Although participatory research has been applied by a wide range of disciplines, the engagement of youth as partners in research and evaluation efforts is relatively new. The positive youth development movement has influenced scholars and practitioners to include youth as partners in the design and implementation of research involving issues that affect their lives. Engaging youth in research and evaluation not only generates useful knowledge for communities and individuals but also provides opportunities for the development and empowerment of youth participants, leading to benefits for young people, organizations, the broader community, and the research process. However, there has been little systematic study to establish an evidence base for these effects. This article describes four projects that illustrate active youth participation in research. These examples demonstrate opportunities for positive youth development, create a context for intergenerational partnerships, and generate research findings to inform future interventions and organizational improvements, including community mobilization.

This article reports on the use of respondent-driven sampling (RDS) in participatory and community-based research. Participant-driven recruitment (PDR) retains all of the analytic capabilities of RDS while enhancing the role of respondents in framing research questions, instrument development, data interpretation, and other aspects of the research process. Merging the capabilities of RDS with participatory research methods, PDR creates new opportunities for engaging community members in research addressing social issues and in utilizing research findings within community contexts. This article outlines PDR's synthesis of RDS and participatory research approaches, describes how PDR is implemented in community contexts, and provides two examples of the use of PDR, illustrating its process, potentials, and challenges.

Participation in after-school programs is an important lever to improve adolescents’ health and well-being; however, well-defined measurement of the quality of participation in these programs is limited. The present study validated a newly designed measure of participation in a sample of urban youth enrolled in community-based after-school programs. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were used to test the structure of the 20-item Tiffany-Eckenrode Program Participation Scale (TEPPS). Results suggest that the scale is comprised of four subscales (Personal Development, Voice/Influence, Safety/Support and Community Engagement). The TEPPS was also correlated with several commonly used measures of program participation. Findings from this paper provide support for the use of the newly designed scale as a valid and reliable measure of quality program participation by youth.

This study used Q methodology to examine perspectives regarding participatory action research (PAR) among participants in a UNICEF initiative aimed at enhancing HIV/AIDS prevention among youth in the Caribbean. We interviewed 20 youth PAR researchers and 12 project managers from youth organizations about their attitudes and experiences. Statements from the interviews were used in a structured ranking task. Q factor analysis of the rankings identified three clusters of respondents with differing viewpoints on PAR. The clusters respectively saw PAR as an effective peer education tool, an empowering process for youth, and a tool for gathering information on the gap between knowledge and behavior. We identified divergent perspectives on the purpose and utility of PAR among participants who received the same orientation, training, and support and who worked in the context of a single initiative. These multiple perspectives present both challenges and resources for health projects.

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