I randomly ran into this, but one of my papers was cited back in 2007 in a study on Poverty in Scotland over at The Open University.
I’m cited in the appendix, “Poverty statistics for Scotland: what we have and what we now need” by John H McKendrick, on page 175:
“Furthermore, the wider trend in social research toward inclusive, active and participative research involving, if not led by, the subjects of research,9 is not being embraced by government in the study of poverty.”
And, note 9 is:
“9 J Bell and others, Comparative Similarities and Differences between Action Research, Participative Research, and Participatory Action Research, Critical Inquiry Seminar, Boga, Antioch University Seattle, 2004, available online at: http://www.arlecchino.org/ildottore/mwsd/group2final-comparison.html”
A note on the website says:
“This unit comprises a series of PDF documents produced originally by Child Poverty Action Group, Scottish Poverty Information Unit, Poverty Alliance with contributions from The Open University.”
Cool. I mean, I’m cited not to directly support the topic, but as an example of the trend toward participatory research in reference to a call for more participatory research by government when doing study on poverty. That’s pretty good. I’m glad I could help.
The paper I did with the group wasn’t exactly amazing research, and ironically wasn’t participatory research at all itself, but our conclusion is pretty sound if not revolutionary:
“Knowledge regarding a particular problem is best determined by groups of people affected. By arriving at a consensus and using qualitative methods of research rather than drawing conclusions purely through observation, measurement and quantitative analysis as is done in rationalistic research greater creativity and problem solving can emerge.”