Participatory Research

Dirk Schubotz grew up in Berlin and holds a Masters in Social Sciences (Dipl Soz) from Humboldt University Berlin and a PhD (Dr Phil) from Kassel University. Dirk has lived and worked in Northern Ireland since 2000. He initially held a Research Fellow post at Ulster University, before moving to Queen’s University Belfast in 2003—first as a Research Fellow, and since 2012 as a lecturer/senior lecturer in Social Policy. Since 2003, Dirk has been a member of ARK (www.ark.ac.uk), directing ARK’s annual Young Life and Times (YLT) study. Dirk’s main research interests are children’s young people’s lives and their rights, sexual health, sexual and gender identities, and both quantitative and qualitative research methods. Dirk is particularly interested in participatory research methods and has undertaken a number of research projects with young people as coresearchers.

• IntroductionPart I: History, Theory and Ethics of Participatory MethodsChapter 1: The History and Nature of Participatory Research MethodsChapter 2: Theoretical Perspectives on Participatory ResearchChapter 3: Approaches and Populations in Participatory ResearchChapter 4: Research Ethics in Participatory Research PracticePart II: Applications of Participatory MethodsChapter 5: Participatory Action Research (PAR)Chapter 6: Participatory Approaches to Participant ObservationChapter 7: Group Discussion Methods in Participatory ResearchChapter 8: Participatory Survey MethodsIn Conclusion

One unique feature of this text is the way it richly lays out how theory and practice can (and do!) come together in participatory research. It is chock full of case studies, examples and exercises to help the material come alive and engage learners in reflexive praxis.