From these definitions we can see that PAR has some key components:
a focus on change – commitment to participate with people to improve and understand the world by changing it (McIntyre, 2008)although there are differences between researchers as to the scale of that change and the degree to which it is focused on promoting democracy and reducing inequality;
context-specific – it is generally targeted around the needs of a particular group although this can vary in size from small teams to projects encompassing entire communities;
emphasis on collaboration – researchers and participants working together to examine a problematic situation or action to change it for the better, although there are differences in opinion as to how much collaboration is possible or necessary;
a cyclical process – an iterative cycle of research, action and reflection (Kindon et al, 2006) underpins the research process although it is not always clear how this happens in practice;
participants are competent and reflexive and capable of participating in the entire research process although researchers may adopt different standards as to the level of participation that ‘qualifies’ as PAR;
knowledge is generated through participants’ collective efforts and actions;
liberatory – PAR seeks to ‘liberate’ participants to have a greater awareness of their situation in order to take action, although for some researchers the emphasis on liberation will be tempered;
PAR is not just another method – more an orientation to inquiry – this means that many different methods are possible (quantitative and qualitative);
success is some personal or collective change – but for others the emphasis is on developing theories and practices that can be shared.