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Y. Rasyid
The PAR methodology is a repeated rigorous cycle of inquiry, action and reflection
which provides a robust frame of reference for the researcher to observe, document,
and critically analyse the various factors that influence the research participants in
attaining a change in their livelihood. The generation of knowledge and information
obtained from the research process can be used as baseline data-set to help assess the
social, economic and environmental changes to the livelihood of the local community
as a consequence of the PAR methodology. In this aspect, the PAR approach is able to
facilitate the generation of information to expose a potential hidden social oppression
through self-realization and enlightenment in a society (Morgaine 1994). Literature
(Chambers 1997; Cooke and Kothari 2001; Cornwall and Pratt 2003; Bleckley 2008)
has demonstrated that PAR is commonly used by a whole range of community groups
and NGOs (where people already know each other and/or work together), and also
by groups that come together for the purposes of research and action on a particular
issue. Additionally the PAR approach has also been applied to a wide range of
research disciplines from public health (Wallerstein 1999; Tsey et al. 2004; Trickett
et al. 2011), ecological studies (Wang et al. 2014) and economic studies (Morgaine
1994; Kenworthy 1999; Reyes and Valencia 2003). These authors also reinforce the
notion that in a PAR approach, the researchers act as external figures that “provide
people with the support and resources to do things in ways that fit their own cultural
context and their own lifestyles”.
Bordieu (1983) noted that the primary aim of utilizing the PAR method is not to
change practice in the course of research, rather, the aim is to produce knowledge
in collaboration between researchers and practitioners. The following sections will
describe the distinctive fundamental principles of the PAR method to demonstrate to
both the qualitative and quantitative research community that the PAR method and
framework is a method that opens up new broader transdisciplinary perspectives for
the field of sustainable community development.
2.2.1 Action-Oriented Research Approach
In traditional research, the researcher is an external observer who proposes theories,
while in participatory action research (PAR) the “objects of research”, also known as
the community or practitioners, are integral parts of the research and play its role as
a research collaborator as they generate their own living theory of practice. What is
different in the PAR approach compared to the traditional research approach is “the
attitudes of researchers, which in turn determine how, by, and for whom research
is conceptualized and conducted and the corresponding location of power at every
stage of the research process” (Cornwall and Jewkes 1995). This means that the
PAR researcher is constantly addressing space and power discourses through the
timeframe of the PAR period. PAR advocates that those being researched should be
involved in the process actively. The degree to which this is possible in sustainable
community development research will differ as will the willingness of people to be
involved in research.
Y. Rasyid
The PAR methodology is a repeated rigorous cycle of inquiry, action and reflection
which provides a robust frame of reference for the researcher to observe, document,
and critically analyse the various factors that influence the research participants in
attaining a change in their livelihood. The generation of knowledge and information
obtained from the research process can be used as baseline data-set to help assess the
social, economic and environmental changes to the livelihood of the local community
as a consequence of the PAR methodology. In this aspect, the PAR approach is able to
facilitate the generation of information to expose a potential hidden social oppression
through self-realization and enlightenment in a society (Morgaine 1994). Literature
(Chambers 1997; Cooke and Kothari 2001; Cornwall and Pratt 2003; Bleckley 2008)
has demonstrated that PAR is commonly used by a whole range of community groups
and NGOs (where people already know each other and/or work together), and also
by groups that come together for the purposes of research and action on a particular
issue. Additionally the PAR approach has also been applied to a wide range of
research disciplines from public health (Wallerstein 1999; Tsey et al. 2004; Trickett
et al. 2011), ecological studies (Wang et al. 2014) and economic studies (Morgaine
1994; Kenworthy 1999; Reyes and Valencia 2003). These authors also reinforce the
notion that in a PAR approach, the researchers act as external figures that “provide
people with the support and resources to do things in ways that fit their own cultural
context and their own lifestyles”.
Bordieu (1983) noted that the primary aim of utilizing the PAR method is not to
change practice in the course of research, rather, the aim is to produce knowledge
in collaboration between researchers and practitioners. The following sections will
describe the distinctive fundamental principles of the PAR method to demonstrate to
both the qualitative and quantitative research community that the PAR method and
framework is a method that opens up new broader transdisciplinary perspectives for
the field of sustainable community development.
2.2.1 Action-Oriented Research Approach
In traditional research, the researcher is an external observer who proposes theories,
while in participatory action research (PAR) the “objects of research”, also known as
the community or practitioners, are integral parts of the research and play its role as
a research collaborator as they generate their own living theory of practice. What is
different in the PAR approach compared to the traditional research approach is “the
attitudes of researchers, which in turn determine how, by, and for whom research
is conceptualized and conducted and the corresponding location of power at every
stage of the research process” (Cornwall and Jewkes 1995). This means that the
PAR researcher is constantly addressing space and power discourses through the
timeframe of the PAR period. PAR advocates that those being researched should be
involved in the process actively. The degree to which this is possible in sustainable
community development research will differ as will the willingness of people to be
involved in research.