ReseaRch MethoD · synthesis / analysis techniqUe · ReseaRch DeliveRable 60 Participatory Action Research (PAR) PAR is a cyclical, collaborative research process that seeks to intentionally change the community or other aspects that are the focus of the inquiry. 1 Participatory Action Research (PAR) is differentiated from many "objective" methods of research inquiry that seek only to describe, understand, and explain, in its explicit mission to actually change the community, parties, or policies under study. With an overtone of empowerment, emancipation, and activism, the approach has been popular in arenas such as education, feminist research, and social justice. PAR is also appropriate where involving practitioners directly in social research serves the purpose of bringing skills and experience to facilitate change, advocating for the creation of prac- titioner researchers in areas such as nursing and social work. 2 The process of PAR is dynamic and cyclical in its sequence of planning, taking action, observing, evaluating (including self-evaluation), and critical reflection prior to planning the next cycle. 3 Robson outlines common stages of PAR as follows: 4 1. Define the inquiry. 2. Describe the situation. 3. Collect evaluative data and analyze it. 4. Review the data and look for contradictions. 5. Tackle a contradiction by introducing change. 6. Monitor the change. 7. Analyze evaluative data about the change. 8. Review the change and decide what to do next. 1. First usage of the term "action research" is credited to Kurt Lewin in "Action Research and Minority Problems," which appeared in the Journal of Social Issues 2 (1946): 34­46. 2. Robson, Colin. Real world Research: A Resource for Social Scientists and Practitioner-Researchers, 2nd ed. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers, 2002. 3. McNiff, Jean. Action Research for Professional development, 2002, http://www.jeanmcniff.com/ar-booklet.asp 4. See note 2 above. Further Reading Sommer, Robert, and Barbara Sommer. A Practical Guide to Behavioral Research: Tools and Techniques. New York: Oxford