Characteristics and challenges of participatory action research (PAR)
A personal experience in tourism research
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.47557/APGJ3821Keywords:
Chiapas, Analysis, Methodology, Indigenous tourism, ReflexivityAbstract
This article looks at participatory action research (par) methods from theoretical and practical perspectives. The first part of this work provides an overview of the different approaches to action research, its historical evolution and resulting typologies. Its main characteristics and contexts are explored, highlighting the dual purpose of the method, collaborative nature and cyclical practice to conclude with the main shortcomings such as the abuse, ‘tokenism’ or the ‘new tyranny’ of the method. The second part focuses on a practical example of par with indigenous communities in the Lacandon Jungle (Mexico). Through the description of the research process from design, field work and analysis to the final writing of the doctoral work, the comprehensive experience of a par project is examined and the different challenges and responses are presented. The ethical values that should inform collaborative studies and the need for reflection on the role played by the external researcher in the par processes are also discussed. The text concludes with a reflection on the imperative need to collaborate with local communities to advance in decolonized tourism knowledge in indigenous contexts.
Downloads
References
Ander-Egg, E. (2003). Repensando la investigación-acción-participativa (4ª ed.). Buenos Aires, Argentina: Grupo Editorial Lumen/Humanitas.
Añaños, M. C., Cantora, A. y Habichayn, A. (2013). Pautas para la transcripción de registros de campo grabados [Texto de cátedra, no publicado]. Universidad Nacional de Rosario/Universidad Nacional del Litoral, Argentina.
Arnstein, S. R. (1969). A ladder of citizen participation. Journal of the American Institute of Planners, 35(4), 216-224.
Ateljevic, I., Harris, C., Wilson, E. y Collins, F. L. (2005). Getting “entangled”: Reflexivity and the “critical turn” in tourism studies. Tourism Recreation Research, 30(2), 9-21.
Balcazar, F. E. (2003). Investigación acción participativa (iap): Aspectos conceptuales y dificultades de implementación. Fundamentos en Humanidades, 4(7-8), 59-77.
Bartolomé Pina, M. (1986). La investigación cooperativa. Educar, 10, 51-78.
Bartolomé Pina, M. (1994). La investigación cooperativa. En V. García Hoz (ed.), Problemas y métodos de investigación en educación personalizada (pp. 376-403). Madrid, España: Ediciones Rialp.
Beazley, H. y Ennew, J. (2006). Participatory methods and approaches: Tackling the two tyrannies. En V. Desai y R. Potter (eds.), Doing Development Research (pp. 189-199). Thousand Oaks, Estados Unidos: Sage.
Camas Baena, V. y García Borrego, I. (1997). La transcripción en historia oral: Para un modelo “vivo” del paso de lo oral a lo escrito. Historia, Antropología y Fuentes Orales, 18, 41-61.
Chambers, D. y Buzinde, C. N. (2015). Tourism and decolonisation: Locating research and self. Annals of Tourism Research, 51, 1-16.
Chambers, R. (2008). From pra to pla and pluralism: Practice and theory. En P. Reason y H. Bradbury (eds.), The SAGE Handbook of Action Research: Participative Inquiry and Practice (2a ed., pp. 297-318). Thousand Oaks, Estados Unidos: Sage.
Cole, S. (2005). Action ethnography: Using participant observation. En B. W. Ritchie, P. M. Burns y C. Palmer (eds.), Tourism Research Methods: Integrating Theory with Practice (pp. 63-72). Wallingford, Reino Unido: CABI.
Cooke, B. y Kothari, U. (2001). Participation: The New Tyranny? Londres, Reino Unido: Zed Books.
Cornwall, A. y Pratt, G. (2011). The use and abuse of participatory rural appraisal: Reflections from practice. Agriculture and Human Values, 28(2), 263-272.
Dutfield, G. (2009). Protecting the rights of indigenous peoples: Can prior informed consent help? En R. Wynberg, D. Schroeder y R. Chennells (eds.), Indigenous Peoples, Consent and Benefit Sharing (pp. 53-67). Nueva York, Estados Unidos: Springer.
Espeso-Molinero, P., Carlisle, S. y Pastor-Alfonso, M. J. (2016). Knowledge dialogue through indigenous tourism product design: A collaborative research process with the Lacandon of Chiapas, Mexico. Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 24(8-9), 1331-1349.
Fals-Borda, O. (1973). Reflexiones sobre la aplicación del método de estudio-acción en Colombia. Revista Mexicana de Sociología, 35, 49-62.
Fals-Borda, O. (1994). El problema de cómo investigar la realidad para transformarla por la praxis (7ª ed.). Bogotá, Colombia: Tercer Mundo.
Fals-Borda, O. (2001). Participatory (action) research in social theory: Origins and challenges. En P. Reason y H. Bradbury (eds.), Handbook of Action Research: Participative Inquiry and Practice (pp. 27-37). Thousand Oaks, Estados Unidos: Sage.
Fals-Borda, O. y Rahman, M. A. (1991). Action and Knowledge: Breaking the Monopoly with Participatory Action Research. Nueva York, Estados Unidos: Apex Press.
Freire, P. (1968-1970). Pedagogía del oprimido. México: Siglo XXI Editores.
Fullagar, S. y Wilson, E. (2012). Critical pedagogies: A reflexive approach to knowledge creation in tourism and hospitality studies. Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Management, 19(1), 1-6.
Goodley, D., Lawthom, R., Clough, P. y Moore, M. (2004). Researching Life Stories: Method, Theory and Analyses in a Biographical Age. Londres, Reino Unido: Routledge.
Greenwood, D. J. (2000). De la observación a la investigación-acción participativa: Una visión crítica de las prácticas antropológicas. Revista de Antropología Social, 9, 27-49.
Grinyer, A. (2002). The anonymity of research participants: Assumptions, ethics, and practicalities. Social Research Update, 36(Spring), 1-4. Recuperado de http://sru.soc.surrey.ac.uk/SRU36.pdf [2017, 4 de marzo].
Guba, E. G. y Lincoln, Y. S. (1989). Fourth Generation Evaluation. Thousand Oaks, Estados Unidos: Sage.
Hall, M. (2004). Reflexivity and tourism research: Situating myself and/with others. En J. Phillimore y L. Goodson (eds.), Qualitative Research in Tourism: Ontologies, Epistemologies and Methodologies (pp. 137-155). Nueva York, Estados Unidos: Routledge.
Heron, J. y Reason, P. (1997). A participatory inquiry paradigm. Qualitative Inquiry, 3(3), 274-294.
Heron, J. y Reason, P. (2006). The practice of co-operative inquiry: Research “with” rather than “on” people. En P. Reason y H. Bradbury (eds.), Handbook of Action Research: Concise Paperback Edition (pp. 144-154). Thousand Oaks, Estados Unidos: Sage.
Huber, D., Milne, S. y Hyde, K. F. (2017). Biographical research methods and their use in the study of senior tourism. International Journal of Tourism Research, 19(1), 27-37.
Kemmis, S. y McTaggart, R. (1988). Cómo planificar la investigación-acción. Barcelona, España: Laertes.
Kemmis, S. y McTaggart, R. (1998). The Action Research Planner (3a ed.). Victoria, Australia:
Deakin University.
Kemmis, S. y McTaggart, R. (2005). Participative action research: Communicative action and the public sphere. En N. K. Denzin y Y. S. Lincoln (eds.), The SAGE Handbook of Qualitative Research (3a ed., pp. 559-603). Thousand Oaks, Estados Unidos: Sage.
Lewin, K. (1946). Action research and minority problems. Journal of Social Issues, 2(4), 34-46.
Leyva, X. y Speed, S. (2008). Hacia la investigación descolonizada: Nuestra experiencia de colabor. En X. Leyva, A. Burgete y S. Speed (eds.), Gobernar (en) la diversidad: experiencias indígenas desde América Latina. Hacia la investigación de co-labor (pp. 33-56). México, D. F., México: Centro de Investigaciones y Estudios Superiores en Antropología Social/Facultad Latinoamericana de Ciencias Sociales-Ecuador y Guatemala.
Lincoln, Y. S., Lynham, S. A. y Guba, E. G. (2011). Paradigmatic controversies, contradictions, and emerging confluences, revisited. En N. K. Denzin y Y. S. Lincoln (eds.), The SAGE Handbook of Qualitative Research (4a
ed., pp. 97-128). Thousand Oaks, Estados Unidos: Sage.
Nicholls, R. (2009). Research and indigenous participation: Critical reflexive methods. International Journal of Social Research Methodology, 12(2), 117-126.
Pastor-Alfonso, M. J. y Espeso-Molinero, P. (2013). Turismo indígena y cooperación en turismo: Replanteando las relaciones. En J. Gascón, S. Morales y J. Tresserras (eds.), Cooperación en turismo: Nuevos desafíos, nuevos debates (pp. 107-122). Barcelona, España: Foro de Turismo Responsable-Xarxa de Consum Solidari, Universitat
Oberta de Catalunya.
Pastor-Alfonso, M. J. y Espeso-Molinero, P. (2015). Capacitación turística en comunidades indígenas: Un caso de investigación acción participativa (iap). El Periplo Sustentable, 29, 171-208.
Pastor-Alfonso, M. J. y Gómez López, D. (2010). Impactos socioculturales en el turismo comunitario. Una visión desde los pueblos implicados (Selva Lacandona, Chiapas, México). Salamanca, España: Editorial Agua Clara.
Phillimore, J. y Goodson, L. (2004). Progress in qualitative research in tourism: Epistemology, ontology and methodology. En J. Phillimore y L. Goodson (eds.), Qualitative Research in Tourism: Ontologies, Epistemologies and Methodologies (pp. 3-29). Nueva York, Estados Unidos: Routledge.
Plummer, K. (1983). Documents of Life: An Introduction to the Problems and Literature of a Humanistic Method. Londres, Reino Unido: G. Allen & Unwin.
Rapoport, R. N. (1970). Three dilemmas in action research with special reference to the Tavistock Experience. Human Relations, 23(6), 499-513.
Reason, P. (1994). Three approaches to participative inquiry. En N. K. Denzin y Y. S. Lincoln (eds.), The SAGE Handbook of Qualitative Research (pp. 324-339). Thousand Oaks, Estados Unidos: Sage.
Reason, P. y Bradbury, H. (2008). The SAGE Handbook of Action Research: Participative Inquiry and Practice (2a
ed.). Thousand Oaks, Estados Unidos: Sage.
Reason, P. y Bradbury, H. (eds.). (2001). Handbook of Action Research: Participative Inquiry and Practice. Thousand Oaks, Estados Unidos: Sage.
Russell-Mundine, G. (2012). Reflexivity in indigenous research: Reframing and decolonising research? Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Management, 19, 85-90.
Ryan, C. (2005). Introduction: Tourist-host nexus — research considerations. En C. Ryan y M. Aicken (eds.), Indigenous Tourism: The Commodification and Management of Culture (pp. 1-11). Oxford, Reino Unido: Elsevier.
Saunders, M., Lewis, P. y Thornhill, A. (2009). Research Methods for Business Students (5a ed.). Londres, Reino Unido: Pearson Education.
Swantz, M. L. (2008). Participatory action research as practice. En P. Reason y H. Bradbury (eds.), The SAGE Handbook of Action Research: Participative Inquiry and Practice (2a ed., pp. 31-48). Thousand Oaks, Estados Unidos: Sage.
Tribe, J. (2005). New tourism research. Tourism Recreation Research, 30(2), 5-8.
Tribe, J. y Xiao, H. (2011). Developments in tourism social science. Annals of Tourism Research, 38(1), 7-26.
Tuhiwai-Smith, L. (2012). Decolonizing Methodologies: Research and Indigenous Peoples (2a ed.). Londres, Reino Unido: Zed Books.
Veal, A. J. (2011). Research Methods for Leisure and Tourism: A Practical Guide (4a ed.). Essex, Reino Unido: Pearson Education.
Whitford, M. M. y Ruhanen, L. (2016). Indigenous tourism research, past and present: Where to from here? Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 24(8-9), 1080-1099.
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2017 Pilar Espeso-Molinero
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
All contents of Dimensiones Turísticas are published under the Attribution/Attribution - non-commercial - sharealike 4.0 International license, and can be used free of charge for non-commercial purposes, giving credit to the authors and the Dimensiones Turísticas journal. Articles before January-December 2023 were published under Attribution/Attribution - Non-Commercial - NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.