Abstract
In this chapter, we will discuss some of the difficulties, limitations and cautions of doing PAtR. All research approaches have strengths and limitations. Some limitations can be taken into account, and when this is done, it can strengthen the research. Other dangers and limitations are complex, extremely fast moving and unpredictable, which is related to the humanness of working with human participants! Given the emphasis on power, process and relationships, PAtR requires careful planning and constant negotiation. At the intersection of CT (critical theory, Chap. 3) and practice, PAtR tends to make any inherent tensions or contradictions in relationships and practices quite explicit and apparent. This means that before, during and after the research, caution always needs to be observed. Although the researcher and participants are engaged in the same process, it is often experienced differently. In their book Danger in the Field, Lee-Treweek and Linkogle (2000) discuss how feminist research contributed to a broad discussion about ‘the need for consideration of the risk to all participants and those affected by research’ (p. 15). This includes preventing the research from placing participants (or allowing participants to push others) in uncomfortable or dangerous situations, particularly when ‘the field’ (itself a masculinist concept – for example, see Rose 1996; Sparke 1996) is overlaid with personal meanings and power relations.
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lisahunter, Emerald, E., Martin, G. (2013). Difficulties, Limitations and Cautions. In: Participatory Activist Research in the Globalised World. Explorations of Educational Purpose, vol 26. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-4426-4_8
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