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…

This article describes a participatory action research (PAR) project designed to evaluate Parent to Parent programs in five states. The process of developing a shared understanding of the program and of the purpose for evaluating them, along with an on-going willingness of parents and researchers to compromise, led to creative solutions to…

Suggests that action research provides ownership and often results in a sense of efficacy by engaging practitioners in the change process. Describes the practitioner-based movement in professional development and program improvement in Pennsylvania. (JOW)

Considers two international research projects in environmental education. Draws attention to the interplay of contextuality and universality and the role of participatory research in this tension. (Contains 18 references.) (DDR)

This paper reports on an initiative that took the strategy of youth consultation in programme planning one step further by putting a research project's design, data collection, analysis and presentation of findings in the hands of young women and men who have experienced education and discontinuity of education in a long-term refugee camp. The…

The experiences of men and women who participated in a Salvadoran adult literacy program belie the instrumentalist discourse of adult education, for they identified psychosocial benefits as the most meaningful aspects of the program. Attending literacy classes did not change their material situation as underemployed "campesinos/as," but…

As academic interest grows around participatory action research there is a need to reflect on the ways in which universities are adapting to the presence of alternative research methodologies. This article examines the rapidly expanding field of participatory action research (PAR) as it relates to academic involvement in community research and…

Literacy is considered one of the most important determinants of health among Canadians (Ronson & Rootman, 2004). Engaging communities in identifying the critical connections between literacy and health is an important aspect of addressing health literacy. This article describes how participatory research, undertaken through a…

It has been argued that research that employs qualitative methods among vulnerable groups, such as people with learning disabilities, must reconcile the conflict between meeting recognized academic criteria, or measures of research "strength", while at the same time appropriately and effectively representing the experiences and needs of…