KWALON - Volume 28, Issue 3, 2023

Action research, citizen science and participatory methods

Participatory research methods are gaining ground in qualitative research within the social sciences and policy practice. Researchers directly involve groups that are part of a social phenomenon in the research process, by allowing them to co-determine the research question or to contribute to the collection and interpretation of data. Participatory methods are applied, for example, in action research. In action research, researchers contribute to changing the social situation they investigate from withing by involving participants in both the change and the research process. Participatory methods also are part of citizen science. In citizen science researchers involve participants to collect large amounts of data or to obtain data that is difficult to access in other ways. Assessing the quality of participatory methods requires criteria that not only do justice to the quality of knowledge, such as credibility and transferability, but also to the role of the researcher in social change, such as honesty, transparency, and the application of self-examination and self-criticism through meta-reflection.

Inquisitive participation

Inquisitive participation involves a group of stakeholders looking for a solution of a shared problem through collective inquiry. Whereas this approach resembles participative research, in contradistinction it departs from a practical, public problem. Which criteria should inquisitive participation adhere to in order to achieve ideals of better research as well as participation? We subscribe to the idea of ‘workability’ as a pragmatic criterion, and we infer from this more specific criteria to design processes of inquisitive participation. These are: fitting the forum to the fuss, widening the range of perspectives and enriching narrative, giving shape to the public and fostering an inquisitive attitude. We illustrate these criteria with work carried out in the Amsterdam Red Light district (‘Wallen’), comprising a group of local inhabitants and entrepreneurs selected through lottery, who collaboratively developed proposals to improve quality of life locally. Halfway through the process this already resulted in improved shared understandings and improved relations. At the same time, through the collaborative approach we could validate our findings from the viewpoint of workability.

Exploring together, understanding deeper. The importance of citizen science in exploratory analysis of patient experience stories

This article delves into the significance of citizen science in exploratory research of patients’ experiences. It showcases two projects that integrated qualitative analysis, citizen science, and computational methods to analyze written patient stories. The overarching goal of these projects was to produce meaningful insights from patients’ stories by actively involving patients and their caregivers in the research process. Drawing upon their interdisciplinary experiences, the authors shed light on two pivotal insights from the experiments. Firstly, patients and caregivers not only contribute experiential knowledge, but also offer input for methodological development. Secondly, this combination of methods helps to illuminate new and underexplored themes in patient experiences. The article also reflects on the role of citizen science in these experiments, contemplating both its affordances and challenges. The findings emphasize the important role for researchers to facilitate the inclusion of experiential knowledge of patients and relatives in the research process and highlight the need for ongoing dialogue and collective meaning making to better analyze and understand patients’ experiences.

Collaborative interpretation as a tool for citizen science

Developments in science and society show that there is a change from individual analyses and truths to more collective processes. Citizen science and participatory research play an increasing role in these processes. The cases of Open Online Research and Panel show how the translation from science to citizens could occur. It shows that citizen science is not only an instrument through which society contributes to science, but that this participatory interpretation tool itself can also make a meaningful contribution to society.

The shift from individual to collective interpretation requires new, innovative forms of participation in both social science and society. In this article we discuss the current criteria for the quality of interpretations and apply them to participatory interpretation. We embrace the notion that different perspectives and interpretations are of higher importance than classical ideas on science. Criteria of quality are in this case not about quantity and not even always about the quality or thoroughness of an interpretation, but about the variety of interpretations.

In this article, we provide a reflection on the utilization of arts-based research in the context of participatory action research. Specifically, we describe a study that aimed to enhance collaboration among clients, relatives, and caregivers in long-term care settings. We examine the instances in which different forms of arts-based research were employed to elucidate and address unspoken barriers that impeded collaboration. We reflect on the ‘True’, the ‘Good’ and the ‘Beautiful’ that arts-based research can contribute to participatory research focused on instigating change.