Participatory action research (PAR) Primer - Key considerations and six building blocks for PAR project design

Oct 20, 2026

Uploaded by Hazel

Participatory action research (PAR) prioritizes experiential knowledge to tackle problems caused by unequal and harmful social systems and to envision and implement alternatives. PAR centers the participation and leadership of people directly experiencing the issues, enabling emancipatory social change through systematic research that generates new knowledge. This Primer outlines key design considerations and introduces six building blocks, then addresses common challenges and mitigation strategies grounded in power redistribution and critical reflexivity.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages14

Reading Time35 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Experimentation

Results

Applications

Reproducibility and data deposition

Limitations and optimizations

Outlook

| nature reviews methods primers | [https://doi.org/10.1038/s43586-023-00214-1](https://doi.org/10.1038/s43586-023-00214-1) | | --- | --- | | Primer | Check for updates | | Participatory action research
Flora Cornish 1 , Nancy Breton 1, Ulises Moreno-Tabarez 2, Jenna Delgado3, Mohi Rua4, Amade-Graft Aikins5 & Darrin Hodgetts6 | | Abstract Participatory action research (PAR) isan approach to research that prioritizes the value of experiential knowledge for tackling problems caused by unequal and harmful social systems, and for envisioning and implementing alternatives. PAR involves the participation and leadership of those people experiencing issues, who take action to produce emancipatory social change, through conducting systematic research to generate new knowledge. This Primer sets out key considerations for the design of a PAR project. The core of the Primer introduces six building blocks for PAR project design: building relationships; establishing working practices; establishing a common understanding of the issue; observing, gathering and generating materials; collaborative analysis; and planning and taking action. We discuss key challenges faced by PAR projects, namely, mismatches with institutional research infrastructure; risks of co-option; power inequalities; and the decentralizing of control. To counter such challenges, PAR researchers may build PAR-friendly networks of people and infrastructures; cultivate a critical community to hold them to account; use critical reflexivity; redistribute powers; and learn to trust the process. PAR’s societal contribution and methodological development, we argue, can best be advanced by engaging with contemporary social movements that demand the redressing of inequities and the recognition of situated expertise. 1Department of Methodology, London School of Economics & Political Science, London, UK. 2Departmento de Gestion para el Desarrollo Sustentable, CONACyT–Universidad Autonoma de Guerrero, Acapulco, Guerrero, Mexico. 3Department of Communication Studies, California State University, Northridge, CA, USA. 4Māori Studies, University of Auckland, Auckland, Aotearoa, New Zealand. 5Institute of Advanced Studies, University College London, London, UK. 6School of Psychology, Massey University, Albany, Aotearoa, New Zealand. e-mail: [f.cornish@lse.ac.uk](f.cornish@lse.ac.uk) Sections | Introduction | | --- | | Experimentation | | Results | | Applications | | Reproducibility and data deposition | | Limitations and optimizations | | Outlook | Primer Introduction For the authors of this Primer, participatory action research (PAR) is a scholar–activist research approach that brings together community members, activists and scholars to co-create knowledge and social change in tandem1,2. PARis acollaborative, iterative, often open-ended and unpredictable endeavour, which prioritizes the expertise of those experiencing a social issue and uses systematic research methodologies to generate new insights. Relationships are central. PAR typically involves collaboration between a community with lived experience of asocial issue and professional researchers, often based in universities, who contribute relevant knowledge, skills, resources and networks. PARisnot a research process driven by the imperative to generate knowledge for scientific progress, or knowledge for knowledge’s sake; itisa process for generating knowledge-for-action and knowledge-throughaction, in service of goals of specific communities. The position of a PAR scholar is not easy and is constantly tested, as PAR projects and roles straddle university and community boundaries, involving unequal power relations and multiple, sometimes conflicting interests. This Primeraims to support researchers in preparing a PAR project, by providing a scaffold to navigate the processes through which PAR can help us to collaboratively envisage and enact emancipatory futures. We consider PARan emancipatory form of schola

FAQs

What is participatory action research (PAR), and what distinguishes it from conventional research?

PAR is a scholar–activist approach that co-creates knowledge with community members and prioritizes the expertise of people experiencing the social issue. It aims to produce knowledge-for-action and knowledge-through-action in service of community goals.

What are the main building blocks for designing a PAR project?

The Primer describes six building blocks: building relationships; establishing working practices; establishing a common understanding of the issue; observing, gathering and generating materials; collaborative analysis; and planning and taking action.

What challenges do PAR projects face, and how can they be addressed?

Common challenges include mismatches with institutional research infrastructure, risks of co-option, power inequalities, and decentralizing control. The Primer suggests building PAR-friendly networks, cultivating a critical community, using critical reflexivity, redistributing powers, and learning to trust the process.

Oct 20, 2026

Uploaded by Hazel