Participatory Research and the Philosophy of Social Science

Abstract

Participatory research has a predominantly transformative and social justice concern. This article goes beyond the moral imperative of participatory research to address its potential to account for human action, the subject matter of social science research, through accessing its intentionality and sociality, and accounting for the complex and interactive nature of behavior. Two of the core principles of participatory research (participation and accessing local knowledge) are articulated in relation to dialogism and dialectics. The interpretive potential of the dialectical relationship between empathy and distanciation is discussed and illustrated in the novel visualization approaches in participatory learning and action. The article concludes with a critical discussion of the conflation of social justice concerns with claims to validity. It is argued that participatory research approaches enhance validity because they address the participative, social and relational nature of human action.

Child Protection and Social Inequality: Understanding Child Prostitution in Malawi

“…But reflecting on debates about the validity of participatory research findings, we argue that the study meets the criteria for methodological rigor, relevance and reach outlined by Balazs and Morello-Frosch (2013). Following Van der Riet (2008) argument, by focussing on the relational and social nature of human action, the participatory processes have taken us beyond the 'moral imperative' and social justice motivations that typify much participatory research, to enhance validity by illuminating understandings and interpretations of human action. Offering feedback on the use of different visual methods, one participant, Mpaseni, referring to a particular drawing explained: the process of drawing enabled me to look back and speak about my involvement in prostitution from the time I started, while another, Zani, said: We are able to go deeper and vividly express ourselves which could have been very unlikely to achieve as we could have felt uncomfortable to talk.…”

Making Sense of Accountability in Baltic Agro-Environmental Governance: The Case of Denmark's Green Growth Strategy

“…In so doing we appropriate the view on rigour of qualitative research, which emphasises how the research findings adequately reflect the complex reality of the context and its human interactions, and constructively interpret it and render it intelligible for action (van der Riet, 2008). This approach reflects that the purpose of presenting these findings is not to claim any 'objective validity', but to share a number of insights which were co-constructed with and among the participants in the research process.…”

Emplacing the Research Encounter: Exploring Farm Life Histories

“…Similar to Van der Riet's (2008) account of using maps as artifacts around which interview discussions rotate, the farm was also used as a central line of discussion. Like Van der Riet's (2008) example, this allowed the interviews to be less confrontational-decentering the focus from the individual to that of the farm. In this way, and extending Leopold's metaphor, the portrait of the farm is not one drawn by the individual farmer but instead a montage (re)created by several people.…”