Community educators in six cities involved youth in documenting ethnic gardening practices with master gardeners. Interviews with 29 educators, 28 participating youth, and 4 gardeners found that youth learned about gardening, developed positive relationships with elders, and enhanced skills. Implementing participatory research required more…

Two articles ("Popular Education in Nongovernmental Organizations" by Magendzo and "Transference and Appropriation in Popular Education Interventions" by Vaccaro) provide a view of the Interdisciplinary Program for Research in Education's role as an organization sponsoring popular education programs and research in Chile and…

Application of a knowledge and information systems perspective shows how agricultural innovation can be enhanced through networking. In the Netherlands, a number of alternative systems of inquiry and learning are infused with this perspective: participatory technology development, participatory rural appraisal, soft systems methodology, and rapid…

For minority groups disproportionately affected by AIDS, participatory action research provides a model for collaboration between health workers and communities to identify barriers to prevention unique to the community and to facilitate participation in the design and delivery of interventions. (SK)

Describes projects of the School of Social Work at Central America University, Nicaragua: (1) development of a postgraduate course for professionals; (2) discovery learning and participatory action research in a fishing village; and (3) application of participatory approaches to rural development. (SK)

Sustainable development means educating the powerless to become empowered. The changed role of development workers requires participatory training that gives them the experience of nonhierarchical collective learning and decision making. (SK)

Two studies are reported: one in which case study, evaluation, and action research inquiries were done for students' theses; the other involving a collaborative action research project by the staff at one British school. The effects on participating teachers are reported. (24 references) (Author/LB)

Implemented participatory action research approach to policy making in effort to promote partnership between consumers and professionals by deliberating together on issues and values underlying Rehabilitation Act. Results found consumers and nonconsumers agreeing on need for adequate funding of vocational rehabilitation programs and use of…

British government-funded research into voluntary sector initiatives revealed a mismatch between statutory and voluntary sector ethos, objectives, and perceptions of practice. The danger in interpreting negative evaluations highlights the importance of the participation of the "researched" in the process. (SK)

Suggested institutional guidelines for faculty research on American Indians include researcher behaviors related to obtaining tribal approval of the research proposal, being sensitive to cultural mores and privacy issues, giving fair return to informants, communicating anticipated consequences of research to participants, and allowing tribal…

A researcher collected data on family literacy in a Mexican-American community and shared findings with parents. As a result, parents organized a group to demand school responsiveness to their needs. The researcher changed her role to become involved in empowering parents. (SK)

This article describes a 2-year qualitative study designed to enhance understanding of social integration by including the perspectives of individuals with intellectual disabilities. It discusses the procedures and strategies used to involve individuals with intellectual disabilities, including individual interviews and focus groups to collect…

Collecting outdoor adventurers' stories for research is best done using the naturalistic inquiry paradigm. This type of hypothesis-free investigation, used in the study of folklore, requires maintaining the normal storytelling context while meeting scholarly demands for reliability and validity. Choice of focus and site, the participant-observer…

After a brief review of the history of research with individuals with mental retardation, this article examines critical ethical issues related to informed consent and surrogate decision-making. It then discusses ways to facilitate the research decision-making process for individuals with mental retardation and their families, including enhancing…

A workshop brought together scientists, community organization members, and agency representatives to review community-based research on the environmental health risks of pesticide exposure for migrant farmworkers; to share appropriate, successful community-based research methods and models; and to determine future research directions and needs…