Participatory Action Research (PAR) as a Research Approach …
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the collective needs of the community, and the various approaches that can be utilized to address these needs rose and resulted in the individual community members
raising their “voice” to the village head to provide suggestions or views on how the
entire community can collectively address the issue of environmental deterioration
and poverty on the island. In 2016, a new village head was finally elected replacing
the previous village head’s governance system, and majority of the local community
initiated organizational change through the establishment of a homestay cooperative to improve their capacity to work in partnership with more NGOs, and other
communities.
It can be deduced that the PAR methodology approach in research on sustainable
community development provides community members with more power over the
practices of government and private institutions and initiate organizational change
to improve their own capacity and eradicate poverty in their community.
5.1.3 Live-in Experience
The traditional research approach is a mathematisation of the scientific world in
which the real property of things needs to be measured, counted and quantified. The
scientific world is systematic and organized in data and information. However, in
the real world, there are many uncertainties and ambiguities. Compared to the traditional research approach, the PAR approach draws on unravelling phenomena and
experiences that cannot be described in isolation from cause-and-effect situations.
Real-world and internal experiences and challenges cannot be separated or isolated
from the objective needs of traditional research. Understanding real-world experiences enable communities including researchers to engage in real-world issues and
unite in subject and object (Thomas 1998) to evoke a particular social change in
the community. In the case of Pulau Mantanani, the researcher immersed in a lived
experienced by staying with the local community and also with the NGOs delivering interventions on the island. The lived-in experienced provided the researcher
with rich knowledge and information that contributed to the generation of activities,
workshops, focus group discussions, and even community events that focused on
socio-economic improvement for the people on the island.
5.1.4 Critical Reflection
The social realities of Pulau Mantanani point to a livelihood that is unsustainably
infused with poverty with severe lack of skills and capacity of the Bajau Ubian community. Critical reflection of temporal observations made in the local phenomenon
helped address the social reality faced by the local Bajau Ubian community on the
island, setting the basis for understanding on defining and agreeing to taking actions
for change by radically calling into questions the current socio-cultural environment
they are in. Additionally critical reflection is also important for the researcher as it
689
the collective needs of the community, and the various approaches that can be utilized to address these needs rose and resulted in the individual community members
raising their “voice” to the village head to provide suggestions or views on how the
entire community can collectively address the issue of environmental deterioration
and poverty on the island. In 2016, a new village head was finally elected replacing
the previous village head’s governance system, and majority of the local community
initiated organizational change through the establishment of a homestay cooperative to improve their capacity to work in partnership with more NGOs, and other
communities.
It can be deduced that the PAR methodology approach in research on sustainable
community development provides community members with more power over the
practices of government and private institutions and initiate organizational change
to improve their own capacity and eradicate poverty in their community.
5.1.3 Live-in Experience
The traditional research approach is a mathematisation of the scientific world in
which the real property of things needs to be measured, counted and quantified. The
scientific world is systematic and organized in data and information. However, in
the real world, there are many uncertainties and ambiguities. Compared to the traditional research approach, the PAR approach draws on unravelling phenomena and
experiences that cannot be described in isolation from cause-and-effect situations.
Real-world and internal experiences and challenges cannot be separated or isolated
from the objective needs of traditional research. Understanding real-world experiences enable communities including researchers to engage in real-world issues and
unite in subject and object (Thomas 1998) to evoke a particular social change in
the community. In the case of Pulau Mantanani, the researcher immersed in a lived
experienced by staying with the local community and also with the NGOs delivering interventions on the island. The lived-in experienced provided the researcher
with rich knowledge and information that contributed to the generation of activities,
workshops, focus group discussions, and even community events that focused on
socio-economic improvement for the people on the island.
5.1.4 Critical Reflection
The social realities of Pulau Mantanani point to a livelihood that is unsustainably
infused with poverty with severe lack of skills and capacity of the Bajau Ubian community. Critical reflection of temporal observations made in the local phenomenon
helped address the social reality faced by the local Bajau Ubian community on the
island, setting the basis for understanding on defining and agreeing to taking actions
for change by radically calling into questions the current socio-cultural environment
they are in. Additionally critical reflection is also important for the researcher as it