This article grew out of a participatory research project conducted with support of the Robert Bowne Foundation from January 2003 through January 2004. Six young people who had been participants in Forest Hills Community House (FHCH) programs for eight years or longer agreed to be interviewed in depth about experiences that had affected their…

A report is presented on school reform interventions and outcomes of the Howard University Center of Research on the Education of Students Placed at Risk (CRESPAR)/Capstone Institute that uses evidence-based strategies to promote the academic achievement and social competence of African American children. The "participant action…

A participatory research approach was used to determine the extent to which nonformal education (NFE) programs have contributed to the empowerment of women living on four Caribbean islands. Twelve agencies/organizations/providers on the islands of Barbados, Grenada, St. Lucia, and St. Vincent that have offered NFE programs to women between 1992…

Research has shown that among the obstacles to success in implementing shared decision making is finding ways to negotiate the inherent power differentials and traditional role expectations among the various stakeholders. This paper describes the methods developed by district-level planning teams to "even the playing field" and to promote…

This paper presents findings of an action-research study that examined the characteristics of schools in eastern Kentucky that were recognized as effective by the State Department of Education. Eighteen students who were in an educational leadership class at Morehead State University, and who held teaching or administrative positions in Kentucky…

This paper describes collegial model approaches to the interactions between rehabilitation researchers and individuals with disabilities or their family members. The approaches, called participatory research and participatory action research, grew out of a 1989 conference sponsored by the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation…

The text of three papers are presented. The first, by Alma Ada Flor, focuses on the question "What is participatory research?" It is suggested that participatory research enriches the knowledge of participants and opens up new topics to them. The nature and theory fundmental to participatory research and the relation of participatory research to…

The constructs used to evaluate research quality--valid, objective, reliable, generalizable, randomized, accurate, authentic--are not value-free. They all require human judgment, which is affected inevitably by cultural norms and values. In the case of research involving American Indians and Alaska Natives, assessments of research quality must be…

An original goal of Chicano Studies was to promote improvement of social and economic conditions in the community, with Chicana and Chicano scholars at the forefront of community struggles. Within this perspective, research is problem-based and part of the community action process. Chicano community groups want to work with researchers and…

Because the researcher's interpretation is the final word, traditional research reinforces relations of domination. When popular theater is used as research methodology, the interviewer's interpretation is performed immediately following data collection, and interviewees offer their interpretations of the interpretation. This gives voice to those…

Traditional discursive practices in reporting research results serve as structures that reinforce dominant ideologies and suppress others. A project in which survivors of childhood trauma represented their experiences in quilt blocks demonstrates how alternative representational forms acknowledge a component of society that neutral,…

Most traditional research methods establish an alienating relationship with those studied and disregard their personal knowledge. An educative research process is a dialogical approach that attempts to develop voice as a form of political protest and to give those studies the authority to pose questions and produce knowledge. (SK)

Describes a class demonstration of observer bias in which students were led to believe what the research data would indicate. Reports that students reported trends consistent with the expectancy. Asserts that the demonstration had a strong and memorable effect on students and has value for demonstrating observer bias. (CFR)

Disillusionment with professional/scientific knowledge and trust in practitioner knowledge have led to renewed interest in action technologies. Action research, action learning, participatory research, popular education, and collaborative inquiry can bridge the gap between theory and practice. (SK)

Reports results of investigation of reasons why a majority of practitioners refused to participate in a field-based psychotherapy process research project and to learn from them what would be required to enlist their future participation in this type of research. Main reasons were insufficient time, unwillingness to audiotape sessions, and clients…