Participatory Action Research (PAR) is a collaborative approach to research, decision-making, action, and assessment that affirms and facilitates the right of all people to investigate questions relevant to them. In PAR philosophy, everyone is entitled to give voice to what they know and to investigate reality in order to make informed decisions that guide their actions. Through dialogue, analysis, and action, positive change can occur. PAR process is as important as the answers discovered through PAR investigation. The iterative, cyclic nature of PAR allows people to continually build on what they learn and what they know, to assess how well their actions are working in meeting their goals, and to continue to build capacity as active, thinking members of a community. PAR and other community-based research makes research relevant to the needs of people.
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