Participatory action research: Reflections on critical incidents in a PAR project

This article describes a participatory action research (PAR) project designed to evaluate Parent to Parent progra ms in f ive states in the United States. The PAR team consisted of two groups: 1) parent leaders of programs that create one-to-one matches between help-seeking parents of children with disabilities and volunteer supporting parents and 2) university-based researchers. Based on a narrative record of the project, critical incidents are presented along with reflections of factors that contributed to the success of the project overall. The project successfully gathered evaluative data about Parent to Parent self-help programs. Results of both the PAR project and the s tudy i t created are presented. A process of developing a shared understanding of the programs and of the purposes for evaluating them, along with an on-going willingness of parents and researchers to compromise, led to creative solutions t