Participatory Action Research

According to Greenwood, Whyte and Harka (1993) "participation is a process that must be generated. It begins with participatory intent and continues by building participatory processes into the acitivity within the limits set by the participants and the conditions". (p.176)

So, in a project based on participatory action it is essential to match the actions with the needs and potentials of all the participants and relate it to the concrete context. Collaboration between external researchers and the internal participants emerges when the local conditions and the professional capabilities of especially the external researchers enables participatory action research.

However, Greenwood, Whyte and Harka's (1993) casestudy shows that organizational leaders willing to take risks, relinquish control and let processes develop are crucial for the success of a project based on participatory action research. In this way, participatory action research can be a strong transformer of organizations and solve complex organizational problems.

Finally, the study tends to show that the character of the problems also has an impact on the emerging processes. Serious problems and crisis might be important drivers in this kind of projects.

References

Greenwood, D. J., Whyte, W. F., &  Harka, I. (1993). Participatory action research as a process and as a goal. Human Relations, 46(2), 175-192.