Participatory Methods of

research

Geog 336
JA Yaro

Introduction
Models of development theory and practice that
evolved in the 70's and 80's required new
research techniques capable of gaining
understanding of social complexity in rapidly
changing and uncertain environments.
The term participatory research refers to both a
set of methods and a methodological approach,
which in turn is influenced by the attitudes,
training and political orientation of researchers
Participatory Research strategies emphasise
participation and empowerment of actors
Uses visual analysis techniques: informal
mapping and diagramming, ranking and scoring
methods to explore patterns of time, space,
flows, relationships and decisions affecting

Methodological approaches
RRA: Rapid rural appraisal: flexible
progressive learning, multi-disciplinary
research teams, community participation,
outsiders gain information from rural people
in a timely and cost effective manner
PRA: Participatory rural appraisal: shift from
extractive mode to empowering and
facilitating active local participation in
planning activities
PLA: Participatory learning and action: more
emphasis on mutual learning, attitudes and
behaviour of researchers, and taking action
on the outcomes

PRA: Origin
PRA has been evolved from RRA (Rapid Rural
Appraisal)
In mid 80s the necessity of participation in rural
development became evident and the term PRA
was born
The understanding of PRA came mostly from the
field rather than academia
PRA mostly focuses on the empowerment of
people through participation
The sustainability rate of PRA is high due to the
participation of the local people
The sense of ownership and belongingness is
critical for PRA and hence the success of projects
defined

Principles shared by PRA &

RRA
Reversal of learning
To learn from the local people
Learning rapidly and progressively
Exploration, flexible methods, adaptable
Offsetting bias
To be receptive rather than having
preconceived ideas
Optimizing tradeoffs
Understanding the usefulness of information
Triangulating
Crosschecking and approximation

Participatory Research? Some attributes

Concern with relations of power: emphasis on the
perspectives of the poor
Analysis by local people: researchers facilitate local
Learning takes place face to face and on the spot.
Continuous analysis and progressive, systematic
learning - inquiry is cumulative
Seeking multiple perspectives: recognises complexity
and looks for diversity.
Relies on triangulation - many voices included
Visual medium: visual diagramming - participation of
marginalised people: mapping, time lines,
seasonal analysis, matrix ranking and scoring.
Context specific: flexible, innovate and improvise in
different circumstances.
Leading to change strong capacity building element for
local participants

Exclusive Principles of PRA

Empowerment
The authority to local people through
decentralization and confidence building
Self critical awareness
Mistakes are lessons to learn and to do better
next time
Personal responsibility
The belongingness and ownership to the
participants
Sharing
To discuss and argue about ideas in open
forum with all stakeholders

Adopted from Chambers 2007

Participatory Data Collection

Techniques
Review of secondary sources
Documents, statistics, reports, books, files, aerial photos,
maps

Direct observation
Semi-structured interviews

Individual interviews
Key informant interviews
Group/community interviews
Focus group interviews

Key indicators: short surveys and other sources

Local, national and global indicators
Objectives and performance indicators

Case studies and stories

Life histories, oral or written stories by key people, e.g. school
children

W hats in it?

Secondary sources
Semi-structured interviews
Key informants
Groups of various kinds
Do-it-yourself
They do it
Participatory analysis of secondary sources- aerial photographs
Participatory mapping and modeling
Transect walks
Time line and trend and change analysis
Oral histories and ethno-biographies
Seasonal Calendars
Daily time use analysis
Livelihood analysis
Participatory linkage diagramming
Institutional or Venn Diagramming
Well being and wealth grouping and ranking
Analysis of difference
Matrix scoring and ranking
Estimates and quantification
Stories, portraits and case studies
Team contracts and Interactions
Presentation and analysis
Participatory planning, budgeting, monitoring
Group discussions

Participatory Data Collection: Techniques

Ranking and scoring
Well-being or wealth ranking
Scoring and ranking of options Matrix scoring and ranking

Construction and analysis of maps, models and diagrams

Social and resource maps

Topic and theme maps
Census maps and models
Transects

Diagramming

Causal, linkage and flow diagramming

Time lines, trend analysis
Seasonal diagrams
Activity profiles and daily routines: Venn diagrams

Triangulation

Data triangulation
Investigator triangulation

Problem ranking of agricultural

production
Problem

Constrains on Agricultural production

Respondents
A

Score

Ranking

Drought

27

Weeds

25

Cost of inputs

18

Labour shortage

11

5 is the most important , 1 is the least important

After This and Grady, 1991:64

Students perceptions about the difficulty of

subjects in their school ranked in order of
importance
Student respondent
Subject

Total

Ranking

English

17

Mathematics

20

Economics

Geography

19

Science

11

5 is the most difficult, and 1 is the least difficult

For ranking, a is the highest, then b, c, d, and e in
order of difficulty

Diagram of Matrix Showing Ranking of Food

Crops with Criteria
Yam

Easy
cultivation
Resistant
to drought
Easy to
market
Easy to
store
Good source
of energy

Maize

Millet

Groundnut

Beans

Strengths of participatory research

Eliciting peoples own analysis of their poverty and
wellbeing provides a deeper understanding of dimensions of
poverty than income and consumption indicators.
Understanding complexity and diversity of livelihood
strategies
Establishing causality; Identifying barriers to participation,
factors of social exclusion and; assessing social capital of
different groups according to gender, age, caste, and
ethnicity.
Highlighting areas for further detailed research using other
methods and comparative analysis
Adaptability and flexibility of methods provide potential for
working in emergency situations and politically difficult
environments
Capacity building of local people (as well as external
researchers) advocacy and for increased participation in
policy development
Influencing policy and practice : 'Scaling up' - linking of

Weaknesses of participatory research

Rapid data gathering for analysis out of the field:
Experience has shown that for effective outcomes,
preparation time, (including training and stakeholder
identification) and follow up time (including
dissemination and policy linking) is equal if not
greater than time spent on research activities in
communities.
Generating statistical data: Although some of the
methods can produce quantitative data, the focus of
the approach is to provide in-depth analysis within
locally identified contexts.
Comparability and generating commensurable
information: Information gathered and shared in
different contexts may be hard to synthesise for
central planning.
Quality of data and information is dependent on
researcher skills

Practicalities and difficulties in applying

participatory methods
Raising expectations - one of the dilemmas of researchers
working intensely with poor and powerless people:
express clearly the purpose of the inquiry and what role, if
any, they will play in future activities
Skills and attitudes - the accessibility and simplicity of
some of the techniques makes it possible to apply them
mechanistically without understanding of their use.
Requires good communication, facilitation and conflict
negotiation skills. Be sensitive to local gender and power
differences
There's no blue-print - choice and sequence of methods
needs to be adapted to each situation. This requires good
team working skills and has implications for training of
researchers.
Getting the right team - requires networking and
preparation. Team building is crucial
Depth and spread - there are payoffs in terms of time,

Bibliography

Mikkelsen, B. 1995. Methods for Development Work and

Research. Sage, London
Lilja , Nina and Mauricio Bellon ; Some common questions
about participatory research: a review of the literature,
Development in Practice, Volume 18, Numbers 45, August
2008.
Chambers, Robert; The Origins and Practice of Participatory
Rural Appraisal. World Development, Volume 22, No 7, pp
953-969, 1994.
Chambers, Robert; From PRA to PLA and Pluralism: Practice
and Theory, Working Paper 286, IDS, 2007.
Cornwall, Andrea; Towards participatory practice:
participatory rural appraisal (PRA) and the participatory
process in De Koning, Korrie and Martin Marion (1996).
Participatory Research in Health: Issues and Experiences.
Zen Books Ltd., London.

 What will you consider to be the

major difficulties with using
participatory methods of research?
Justify with examples.