Practice of Participatory Action Research (PAR)
Spring 2016
This course introduces students to the techniques of participatory action research (PAR) and the practice of case study research. PAR processes are place or case-specific, place a premium on local ways of knowing, and gauge the success of research in terms of what partner-communities do with the knowledge that is co-produced. The objective of PAR is to generate the ideas, information, and understandings that ought to inform efforts to promote social change. By focusing on ways of co-producing knowledge using various forms of data collection and analysis, students will learn how the people and communities who are often university partners in applied social science research can use findings or results from PAR case studies to address the challenges they confront in their communities. Learn more about {{% resource_link "ac97a965-63c3-44cb-a550-6fca6d156a46" "Participatory Action Research at MIT" %}}.
Readings
- John Van Maanen’s Tales of the Field is strongly recommended as a background text for this course. While it is not a PAR text, it is a classic in the field of ethnography and an excellent reflection on fieldwork by a master. The book should be particularly helpful for understanding the role of narratives in social science research and preparing for the narrative analysis assignment.
- Bradbury-Huang, Hilary, and Peter Reason, eds. “Introduction.” Chapters 1 and 2 in The SAGE Handbook of Action Research: Participative Inquiry and Practice . 2nd edition. SAGE Publications Limited, 2013. ISBN: 9781446271148.
- Singleton Jr, Royce A., Bruce C. Straits, et al. Chapter 2 in Approaches to Social Research . Oxford University Press, 2009. ISBN: 9780195372984.
- Flyvbjerg, Bent, Todd Landman, and Sanford Schram, eds. Chapter 3 in Real Social Science: Applied Phronesis . Cambridge University Press, 2012. ISBN: 9780521468503.
- Riessman, Catherine Kohler. “Narrative Analysis.” Chapter 4 in Narrative Methods for the Human Sciences . Sage, 2007. ISBN: 9780761929987.
- Schön, Donald A. Chapter 2 in The Reflective Practitioner: How Professionals Think in Action . Basic Books, 1984. ISBN: 9780465068784. (Vol. 5126.)
- Scharmer, C. Otto. Chapter 15 in Theory U: Learning from The Future as It Emerges . Berrett-Koehler Publishers, 2009. ISBN: 9781576757635.
- Flyvbjerg, Bent, Todd Landman, and Sanford Schram, eds. Chapter 11 in Real Social Science: Applied Phronesis . Cambridge University Press, 2012. ISBN: 9780521468503.
- Bradbury-Huang, Hilary, and Peter Reason, eds. Chapter 35 in The SAGE Handbook of Action Research: Participative Inquiry and Practice . 2nd edition. SAGE Publications Limited, 2013. ISBN: 9781446271148.
- Lykes, M. B. “Activist Participatory Research and the Arts with Rural Mayan Women: Interculturality and Situated Meaning Making.” In From Subjects to Subjectivities: A Handbook of Interpretive and Participatory Methods . Edited by D. L. Tolman and M. Brydon-Miller. NYU Press, 2000, pp. 183–99. ISBN: 9780814782590.
Sources
- Course catalogue ↗Historical OpenCourseWare
- MIT OCW readings ↗
- MIT OCW syllabus ↗
- MIT OCW calendar ↗
- Historical MIT OpenCourseWare offering. Named reading entries and schedule topics are automatically extracted from the linked source pages.