Trumped: a case study and critical reflections on the threats of unweighted positivity and external context to appreciative inquiry-led participative action research

Impact-driven participative organizational research can be difficult to undertake and problematic to evaluate, particularly when results are mixed. This article narrates the development of an organizational diversity and inclusion project undertaken using the appreciative inquiry methodology, which can be well-suited when working with vulnerable populations. The five stages of the methodology are examined within the context of the case example, illustrating the strengths and challenges of the method in vivo. As the results of the case example were decidedly mixed, the influences of external and internal context on the abrupt termination of the inquiry are introduced and discussed, including the overlap of the project's timing with the election of Donald Trump. Three critical theory-based considerations are introduced on how to evaluate and adjust the use of impact-focused participatory action research methods under less than favourable circumstances or when the stakes are high.