The SAGE Handbook of Participatory Research and Inquiry

This rich, inspiring collection is testament to the extraordinary creativity of those who have brought about a veritable revolution in research through participatory methodologies and approaches. Drawn from across the globe, contributors attest to the power of participatory research and inquiry its enduring value as a catalyst for change

This Handbook makes a state of the art contribution to this popular field grounded in 50 years of in-depth experience and spanning to some of its newest insightful practitioners. A landmark achievement. 

Participatory research has become a cornerstone of co-designing respectful and effective cooperation initiatives in the last twenty years. This comprehensive Handbook offers an invaluable compilation and review of how this can be approached in a multi-disciplinary way in different settings, and should be an essential and well-thumbed reference guide for students and practitioners alike.

This new collection of articles on participatory research from new generation of researcher-activists is heartily welcome. With a wide variety of epistemological and contextual locations, the collection will inspire continued creativity and plurality in the elaboration of participatory research. Hopefully, the transformational potential of participatory research will begin to contribute to post-pandemic, resilient and fairer reconstruction of societies around the world.

Recognising the ever-pressing need for research approaches that can assist, support, or facilitate processes of social transformation across different contexts, problems, inequalities, exclusions, and injustices, the editors and authors of The SAGE Handbook of Participatory Research and Inquiry exhibit the historical trajectories, wealth, diversity, and practicalities of participatory research. In traversing the roots of participatory research through its progression and expansion with theoretical orientations, political and ethical commitments, contextual and disciplinary articulations, and specific methods, readers can find exceptional coverage of past and current iterations of the research practice recognised broadly under the umbrella of participatory research. This text is a valuable guiding resource for researchers, doctoral students, and all who undertake participatory research and its many and varied forms, aims, subtleties, challenges, and potentials. 

Achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and meeting commitments to the Paris Agreement requires impactful solutions that reach the poorest and most marginalized to deliver on the promise of the SDGs to leave no one behind. With the COVID-19 pandemic and its impacts on rising poverty and hunger, the climate crisis and increasing environmental pressures, we must redouble our efforts to achieve our goals. This requires drawing on the richness of ideas and experiences across communities, including young people, women and girls and indigenous peoples, for a deeper understanding of their challenges and what works in practice to overcome them, so we can act on that knowledge to create a sustainable and inclusive future for all.

Participatory research is an essential tool to deliver on that objective. Participatory research sets out open and inclusive approaches that engage the poorest and most marginalized – so we can gain knowledge and understanding of the issues that affect their lives and turn those into action. Participatory research empowers young people to learn and apply research techniques to discover solutions for their own issues – grounded in the belief that youth are valuable experts and that power between youth and adults should be shared. It can support governments in establishing better ways of listening to people whom they are meant to serve and taking their views into account, especially groups that are frequently overlooked. This is essential to rebuild trust and foster a renewed social contract between governments and their people and within societies.

This Handbook provides a comprehensive overview of different participatory research methods that researchers with varied expertise in the field can use to support the type of social transformation that we need. I encourage all researchers to make full use of it to accelerate achievement of the SDGs and fulfil the Paris Agreement towards a better, more sustainable and peaceful future for our people and planet.