We invited colleagues to send us examples of dissertations/theses where students used participatory research. The following list includes the various offerings that were sent to us. We hope these might be useful examples for students planning on writing their own dissertations up. This list has not been curated and lists the documents as we’ve received them.
This book is a great resource for students: The Action Research Dissertation
Received examples with links
Anderson, C.R. 2014. Growing Food and Social Change: Rural Adaptation, Participatory Action Research and Civic Food Networks in North America. Department of Environment and Geography, University of Manitoba. Available at: https://mspace.lib.umanitoba.ca/xmlui/handle/1993/23453
Bezzina, L. 2017. Disabled Voices in Development? The Implications of Listening to Disabled People in Burkina Faso. Department of Geography, Durham University. Available at: http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/12100/
Buchanan, C. 2019. Food Autonomy at a Time of Capitalist Crisis: A Participatory Video inquiry into Thessaloniki’s Autonomous Food Initiatives. PhD Dissertation. Coventry University.
Challis, S. 2014. Maximising impact: connecting creativity, participation and wellbeing in the qualitative evaluation of creative community projects. Unpublished Thesis. Coventry: Coventry University. Available at: https://curve.coventry.ac.uk/open/file/53a3eb2f-401e-40bc-b530-115428d1b7d6/1/challiscomb.pdf
Challis, S. and Wimpenny, K. 2015. Wellbeing in School and Arts Related Research for Patient Benefit Feasibility Study. Coventry: Coventry University. Available at: https://curve.coventry.ac.uk/open/file/e84bd0a2-976f-43c6-819d-a846148b5845/1/wellbeing.pdf
Holtom, B. 2015. Life after immigration detention as “detention without walls”: the spectre of detention and deportation in the United Kingdom. MRes in Human Geography in the School of Geographical and Earth Sciences, University of Glasgow.
Jones, N.L. 2016. Eating While Young and Black: Food, Foodways, and Gentrification in Austin, Texas. The University of Texas at Austin. Available at: https://www.peoplesknowledge.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/N.-Jones_Dissertation_Final.pdf
Kalazich, M.F.2013. Cultural meanings and values of the past. A participatory approach to archaeology in the Atacameño Community of Peine, Chile. University College London. Available at: http://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/1399067/
Kelly, S. 2018. Articulating Indigenous Rights Amidst Territorial Fragmentation: Small Hydropower Conflicts in the Puelwillimapu, Southern Chile. (Doctoral Dissertation). University of Arizona. DOI 10.13140/RG.2.2.33248.94724
Kindon, S. 2012. ‘Thinking-Through-Complicity’ with Te Iwi o Ngāti Hauiti: Towards a Critical Use of Participatory Video for Research. Department of Geography. The University of Waikato. Available at: https://www.peoplesknowledge.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Kindon-2012-Thesis-1.pdf
Lovell, J.M.G. (2017) So What’s Changed? Participatory action research through which diverse members co-evaluate their community organisation to creatively document their experiences and outcomes. PhD thesis, University of Leeds. Available from http://etheses.whiterose.ac.uk/18274/
McAllister, G (2018) Cultivating Social-Ecological Relationships at the Margins: Agroecology as a Tool for Everyday Peace Formation in Fragile Environments. PhD thesis. Coventry University.
Nold, C. 2017. Device Studies of Participatory Sensing: Ontological Politics and Design Interventions. University College London. Available at: http://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/1569340/
Stevens, M. 2012. Community memories for sustainable societies: The case of environmental noise. Vrije Universiteit Brussel. Available at: http://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/1368079/
Templer Rodrigues, A.I. 2018 Rethinking the Creative Economy: The Diverse Economies of Artists and Artisans in Rural Massachusetts. University of Massachusetts Amherst. Available at: https://www.peoplesknowledge.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Templer-Rodrigues-Dissertation.pdf
NOTE: The Graduate Center at CUNY is a key place for participatory action research. Search their dissertation database for those keywords here: https://academicworks.cuny.edu/do/search/?q=Participatory%20action&start=0&context=7058020&facet=
List compiled by Colin Anderson
Photo credit: Clara Amelia Anderson
