Participatory
Research (PR) is a model of community development that drawing
from the theories of Freire and Dewey “captures the ideal
of goal-oriented, experiential learning, and transformative
pedagogy”. The long-term goal for a participatory research
endeavor is to empower people psychologically and politically
to effect social change. In the short term, a participatory
research initiative engages people in a collaborative decision-making
process. In our conceptualization, participatory research:
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develops
the capacity of the participants to organize, analyze, and
discuss concepts to the level required by the particular
endeavor in which they are involved;
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requires
the inclusion of participants in every aspect of decision-making
processes, which includes them in the formulation of the
hypotheses, selection of the research design, and methods
of evaluation;
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returns
research data to the participants; and,
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provides
a direct link between knowledge production and knowledge
use
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