept of participating research as an alternative concept to the dominant approaches to social research. Ellis is critical of the tendency of research to be an end in itself as opposed to being a means to an end, and proposes a new paradigm in which research is integrated into development and change processes. He also highlights the problem with the dominant approach, which is overly concerned with imposing control, objectivity, quantification, and academic discourses, while remaining detached to the issues affecting the subject of investigation. Particripatory research recognizes the subjectivity of research and seeks to involve the researched group actively in the research process to obtain information and knowledge that can then lead to transformative action and change. The paper makes a distinction between the researcher as a facilitator and expert, and highlights how the former can be more effective in sharing expertise and knowledge with the researched community. The article further highlights the political nature of participating research, as a means to achieve equity and democratization of knowledge and influence. Ellis provides examples from Trinidad, St. Vincent, and Saint Lucia, which illustrate the potential of participating research in community development, women’s development, and education respectively. The paper concludes that participating research has the potential to contribute to community empowerment and self-reliance, which are critical aspects of development in the region.