Relationships and the Research Process: Participatory Action Research and Social Work

ABSTRACT

Social science research methods are experiencing a paradigm shift in that participatory research methods, in many cases relegated to second-class status, are gaining credibility as valid and legitimate ways to engage in scholarly and solid research. In social work, participatory research is one more way social workers can engage with participants as partners in the process of generating knowledge and transforming society. This article discusses a particular type of participatory research called Participatory Action Research (PAR). PAR is explained and an example of how PAR has been used is offered. This article offers a discussion of how PAR is consistent with the core values of social work, especially those values of partnership, relationship, and social change. Finally, the article offers social work researchers a framework for engaging in liberatory research.

KEYWORDS:

• Community practice
• human rights
• Latin America
• participatory action research
• social transformation

Notes

1. The entire research process was conducted in the Spanish or, more precisely, in the Castilian language.

2. Because I had been taking field notes for some time, some data collection began earlier.

3. Lucha cotidiana literally means daily struggle, the idea of creating a new society in the exercise of daily life.