Principles of Participatory Research

This chapter presents the principles of participatory research, including community-based participatory research and participatory action research, with a focus on research involving children and young people. Throughout this chapter the alleged emancipatory potential of participatory research is problematised. Particular concerns are centred on who benefits most from the undertaking of the research (i.e. the adult’s career or that of the child/young person)?, and the prominence placed on the researcher’s voice in published work. This chapter argues that as interest grows in collaborative research, it is important to support the development of new partnerships in line with the desire for more equitable forms of knowledge production. Efforts to increase the participation of children and young people in participatory research should be measured against their will to participate at different phases of the research. New understandings and appreciations of ‘participation’, and in particular meaningful participation, can bring exciting possibilities for research agendas.