Cultural background, gender, and institutional status have an effect on the evaluation of multi-disciplinary participatory action research

PLoS One. 2018 May 4;13(5):e0196790. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0196790. eCollection 2018.

Abstract

Research and development increasingly apply participatory approaches that involve both stakeholders and scientists. This article presents an evaluation of German and Tanzanian researchers' perceptions during their activities as part of a large interdisciplinary research project in Tanzania. The project focused on prioritizing and implementing food-securing upgrading strategies across the components of rural food value chains. The participants involved during the course of the project were asked to provide feedback on 10 different research steps and to evaluate eight core features related to the functioning and potential shortcomings of the project. The study discriminated among evaluation differences linked to culture, gender, and institutional status. Perceptions differed between Tanzanian and German participants depending on the type and complexity of the participatory research steps undertaken and the intensity of stakeholder participation. There were differences in perception linked to gender and hierarchical status; however, those differences were not as concise and significant as those linked to nationality. These findings indicate that participatory action research of this nature requires more targeted strategies and planning tailored to the type of activity. Such planning would result in more efficient and satisfactory communication, close collaboration, and mutual feedback to avoid conflicts and other problems. We further conclude that it would be advisable to carefully incorporate training on these aspects into future project designs.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Communication
  • Community Participation / statistics & numerical data
  • Culture
  • Female
  • Gender Identity
  • Germany
  • Health Facilities / statistics & numerical data
  • Health Services Research / statistics & numerical data*
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Research Design / statistics & numerical data*
  • Rural Population / statistics & numerical data
  • Tanzania

Grants and funding

This work was funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) with the funding initiative GlobE – Global food security (contract number: 031A249A). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.