Integrating participatory action research into graduate geography studies: a tale of two dissertations

ABSTRACT

Although literature on participatory and action research approaches is increasing, little is published specifically about using such approaches as part of the doctoral dissertation in Geography. The dissertation process and its requirements are different enough from other research endeavors that it is worthwhile focusing specifically on the challenges of conducting a Participatory Action Research (PAR) dissertation and, most importantly, how to navigate these challenges. This article helps to fill this gap by exploring the impacts of PAR constraints on our dissertations, the factors that contributed to the success of our projects, and the benefits (both academic and non-academic) based on our experiences from the student perspective. We build on what others have written about PAR adding specific examples of how we negotiated some of the traditionally perceived challenges to provide a resource for other Geography students applying PAR in their doctoral dissertations.

KEYWORDS:

• Participatory Action Research (PAR)
• graduate student research
• practical advice
• critical reflection
• community-university partnerships
• community engagement

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. The youth came up with the name Youth ADAPT NC. ADAPT stands for Always Developing by Acting, Preparing, and Transforming. NC is North Carolina.

2. Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) is an executive action enacted in June 2012 by the Obama administration. It allows undocumented individuals who meet certain requirements (e.g. born after 15 June 1981 and arrived in the U.S. before turning 16 and before June 2007) to apply for a renewable two-year work permit. The visa provides a social security number and exempts them from deportation but it is not a legal immigration status.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the University of North Carolina at Charlotte [Chancellor’s Diversity Challenge Grant];