A3 Book section, Chapters in research books
Challenges of Participation When Conducting Participatory Action Research (PAR) in Working-Life Settings and Potential Ways to Tackle Them in Hybrid PAR Projects (2023)

Mänttäri-van der Kuip, M. (2023). Challenges of Participation When Conducting Participatory Action Research (PAR) in Working-Life Settings and Potential Ways to Tackle Them in Hybrid PAR Projects. In Sage Research Methods Cases Part 1. SAGE Publications. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781529626728

JYU authors or editors

Publication details

All authors or editors: Mänttäri-van der Kuip, Maija

Parent publication: Sage Research Methods Cases Part 1

eISBN: 978-1-5296-2672-8

Publication year: 2023

Publication date: 30/01/2023

Publisher: SAGE Publications

Publication country: United States

Publication language: English

DOI: https://doi.org/10.4135/9781529626728

Publication open access: Not open

Publication channel open access: 

Abstract

Previous research has clearly demonstrated that the well-being of child protection professionals is at risk. Despite the increasing empirical research on the phenomenon, these professionals continue to struggle with unreasonable workloads and insufficient resources in their inherently challenging everyday work and thus end up compromising their own well-being. This situation calls for innovative ways to study their well-being. One such approach is to conduct research in cooperation with these workers that aims at positive change. This paper describes an experiment in which participatory action research (PAR) was applied to find a more emancipatory way to study the well-being of child protection workers. It reports on three PAR projects conducted with workers in three different public sector agencies offering child protection services in Finland. The projects aimed at developing new practices in collaboration with workers in order to improve their ethical capabilities and well-being. This paper focuses on the challenges to participation encountered when planning and conducting such projects and suggests potential ways to overcome them. It addresses different ways of understanding participation and proposes ways of enhancing it during different phases of the research project. Special attention is paid to operating in online and hybrid settings as the projects were conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic and thus modified to meet the demands of remote research.

Keywords: methodology; research methods; participatory research; action research; child protection; social workers; well-being at work

Contributing organizations

Related projects

Ministry reporting: Yes

Reporting Year: 2023

Preliminary JUFO rating: 3