Implementation research design: integrating participatory action research into randomized controlled trials

Luci K Leykum; Jacqueline A Pugh; Holly J Lanham; Joel Harmon; Reuben R McDaniel

doi:10.1186/1748-5908-4-69

Implementation Science

Table 1 Essential elements of participatory action research

From: Implementation research design: integrating participatory action research into randomized controlled trials

Quotes from Published Definitions	References
Names Used
Participatory action research Qualifiers: cooperative inquiry; appreciative inquiry; community-based participatory research; action learning; action science; developmental action inquiry	[22–24, 35–40, 44–50]
Purpose of the Action Research
Generation of new knowledge Qualifiers: practice-grounded, compelling enough to motivate to action; answer a question of importance to each other	[24, 32, 34, 36, 38, 39, 46, 51, 52]
Change Qualifiers: social change; improvement; improve health/well-being; take action; solution generation; planning action steps; engage in quest for information/ideas to guide future actions	[22–24, 32, 35–37, 52, 53]
Educating	[23, 24, 32, 36, 54]
Theory generation or refinement	[23, 52]
Relationship building Qualifiers: strengthen relationships among group members, learn to integrate individualizing characteristics with a deeper communion with others and the world; involvement;	[23, 27, 38, 55]
Developmental/Transformative for the individuals or organizations involved Qualifiers: a re-educative process that develops capabilities and transforms individuals/teams through experiential engagement; empowerment; reciprocal transfer of expertise	[23, 24, 35, 51, 53, 54]
Methods
Problem-focused Qualifiers: problem identification; diagnosing a problem; define a pressing problem; an agreed area of human activity; solution generation; planning action steps; engage actively in the quest for information and ideas to guide future actions	[22, 23, 34–39, 54]
Systematic	[32, 36]
Cyclical Qualifiers: emergence; adaptive cycles of action-feedback-action-feedback-action; repeated episodes of reflection and action; between meetings, members inquire into their own practice, observe, and implement new actions to help learn something new about the question; four phases of reflection and action; experimentation; learning at each step to inform the next set of decisions/actions; evaluation leads to diagnosing the situation anew based on incremental learnings	[23, 34, 35, 37, 39, 51]
Reflective Qualifiers: self-reflective; members reflect together on their work; inquiring deeply into assumptions and root causes, and transferring learning at multiple levels	[23, 27, 38–40, 52]
Collaborative Design and Evaluation Qualifiers: partnership; collective; group activity; mutualistic; inclusive; collaboration shapes and transforms methods; co-learning; participation of all relevant constituencies or stakeholders; involve all participants in all aspects of the research process; organization members participate throughout the research process from the initial design to the final presentation of results and discussion of their implications; reciprocal transfer of expertise; shared decision making power; mutual ownership of the processes and products of the research enterprise; facilitators and group participants co-author reports to present findings; participate in the research processes, which in turn are applied in ways that benefit all participants; multiple person, multiple perspective with participants as co-researchers	[22–24, 32–39, 49, 51, 52]
Context specific Qualifiers: Must be applicable to the system in which the inquiry takes place	[23, 46, 51, 56]
Studying the whole or the patterns rather than the parts	[33, 35, 52]
Qualitative and quantitative data collection and analysis Qualifiers: mixed method designs collecting/analyzing both qualitative and quantitative data in single study; concurrent triangulation with multi-strand, multi-wave design; data collected/analyzed simultaneously/iteratively	[23, 28, 34, 52]
Who
Researchers Qualifiers: Professional action researchers, core research team members, researchers	[22–24, 38, 49]
Whoever is affected by the problem being studied Qualifiers: Requisite variety; system members; communities; those affected by the issue being studied; representatives of organizations; members of an organization or community seeking to improve their situation; group of peers	[24, 32, 38, 39, 46, 49]
Fields Represented
Health Related: Public Health, Primary Care, Patient Care, Nursing, Health Education, Health Sociology, Disability Research, Environmental Health, Injury Research, Mental Health, Reproductive Health
Non-Health Related: Anthropology, Business Administration (Organizational Change/Development, Management, Human-Information System Interfaces), Sociology, Community Development, Community Psychology

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