Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

The Participation Imperative in Co-operative Inquiry: Personal Reflections of an Initiating Researcher

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Systemic Practice and Action Research Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Participation has become an imperative in international development. In particular, participatory approaches to development research are believed to support empowerment through collective development of knowledge and action. Yet there are broad interpretations of participation, ranging from passive participation and information exchange to empowered participation through self-mobilisation. As such, development researchers may claim to use a participatory approach without yielding power and agency to citizens involved in the research. This is a reflexive article about a development researcher’s experience in applying a participatory worldview through co-operative inquiry, a research approach that attempts to engage emancipatory forms of participation. The article begins with a critical analysis of literature regarding participation, the participatory paradigm and participation in the co-operative inquiry. The author then analyses her personal experiences, challenges and strategies as initiating researcher to actualise empowering forms of participation in three co-operative inquiries. The article emphasises that researchers must “let go” of their power, control and personal agenda to support empowering participation.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Arnstein SR (1969) A ladder of citizen participation. J Am I Plan 35:216–224

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Babbie E (2013) The practice of social research, 13th edn. Wadsworth, Belmont

    Google Scholar 

  • Baldwin M (2002) Co-operative inquiry as a tool for professional development. Syst Pract Act Res 15:223–235

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Barrett PA, Taylor BJ (2002) Beyond reflection: cake and co-operative inquiry. Syst Prac Act Res 15:237–248

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chambers R (1983) Rural development: putting the last first. Longman, Burnt Mill

    Google Scholar 

  • Chambers R (1994) The origins and practice of participatory rural appraisal. World Dev 22:953–969

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cooke B, Kothari U (eds) (2001) Participation: the new tyranny? Zed Books, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Davidson S (1998) Spinning the wheel of empowerment. Planning 1262:14–15

    Google Scholar 

  • Delva J, Allen-Meares P, Momper PL (2010) Cross-cultural research. Oxford University Press, Oxford

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Denzin NK (2008) Emancipatory discourse and the ethics and politics of interpretation. In: Denzin NK, Lincoln Y (eds) Collecting and interpreting qualitative materials, 3rd edn. Sage, Thousand Oaks, pp 435–472

    Google Scholar 

  • Denzin NK (2009) The elephant in the living room: or extending the conversation about the politics of evidence. Qual Res 9:139–160

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dewey J (1997) Experience and education. Touchstone, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Douglas C (2002) Using co-operative inquiry with black women managers: exploring possibilities for moving from surviving to thriving. Syst Pract Act Res 15:249–262

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Freire P (1974) Education for critical consciousness. Sheed & Ward Ltd, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Freire P (1989) Pedagogy of the Oppressed. Continuum, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Frisby W, Maguire P, Reid C (2009) The `f’ word has everything to do with it: how feminist theories inform action. Act Res 7:13–29

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Godden N (forthcoming) A co-operative inquiry about love using narrative, performative and visual methods. Qual Res

  • Greenwood DJ, Levin M (2007) Introduction to action research: social research for social change, 2nd edn. Sage, Thousand Oaks

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Healy K (2001) Participatory action research and social work: a critical appraisal. Int Soc Work 44:93–105

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Heron J (1996) Co-operative inquiry: research into the human condition. Sage, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Heron J, Reason P (2008) Extending epistemology within a co-operative inquiry. In: Reason P, Bradbury H (eds) The Sage handbook of action research: participative reality and practice, 2nd edn. Sage, London, pp 366–380

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Hickey S, Mohan G (eds) (2004) From tyranny to transformation? Exploring new approaches to participation. Zed Books, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Hooks B (2000) All about love: new visions. The Women’s Press Ltd, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Hummelvoll JK, Severinsson E (2005) Researchers’ experience of co-operative inquiry in acute mental health care. J Adv Nurs 52:180–188

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kesby M, Kindon S, Pain R (2007) Participation as a form of power: retheorising empowerment and spatialising Participatory Action Research. In: Kindon S, Pain R, Kesby M (eds) Participatory action research approaches and methods: connecting people, participation and place. Routledge, Abingdon, pp 19–25

    Google Scholar 

  • Kindon S, Pain R, Kesby M (2007) Participatory Action Research: origins, approaches and methods. In: Kindon S, Pain R, Kesby M (eds) Participatory action research approaches and methods: connecting people, participation and place. Routledge, Abingdon, pp 9–18

    Google Scholar 

  • King ML Jr (1967) Chaos or community? Hodder & Stoughton, London

    Google Scholar 

  • King M, Baxter S (2003) Co-operative inquiry: the development of a visual impairment prevention program initiative for two Aboriginal communities in South Australia. Contemp Nurse 15:241–248

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Leal PA (2007) Participation: the ascendancy of a buzzword in the neo-liberal era. Dev Pract 17:539–548

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Leavy P (2007) The practice of feminist oral history and focus group interviews. In: Hesse-Biber SN, Leavy PL (eds) Feminist Research Practice. Sage, Thousand Oaks, pp 149–187

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Letherby G (2003) Feminist research in theory and practice. Open University Press, Buckingham

    Google Scholar 

  • Lewin K (1947) Frontiers in group dynamics: II. Channels of group life; social planning and action research. Hum Relat 1:143–153

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lloyd M, Carson A (2005) Culture shift: carer empowerment and cooperative inquiry. J Psychiatr Ment Hlt 12:187–191

    Google Scholar 

  • Lykes M, Hershberg RM (2012) Participatory action research and feminisms: social inequalities and transformative praxis. In: Hesse-Biber SN (ed) Handbook of feminist research: theory and praxis, 2nd edn. Sage, Thousand Oaks, pp 331–367

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Maguire P (2002) Commentary: reflections on co-operative inquiry in this historic moment. Syst Prac Act Res 15:263–270

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Manzo LC, Brightbill N (2007) Toward a participatory ethics. In: Kindon S, Pain R, Kesby M (eds) Participatory action research approaches and methods: connecting people, participation and place. Routledge, Abingdon, pp 33–40

    Google Scholar 

  • Marshall C, Rossman GB (2011) Designing qualitative research, 5th edn. Sage, Thousand Oaks

    Google Scholar 

  • May T (2011) Social research and reflexivity: content, consequence and context. Sage, Los Angeles

    Google Scholar 

  • McCall L (2005) The complexity of intersectionality. Signs 30(3):1771–1800

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mikkelsen B (2005) Methods for development work and research: a new guide for practitioners. Sage, New Delhi

    Google Scholar 

  • Morley L, Ife J (2002) Social work and a love of humanity. Aust Soc Work 55:69–77

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Narayan D, Patel R, Schafft K, Rademacher A, Koch-Schulte S (2000) Voices of the poor: can anyone hear us? Oxford University Press & World Bank, New York

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Noffke SE, Brennan M (2004) Doormats and feminists: who is the “community” in action research? In: Brydon-Miller M, Maguire P, Mcintyre A (eds) Travelling companions: feminism, teaching, and action research. Praeger, Westport, pp 97–113

    Google Scholar 

  • Oates BJ (2002) Co-operative inquiry: reflections on practice. Electron J Bus Res Methods 1:27–37

    Google Scholar 

  • Ospina S, Hoffman-Pinilla A, El Hadidi W (2008) Cooperative inquiry for learning and connectedness. In: Proceedings of the 4th International Barcelona Conference on Higher Education, vol. 8. Higher education and citizenship, participation and democracy. GUNI, Barcelona

  • Ozanne J, Saatcioglu B (2008) Participatory action research. J Consum Res 35:1–17

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Padgett DK (2008) Qualitative methods in social work research, 2nd edn. Sage, Thousand Oaks

    Google Scholar 

  • Pretty J, Guijit I, Thompson J, Scoones I (1995) Participatory learning and action. A trainers guide. International Institute for Environment and Development, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Reason P (1988) Introduction. In: Reason P (ed) Human inquiry in action: developments in new paradigm research. Sage, London, pp 1–17

    Google Scholar 

  • Reason P (ed) (1994) Participation in human inquiry. Sage, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Reason P (1999) Integrating action and reflection through co-operative inquiry. Manag Learn 30:207–227

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Reason P, Bradbury H (eds) (2008) The Sage Handbook of action research: participative inquiry and practice, 2nd edn. Sage, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Reid C, Frisby W (2008) Continuing the journey: articulating dimensions of Feminist Participatory Action Research (FPAR). In: Reason P, Bradbury H (eds) The Sage handbook of action research: participative inquiry and practice, 2nd edn. Sage, Los Angeles, pp 93–105

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Reinharz S, Davidman L (1992) Feminist methods in social research. Oxford University Press, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Riley SCE, Scharff C (2013) Feminism versus femininity? Exploring feminist dilemmas through cooperative inquiry research. Fem Psychol 23:207–223

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rogers A (2001) Nurture, bureaucracy and re-balancing the mind and heart. J Soc Work Pract 15:181–191

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rosenwasser P (2002) Exploring internalized oppression and healing strategies. New Dir Adult Contin Educ 2002:53–62

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Somekh B (2006) Action research: a methodology for change and development. Open University Press, Maidenhead

    Google Scholar 

  • Stoecker R (2005) Research methods for community change: a project-based approach. Sage, Thousand Oaks

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Stringer ET (2007) Action Research, 3rd edn. Sage, Thousand Oaks

    Google Scholar 

  • Tee S, Lathlean J, Herbert L, Coldham T, East B, Johnson TJ (2007) User participation in mental health nurse decision-making: a co-operative enquiry. J Adv Nurs 60:135–145

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (1999) Participatory approaches to poverty alleviation in rural community development. United Nations, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (2010) The world’s women 2010 trends and statistics. United Nations, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • White SC (1996) Depoliticising development: the uses and abuses of participation. Dev Pract 6:6–15

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Whitehead J, McNiff J (2006) Action research: living theory. Sage, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Wilkinson S (1998) Focus groups in feminist research: power, interaction, and the co-construction of meaning. Women’s Stud Int Forum 21:111–125

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Gender, Leadership and Social Sustainability Research Unit, Department of Social Work, Monash University, Building C, Level 4, 900 Dandenong Road, Caulfield East, VIC, 3145, Australia

    Naomi Joy Godden

Authors
  1. Naomi Joy Godden
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Naomi Joy Godden.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Godden, N.J. The Participation Imperative in Co-operative Inquiry: Personal Reflections of an Initiating Researcher. Syst Pract Action Res 30, 1–18 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11213-016-9387-2

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11213-016-9387-2

Keywords

Search

Navigation