EMFA: T3E7 - Participatory Research - Emery

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Theme: Networking Communities - Essay 7
Author: Mary Emery
E-Mail: memery@lcsc.edu


Participatory Research and the Power of Networked Communities

We see what Internet access can do to help communities 
communicate better among members.  We have many examples of how 
Internet access changes our perceptions and actions in regard 
to public advocacy work.  We know that Internet access overcomes 
the barriers to getting and using information inherent in 
living in a rural, remote, or poor community. What we have yet 
to explore is the power of the world-wide web technology to help 
communities learn about themselves and others and to generate 
their own knowledge base.  

The new technology makes it possible for every person to 
publish.  Via web pages any one can make their information 
available to others.  Individuals from all walks of life 
can create new information, mismanage information from others, 
organize existing information for a particular purpose, or 
editorialize about events and others interpretation of those 
events.  Many have commented that this aspect of life in the 
Information Age may have revolutionary consequences on a par 
with the introduction of the printing press.  

What is truly revolutionary about this technology, however, 
is its ability to allow us to collectively develop new knowledge 
and interpret it.  One of the most powerful tools in community 
empowerment is participatory research. The world-wide web 
technology provides a means for communities to create new 
knowledge in a community context.  Rather than objects of a 
remote institution's research efforts, communities and their 
members can become their own subjects.  For example, communities 
can develop their own criteria for a healthy community.  At the 
computer, each person enters his/her own data thus eliminating 
the researcher who collects data.  S/he can also push a button 
to see the updated report and analyze the findings.  Using the 
technology s/he can share interpretations, conclusions, and 
strategies for action with others.  

We know from past examples of participatory research, holistic 
grazing for instance, that collecting data over time motivates 
people to see they have a role in change. The application of 
this technology to participatory research can revolutionize the 
roles of community leaders and activists as well as those with 
whom we work.  Access to the process of generating knowledge 
creates an uniquely vital context for action.  If we grasp the 
power of the technology to create a community context for 
collecting, analyzing and using information, we also create a 
process to motivate people to make a difference in the quality 
of their everyday lives.  Networked communities of the future 
become communities that truly know themselves and, thus, can 
plot their course to the future.

Submitted by:

Mary Emery, Director
Institute for Community Development
Lewis-Clark State College
Lewiston, ID 83501
208/799-2460, FX 208/799-2878 memery@lcsc.edu 



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