Participatory action research in youth programming: A theory in use

Participatory Action Research (PAR) is a kind of research that involves participants in the research process and produces knowledge that is useful to service providers, program participants, and other professionals. This article describes an example of PAR conducted by a youth-adult team to evaluate a youth conference based on the philosophy of "youth empowerment." How participants were included in shaping the research and how researchers collaborated with participants and staff of the program are examined, as well as the specific ways in which the evaluation produced knowledge that was used in the program. © 1997 Human Sciences Press, Inc.