11.S945 Participatory Action Research (PAR) Methods

Spring (2014)

Prereq: Permission of the Instructors

Units: 3-0-3 (The class will run for six weeks in March and April)

First class will meet on Tuesday, March 11, 2014

Class will be held on Tuesdays and Thursdaysfrom 4:30 to 6:00 PM in

theCoLabConference Room 9-417

Instructors:

Professor Lawrence Susskind
MIT 9-332
Phone: 617-253-2026
Email: / Dayna Cunningham, Esq.
MIT CoLab 9-419
Phone: 617-253-3216
Email:

Prerequisite: Permission of the Instructors

Units: 3-0-3. The class will run for six weeks in March and April.

Objectives of the course:

Introduction to the practice of case study research and more generally to competing ideas about context-independent vs. context-dependent knowledge, arguments for and against generating theory on the basis of a single case, and problems of verification in participatory action research (i.e. disconfirming the researcher’s preconceptions).

Emphasis will be on ways of producing knowledge using various forms of narrative analysis. We will try to understand how the people and communities who are the focus of applied social research can use the results to address the problems they are experiencing. Students will be expected to prepare detailed analyses of actual PAR cases.

Course Requirements:

Class meetings:The class will meet for 1.5 hours every Monday and Wednesdayfrom 4:30 to 6:00PM from March 11, 2014 through April. 24, 2014in 9-417 Students are expected to attend all class meetings.

Reading Assignments: are described (and most are available) on Stellar ( Please make a habit of checking the Stellar site, as new readings may be posted as the semester progresses.

Required Text:The primary text for the module will be Peter Reason and Hilary Bradbury, The Sage Handbook of Action Research: Participative Inquiry and Practice, Second Edition, Thousand Oaks, California, 2008. All books will be on reserve in the Rotch Library. The Reason and Bradbury can also be purchased from the COOP (or book purveyor of your choice) or you may choose to make use of the 2 copies in the EPP Conference Room(Building 9, third floor).

Tales of the Field, Second Edition (Van Maanen, 2011)

Introduction to Action Research: Social Research for Social Change (Greenburg and Levin, 2007)

Appaduri, “The Right to Research,” in Globalisation, Societies and Education Vol. 4, Issue 2 (2006)

Additional readings will be on Stellar.

Disabilities: If you have a documented disability or any other problem you think may affect your ability to perform in class, please see one of the instructors early in the semester so that arrangements may be made to accommodate you.

Academic Misconduct: Plagiarism and cheating are both academic crimes. Never (1) turn in an assignment that you did not write yourself, (2) turn in an assignment for this class that you previously turned in for another class, or (3) cheat on an exam. If you do so, it may result in a failing grade for the class, and possibly even suspension from MIT. Please see Professor Susskind or Kelly if you have any questions about what constitutes plagiarism. Anyone caught cheating on an exam will be reported in line with recognized university procedures.

Assignments and Grading: Students will be asked to complete a narrative analysis assignment in week 2, and two additional one-page response papers based on the readings and discussions of the following core dilemmas of PAR: placing power at the core of analysis; the normative stance of PAR research; getting close to the research subject without getting lost as a researcher; engaging in dialogue with a ”polyphony of voices;” ethics and PAR. For the final assignment, students will be expected to prepare a detailed analysis of an actual PAR case, including a close analysis of all the relevant methodological assumptions. The final grade will be based upon active participation in the seminar (25%), the three reflective memos (25%) and the term paper (50%).

Final Exam: There will be no final exam.

Syllabus

Date / Class content
Week one: Required Reading:
Handbook of Action Research. Reason and Bradbury, eds. 2007, Part One Ch. 1-8, 13 / Introduction to the Practice of Case Study Research
Tuesday March 11 (first day of class)
Thursday, March 13 / We will explore the basic arguments for and against case study research. What is the case study method and for what is it most useful in social science research? What are the strategies and principles that ought to be used in selecting cases? One goal for the semester will be to develop elements of a PAR Methods Guidebook.
Week two:
Required Reading: Van Mannen, Tales From the Field
(Next week, March 24-28, is Spring Break) / Week 2: Techniques of Narrative Analysis
Tuesday March 18
______
Thursday March 20 / We will focus on representativeness in narrative analysis and review thematic analysis, structural analysis, dialogic and performance analysis and visual analysis. Students will be asked to complete a narrative analysis assignment.
Week three:
Required Reading: Required Reading:
Introduction to Action Research: Social Research for Social Change (Greenburg and Levin, 2007 -Part 2 (ch. 4-8) and Part 3 ch. 9, 10)
Tuesday April 1
______
Thursday April 3 / If phronetic researchers must forego their objective stance and enter into dialogue with those they study, what’s left of science? How do we establish theory, reliability and validity? In this session we will explore the elements of a critical case, the applicability of specific methods to particular cases, and uses of falsification to test research propositions.
Week four:
Required Reading: Required Reading:
Case materials provided by guest lecturer (see Stellar site) / PAR Case Study 1: Waste Management, Libby MacDonald (CoLab)
Tuesday April 8
______
Thursday April 10 / In partnership with local groups, including women living and working at the Nineteenth of July dumpsite in Bluefields Nicaragua; scrap metal collectors; a composting cooperative; local and regional governments; Bluefields Indian Caribbean University (BICU); the United Nations Development Program, Nicaragua (UNDP); and the locally based blueEnergy, CoLab is developing technology and business models for a sustainable waste management and recycling system in four municipalities in Nicaragua’s Region Autonoma del Atlantic Sur (RAAS). Students will have an opportunity to interact with both the researcher(s) and relevant members of the community or organization
Week five:
Tuesday April 14
Required Reading: Reason and Bradbury 589-601
Appaduri, “The Right to Research,” in
Globalisation, Societies and Education
Volume 4, Issue 2, 2006
______
Thursday April 16 / Power and the “right to research”
Appaduri argues that research should be recognized as a vital right of democratic citizenship, the “elementary ability . . . to make disciplined inquires into those things we need to know, but do not know yet.” What does that mean about the role of social science and the social scientist? We will consider this question in light of the prior case study and in anticipation of the issues that will arise in the final case study later this week.
______
Urban Research Based Action Network (URBAN) Case Study #2
Mark Warren, URBAN co-chair and Professor of Sociology at U Mass, Boston, and his research group (comprised of 3 youth organizing groups in Boston and 6 doctoral students from UMASS) is studying the youth justice movement in Boston, particularly focusing on a high point period in 2006-8 when young people exerted their own power and leadership in the movement. The research is in the stage of analyzing data.
Week six:
Required Reading : CUNY GC’s Public Science Project’s PAR Map. / Generating Prescriptive Guidelines for Students Engaged in PAR
Tuesday April 22
Thursday April 24 / We hope to conclude this module with the development of a proposed framework for PAR in DUSP that returns us to the core questions of phronesis: 1) where are we going with this alternative approach to applied social science? 2) who gains and who loses if we shift in this direction; 3) is this development desirable? and 4) what, if anything , should we do about it? Among the issues we will consider: placing power at the core of analysis; the normative stance of the research; getting close to the research subject without getting lost as a researcher; engaging in dialogue with a ”polyphony of voices;” ethical dilemmas in PAR.

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