Parsing “Participation” in Action Research: Navigating the Challenges of Lay Involvement in Technically Complex Participatory Science Projects

Participatory action research (PAR) is widely recognized for its potential to improve environmental problem solving. However, PAR proponents and observers have paid relatively little attention to the ways in which lay participation complicates the research process. In this article, I examine the challenges presented by lay participation in the case of the Drift Catcher, a participatory air monitoring program in which community residents in the United States work with scientists from an environmental nongovernmental organization (NGO) to sample their own air for pesticides and then to use those data to press for social change. My findings suggest the need for a more nuanced understanding of “participation,” one that accounts for the technical complexity of a PAR project, other challenges, and the participants' organizational capacity. Successfully executing a participatory research project, especially one that produces politically controversial data, may require substantial capacity building to weather the political and technical challenges that arise.