Choosing to Do Participatory Research

ABSTRACT Participatory research is an increasingly popular approach, and considered by some to be synonymous with progressive social work research practice. It is important, however, to assess its suitability for both a given project and the people involved with it. Points to consider include fit of the approach with researcher(s), community, topic, organizational context and constraints. This article describes a participatory research process through which community members collaborated in the design and implementation of a project to identify, learn about the work of, and develop training based on the perspectives of people doing multicultural community organizing in Detroit. Discussion sections present value, costs and limitations of this project, as well as issues and recommendations for those considering or using participatory research methods.