1. ESRC/DfID Poverty Alleviation Conference 9/9/14
Participatory Action Research: a methodology for impact? Ana B. Amaya and Nicola Yeates
ESRC/DfID Poverty Alleviation Conference 9/9/14

2. ESRC/DfID Poverty Alleviation Conference 9/9/14
Poverty Reduction and Regional Integration (PRARI) - What regional institutional practices and methods of regional policy formation are conducive to the emergence of embedded pro-poor health strategies, and what can national, regional and international actors do to promote these? - Comparison of UNASUR and SADC - Development of a ‘toolkit’ of input, process, output and outcome indicators that capture regional policy change and pro-poor regional health policy success
ESRC/DfID Poverty Alleviation Conference 9/9/14

3. ESRC/DfID Poverty Alleviation Conference 9/9/14
What is PAR?
“PAR is a reflective and collaborative process of problem-solving. It generally applies within social learning contexts, where multiple actors collectively define the problem and objectives, and work towards solutions. Iterative cycles of action and reflection make change processes more robust by ensuring that learning and sharing take place, that actions are adjusted to align with objectives, and that the actors themselves learn and adapt” (New pathways to resilience IDRC/CRDI/DfID).
PAR is an orientation, not a method. What distinguishes it from conventional research is:
the methodological contexts of the application of methods and
the location of power in the stages of the research process
(Cornwall and Jewkes 1995)
ESRC/DfID Poverty Alleviation Conference 9/9/14

4. Participatory and conventional research: a comparison of process
(Cornwall and Jewkes 1995)
Participatory research
Conventional research
What is the research for?
Who is the research for?
Whose knowledge counts?
Topic choice influenced by?
Role of researcher
Action.
Local people.
Local people’s.
Local priorities.
Facilitator, catalyst.
Understanding with perhaps action later.
Institutional, personal and professional interests.
Scientists.
Funding priorities, institutional agendas, professional interests.
Director.
Methodology chosen for?
Empowerment, mutual learning.
Disciplinary conventions, ‘objectivity’ and ‘truth’.
ESRC/DfID Poverty Alleviation Conference 9/9/14

5. ESRC/DfID Poverty Alleviation Conference 9/9/14
Who takes part in the stages of research process?
Problem identification
Data collection
Interpretation
Analysis
Presentation of findings
Action on findings
Who takes action?
Who owns the results?
What is emphasised?
Local people.
Local concepts and frameworks.
Locally accessible and useful.
Integral to the process.
Local people, with(out) external support.
Shared.
Process.
Researcher.
Disciplinary concepts and frameworks.
By researcher to other academics or funding body.
Separate and may not happen.
External agencies.
The researcher.
Outcomes.
ESRC/DfID Poverty Alleviation Conference 9/9/14

6. Continuum of participation in research projects
(Cornwall and Jewkes 1995)
Contractual
People are contracted into projects directed by researchers to take part in their enquiries or experiments
Deep  > Shallow
Ownership devolved Researcher-controlled
Consultative
People are asked for their opinions and consulted by researchers before interventions are made
Collaborative
Researchers and local people work together on projects designed, initiated and managed by researchers
Collegiate
Researchers and local people work together as colleagues with different skills to offer, in a process of mutual learning where local people have control over the process
ESRC/DfID Poverty Alleviation Conference 9/9/14

7. ESRC/DfID Poverty Alleviation Conference 9/9/14
What about impact?
1. How is PAR relevant for research uptake and impact agendas?
2. What are the opportunities, tensions, and dilemmas of PAR in impact contexts?
ESRC/DfID Poverty Alleviation Conference 9/9/14

8. Why are we using collaborative PAR for PRARI?
Co-production enhances potential for impact
Development of a useful tool that responds to expressed need, priorities and available data
Project team bring expertise and experience and can; and can also learn from partners
Ownership
Capacity building
Generating dialogue and partnerships
(democratic) accountability
Project timeframe - funder priorities
ESRC/DfID Poverty Alleviation Conference 9/9/14

9. How will we use collaborative PAR?
Collaborative work with identified partners in South America and Southern Africa involving
Intensive and iterative processes of identifying needs, data, priorities through
Interviews, focus groups, workshops; pilot
Research team-managed communication (face-to-face, ICTs), with and among partners
Workshops, Briefings and conference for uptake, dissemination and impact
ESRC/DfID Poverty Alleviation Conference 9/9/14

10. ESRC/DfID Poverty Alleviation Conference 9/9/14
Challenges
Collaboration is time-intensive, requires trust
Mobilising and sustaining partner participation, trust, and commitment to the process and results of the research
Differences of expectations, opinion, interpretation, institutional agendas, desirable outcomes
Power imbalances
Toolkits need to be implementable and endure over time; context-specificity vs generalisability
Impact tends to be seen in the long-term (whereas short project lifespan)
ESRC/DfID Poverty Alleviation Conference 9/9/14

11. ESRC/DfID Poverty Alleviation Conference 9/9/14
Conclusions
PAR methods have tangible relevance for uptake and impact agendas
The research ‘problem’ of creating and sustaining a participatory community supportive of research objectives takes a distinctive turn in an impact context
Different modes of PAR bring different benefits and challenges
Importance of impact planning and flexibility
ESRC/DfID Poverty Alleviation Conference 9/9/14