Participatory Action Research: Reflections on Critical Incidents in a PAR Project

Abstract

This article describes a participatory action research (PAR) project designed to evaluateThe purpose of this essay is to present a case study of a participatory action research (PAR) project. It brought leaders of regional self-help programs for parents of children with disabilities together with a team of university-based researchers for the purpose of evaluating the efficacy of Parent to Parent programs in five states. We have adopted a framework presented by Bruyere (1993) to provide a functional definition of participatory action research. According to this view, PAR is an approach to applied social research that seeks to (a) define relevant issues for individuals with special needs and their families, (b) find solutions to the identified problems, and (c) ensure that the research-based solutions are meaningful, useful, and actually

Quality of Life Measurement in the Field of Intellectual Disabilities: Eight Principles for Assessing Quality of Life-Related Personal Outcomes

“…The conceptual framework that guided the development of the POS is that the QOL concept is characterized by its being multidimensional, hierarchical, and has both etic (universal) and emic (culture-bound) properties. To ensure content validity, the development of the POS was based on participatory action research principles to ensure maximum relevance (Santelli et al 1998). Specifically, three processes reflected this principle.…”

Self-Determination for Individuals with Significant Cognitive Disabilities and Their Families

“…Research should be conducted to conceptualize and operationalize self-determination from the perspectives of individuals with significant cognitive disabilities and their families representing a broad range of cultural and linguistic diversity. This research should be carried out in partnership with families and the trusted allies of individuals with significant cognitive disabilities and should employ participatory action research approaches (Santelli, Singer, DiVenere, Ginsberg, & Powers, 1998;Turnbull, Friesen, & Ramirez, 1998). parenttoparent.org), and the 16 grassroots consortiums (www.gcod.org; comprised of families representing a broad range of cultural and linguistic diversity) to help inform the national self-determination agenda related to family and individual cultural perspectives on self-determination.…”

Participatory Action Research as a Model for Conducting Family Research

“…Not only does increased rigor of research result from family collaboration in terms of increased feasibility and acceptability of research procedures, better questionnaire or interview protocol, more accurate data, and greater longitudinal involvement with the studies, but the problems and headaches of researchers can be decreased simultaneously. The article by Santelli, Singer, DiVenere, Ginsberg, and Powers (1998) included in this issue offers a compelling case study of how researchers benefited in recruitment from the extensive family networks of the family collaborators. Rather than spending the anticipated many months in recruitment (and then being disappointed with the sample size), researchers found that the PAR process substantially decreased the time and effort that recruitment required when families eagerly tapped their extensive networks.…”