Conference Proceedings - School of Nursing & Midwifery - Trinity ...

School of Nursing & Midwifery, Trinity College Dublin: 8 th Annual Interdisciplinary Research Conference
Transforming Healthcare Through Research, Education & Technology: 7 th – 9 th November 2007
Conference Proceedings
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Using Participatory Action Research Techniques as a
Qualitative Methodology.
Authors: Loretta Crawley, College Lecturer, BNS, M. Equality
Studies, RN, RM, RON, RNT. UCD School of Nursing, Midwifery and
Health Systems, Health Sciences Building, Belfield, Dublin 4
Contact Numbers
Telephone:00 353 1 716 6402
Fax 00 353 1 716 6450
E-mail loretta.crawley@ucd.ie
Regina Joye College Lecturer, BNS, M. Equality Studies, RN, RM,
RON, RNT. UCD School of Nursing, Midwifery and Health Systems,
Health Sciences Building, Belfield, Dublin 4
Contact Numbers
Telephone:00 353 1 716 6429
Fax 00 353 1 716 6450
E-mail regina.joye@ucd.ie
Background and Context: Participatory Action Research (PAR)
has emerged as a significant methodology for intervention,
development and change within communities and groups. It has
been promoted and implemented by many international
development agencies and local community organisations around
the world. It offers the opportunity to go beyond consultation and
promote active participation of communities in the issues and
interventions that shape their lives. The authors of this paper have
been recently trained in PAR techniques and now have adopted
them in their PhD research work on older people and Filipino nurses.
PAR techniques enable all community members to participate,
regardless of their age, ethnicity or literacy capabilities.
Methodology:
PAR techniques are a set of tools to develop an understanding ‘their
perspective’, the emic approach so the participants tell how they
view things. The researcher may have decided that no ‘objective’
reality exists from which to create categories of inquiry, so the
participants create the categories. In this presentation the authors
will demonstrate how to develop an understanding of an individual
or a group’s greatest problem using pie charts, gain an insiders view
of an individual or groups using emic questioning techniques and
finally using a matrix to find possible solution to causes and
problems
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