Doing participatory action research in community projects

How to do action research

Stronger Families Learning Exchange resources

Branigan, E
But how can you prove it? Issues of rigour in action research.
Stronger Families Learning Exchange Bulletin no.2 Spring - Summer 2002: 12-13, and Online
http://www.aifs.gov.au/sf/pubs/bull2/eb.html

Although action research has a different kind of methodology from some of the more scientific or experimental forms of research with which people may be more familiar, it is still a rigorous method of research. This article explains how action research achieves rigour in its careful application of multiple methods techniques.

Turner, C
Translating methodology into action.
In: 8th Australian Institute of Family Studies Conference, Melbourne, 12-14 February 2003: proceedings. Melbourne, Vic: Australian Institute of Family Studies, 2003, 5p. Online only (PDF 22K)
http://www.aifs.gov.au/institute/afrc8/turner.pdf

The Stronger Families Learning Exchange, a project funded under the Commonwealth government's Stronger Families and Communities Strategy, began in January 2002 and aims to contribute evidence to policy, practice and research in strengthening families and communities. The author outlines some of the challenges the team has experienced and how they have been overcome through the use of action research.

What the Australian literature has to say:

Cherry, N
Action research: a pathway to action, knowledge and learning.
Melbourne, Vic: RMIT University Press, 1999, 144p (Qualitative research methods series)

This book has been prepared to assist people who are undertaking, supervising or examining action research. It describes the origin of the action research method; explores the layers and strands of work that are involved; offers a practical guide to uncovering the issues which arise from the method; reviews the status of this method relative to other research methodologies; explores the notion of subjectivity; describes other ways to strengthen the extent to which the findings of action research can be generalised; includes accounts by recent and current postgraduate students who discuss why they chose this particular method and how it worked for their thesis.

Crane, P; Richardson, L
Reconnect action research kit.
Canberra, ACT: Department of Family and Community Services, 2000, various pagings, and Online
http://www.fahcsia.gov.au/sa/housing/pubs/homelessyouth/reconnect_action_research_kit/

This kit is designed to explain 'action research' and how it 'fits' into the Federal Government's Reconnect Program, an early intervention program which addresses the needs of young people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness, and their families. The kit is to help Reconnect services build the capacities of their communities to deliver early intervention programs at the local level. It includes information about how action research can contribute to positive outcomes for young people, their families, Reconnect services and other community agencies. It provides practical examples and tools for applying action research.

Dick, B
Sources of rigour in action research: addressing the issues of trustworthiness and credibility.
Melbourne, Vic: Association for Qualitative Research, AQR Conferences - paper presented at 'Issues of Rigour in Qualitative Research', Melbourne, 1999, 6p, figures, Online only
http://pandora.nla.gov.au/nph-arch/2000/Z2000-Jul-10/http://www.latrobe.edu.au/www/aqr/offer/papers/BDick.htm

In attempting to identify the sources of rigour in action research, this paper first defines the givens of action research and then examines them with a view to finding a way to convert them from liabilities to assets. Ways of making assets of some of the features of action research, in particular its participative nature, its thrust towards action, its use of qualitative data, and the need for it to be responsive to the situation and the people who are members of the client group, are examined. A brief account is provided of action research as a family of research methodologies.

Fielder, J
Action research: where the action is.
Perth, WA: Curtin Indigenous Research Centre, 1999, 16p (Discussion paper no.26/1999)

By examining recent research that highlights problems of participatory action research as well as its value, the author identifies some concerns about establishing a simplistic binary opposition between 'new paradigms' and 'traditional' research. The author's purpose in this article is to outline some of the discursive and institutional problems that emerge in an academic research context, and to argue for a more open and flexible model that recognises other research methodologies rather than outrightly rejecting them. The author suggests that the research questions or issues should determine the methodology, rather than the methodology driving the research. For many researchers, participatory action may be appropriate, but the opportunity to hear about, read, apply and borrow from other approaches should be actively encouraged.

Goff, S
Restraint of love: participatory action research into the meaning of family violence to young people.
Lismore, NSW: Workplace Research, Learning and Development (WoRLD) Institute, Southern Cross University Press, 1998, 346p

This publication is devoted to the issues of family violence and young people. The author, together with other contributors, present the results of a large project entitled, The Young People and Family Violence Participatory Action Research Project 1992 - 1995. The book links family violence and youth at risk, provides a case study of the use of participatory action research (PAR) in this context, includes the voices of both survivors and social workers, and provides an integrated handbook for PAR interventions. The survivors' chapters are not presented as solutions to the problem, but as descriptions of how individuals confronted their experiences and how they arrived at the position which they describe. The co-researchers' chapters describe the same process of confrontation, consideration and inclusion in action, but from the point of view of the intervener rather than the survivor.

Hughes, I
Ganma: Indigenous knowledge for reconciliation and community action.
Sydney, NSW: Faculty of Health Sciences, Cumberland Campus, University of Sydney - Action research E-reports - no.14, 2000, paper presented to the Participatory Action Research World Congress, Ballarat, September 2000, Online only
http://www2.fhs.usyd.edu.au/arow///arer/014.htm

In this paper the author reflects on a new model for doing action research in cross cultural situations, suggesting that it can assist deep reconciliation as well as the growth of new forms of knowledge drawing on ancient and modern traditions. From 1993 to 1995, as a member of an Aboriginal Health Action Group, he worked on a successful community action research project to establish a new Aboriginal Health Service. A form of Indigenous knowledge called Ganma in Arnhem Land and Yerin in the Gurringgai language, informed the philosophy of the action group. Here he presents a reflection on the dialectical relationship between social science knowledge and Indigenous knowledge, using the Ganma metaphor.

Mac Naughton, G
Action research.
In: Mac Naughton, G., Rolfe, S. A. and Siraj-Blatchford, I. eds. Doing early childhood research: international perspectives on theory and practice. Crows Nest, NSW: Allen and Unwin, 2001, p208-223

Action research is about undertaking research with people to create and study change in and through the research process. In early childhood settings, it can produce changes in the ways things are done and changes in ways of understanding what is done. This chapter discusses an action research study that attempted to change how early childhood staff understood and practiced gender equity in their services. The author's intention is to show how action research works in practice and how to ground it theoretically.

Munford, R; Sanders, J; Andrew, A; Butler, P; Ruwhiu, L
Action research with families / whanau and communities.
In: Munford, R. and Sanders, J. eds. Making a difference in families: research that creates change. St Leonards, NSW: Allen and Unwin, 2003, p93-112, figure

The authors discuss research they conducted in New Zealand to identify what social service interventions were effective in supporting families to achieve positive change in their relationships and parenting, and in developing problem solving strategies. They consider the application of participatory action and community development practices as a basis for research leading to social change. They discuss the research methodology, including several questions that arose along the way. The key challenge they identify is how to carry out truly participatory and cooperative research that forges new partnerships.

Price, C
What is action research in Reconnect?
ALAR Journal: Action Learning and Action Research v.7 no.2 Oct 2002: 61-66

Reconnect is an early intervention youth program of the Commonwealth Department of Family and Community Services. It has developed a program-wide action research capacity to assist its continuous improvement, and this article presents an information piece for use by new staff that has been developed by action research consultant Yoland Wadsworth, in collaboration with a number of the Reconnect action research facilitators. The piece describes research in actual practice; what makes it 'research'; what makes it participatory; and finding the time to 'build in' action research. Examples are presented to illustrate the discussion.

Queensland Health. South Coast Public Health Unit
Methods manual: engaging communities in participatory action research.
Southport, Qld: South Coast Public Health Unit, Queensland Health, 2002, 1 CD-ROM (7 pdf files)

A companion document for the Queensland Health's Supportive Environments for Active Living (SEAL) Strategic Framework, this manual provides a methodology for implementing one of the four elements of SEAL, the People element. It provides guidelines on: engaging a community, building social capital, establishing a partnership within the community, communicating with the wider community, implementing a participatory action research (PAR) data collection and analysis process, developing action plans, obtaining community feedback on action plans, managing the ongoing implementation, monitoring and evaluation of SEAL plans for action.

Sarantakos, S
Social research.
South Melbourne, Vic: Macmillan Education, 2nd ed., 1998, 488p, tables, figures

This introductory text on social research is designed for students undertaking undergraduate courses in social sciences and related disciplines. Its main aim is to introduce methods and techniques of social research and their methodological frameworks, and to demonstrate their purpose, relevance and effectiveness. The text also integrates popular methodologies and methods, and presents a relatively complete and pluralistic model of social research, in both theory and practice. It introduces the most popular statistical techniques employed by social researchers and discusses the use of computers in social research. This second edition contains added sections on action research and evaluation research, and computer aided analysis. It fully integrates computer aided analysis with a discussion of quantitative and qualitative research methods.

Schratz, M; Walker, R
Research as social change: new opportunities for qualitative research.
London, UK: Routledge, 1995, 182p

Written mainly for students, this book's principal concern is with integrating different forms of qualitative research, action research and case study methods within the ambit of professional practice. It aims to demystify research, and turns towards the investigation of memories and personal perceptions, drawings, journal writing and photographs as sources, with the aim of developing new directions and new possibilities for research that bring together theory and practice, method and message, social organisations and their clients. The book is dedicated to the notion that social research should become an integral part of the contemporary workplace.

Woods, W; Wanatjura, E; Colin, T; Mick, J; Lynch, A; Ward, N
Atunypa wiru malparara malparara: the strength of working together.
In: Weeks, W. and Quinn, M. eds. Issues facing Australian families: human services respond. Frenchs Forest, NSW: Pearson Education Australia, 3rd ed., 2000, p91-100

The NPY Women's Council, its background and the way it works are described in this chapter which incorporates explanations from NPY Women's Council members on what human services projects, services and action research have been undertaken. The focus is on using the Malparara way. Malparara means, in the context of the projects, two workers, working together on a project, one of whom is a non-Anangu woman employed for her specific professional skills, and other a senior Anangu woman (Anangu workers are usually senior women with local authority and respect, speaking local languages but not confident in speaking English in public).

A selection of international literature

Caro-Bruce, C. and National Staff Development Council (U.S.).
Action research facilitator's handbook.
United States : National Staff Development Council; 2000. iv, 300 p.

This handbook is a practical guide for action research facilitators to help groups as they start out on their action research adventure. The handbook includes handouts, strategies, resources and useful insights from the author's own experience.

Hart, Elizabeth and Bond, Meg.
Action research for health and social care : a guide to practice.
Buckingham, Philadelphia : Open University Press; 1995. viii, 244 p.

This book traces the history of action research; explores different ways in which action research has been defined and proposes four different types, each appropriate to a different problem situation and context; describes five case studies of action research from the perspective of the researcher, including case studies of success and instructive failure; explains methods and approaches in action research.

Huxham, Chris.
Action research as a methodology for theory development.
Policy and Politics; Vol. 31; no.2 Apr: 2003. pp. 239-248.

The aim of this article is to provide some observations on how action research can help with theory development in the process of health care delivery.

McNiff, Jean and Whitehead, Jack.
Action research : principles and practice. 2nd ed.
London; New York: RoutledgeFalmer; 2002. xi, 163 p.

Describes and explains the practices of action research and its underlying values. It provides new case-study material and an emphasis on the educational significance of action research as well as providing an overview of current methodological discussion.

Reason, Peter and Bradbury, Hilary.
Handbook of action research : participative inquiry and practice.
London : SAGE; 2001. xlii, 468 p.

This practical handbook covers all aspects of action research. It provides information and insights about the wide range of theories and methodologies that contribute to the practice of action research. There is also information on how different reseachers have applied action research in a variety of practice environments.

Schwalbach, Eileen M.
Value and validity in action research : a guidebook for reflective practitioners. Lanham, Md. : Scarecrow Press; 2003. vii, 121 p.

This introductory book for practicing teachers outlines the process of action research, including determining upon a research topic, research design, interpreting the findings, and discussions on validity and benefits to practice.

Useful links

Action research e-reports
University of Sydney
A series of reports on different aspects of action research.

Action Research Resources
Southern Cross University
Online resource papers are presented which support Areol (action research and evaluation on line), a 14-week public course offered each semester as a public service by Southern Cross University and the Institute of Workplace Research Learning and Development. The resource papers include case studies, 'how to' guides, evaluation, theories, bibliographies, public consultation, participative processes, etc.

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