Participatory Research – Round Table Discussion

This blog is written on behalf of Scotland’s Third Sector Research Forum, which is facilitated by Evaluation Support Scotland.

Back in October 2023, we put out a survey about conducting participatory research in Scotland. We wanted to find out not only who is doing participatory research, but also who isn’t – but would like to be. We received great feedback and enthusiasm from respondents, so we decided to organise a small in‑person round‑table event that would help shape an online follow‑up session for a wider audience.

The Third Sector Research Forum, in a joint venture with The Binks Hub, hosted the event at the brand‑new Edinburgh Futures Institute site. In this blog, Marianne, Communications Officer at Evaluation Support Scotland, shares her thoughts from the round-table discussion.

Monday 25^th of March

📍Edinburgh Futures Institute.

When I arrived at the EFI (occupying the iconic Old Royal Infirmary) on a rainy Monday morning, I didn’t know much about participatory research, nor what to expect from this discussion.

The visual note taker, Jenny, was already set up and getting the lay of the room while participants arrived and I got ready with my notebook and camera.

The day began with a presentation from Poverty Alliance’s Senior Research Officer, Laura, and Peer‑Researcher, Shazia. Shazia had taken part in a focus group of asylum seekers discussing access to higher education. From this peer‑research project, it emerged that asylum seekers are often highly educated but face the challenge of lacking formal proof of their qualifications. She explained that other barriers include language, limited knowledge of the UK education system, restrictions to part‑time study only, and the fact that scholarships open to asylum seekers are extremely scarce.

Shazia explained that participatory research is, for her, a framework for talking with the community affected by an issue, and that best practice includes co‑developing research questions, engaging the community, maintaining confidentiality, offering support, and ensuring safety.

Next up was a presentation from YouthLink Scotland’s Senior Policy & Research Officer, Amy, and peer‑researcher, Connor. They explained that the kind of participatory research they do is youth‑led research. This means they work in partnership with young people, researching topics that young people care about and want to be involved in.

Participants are chosen based on a range of criteria to ensure variety and representation of different walks of life within the group. Connor explained that there is no pressure for the young people to join in, but the researchers create opportunities to get involved by hosting team‑building trips and using mechanisms like ‘brave spaces’ to give the young people the chance to talk about awkward issues.

Participatory research was also referred to as a: ‘community led approach’, ‘peer-research’, and ‘community research’.

Discussions at participation stations

For the second half of the session, participants were asked to split into groups to discuss a topic around participatory research, such as:

• What does ‘participatory research’ mean to you?
• Best practice in participatory research
• Ethics in participatory research
• How best to support participation
• Funding participatory research

Before the session participants had been asked to bring an object or image with them on the day that represents their thoughts on that topic.

With my limited knowledge of participatory research, I had struggled to think of what to bring, so it was very interesting to see the wide range of items that participants had brought with them (a Rubik’s cube, a watch, an egg), as well as hearing their justifications.

Each group then created a sticky flipchart to capture the points of discussion for the wider group to see.

Final reflections

At the end of the event, the wider group reflected on the session, agreeing that it had been a well‑balanced discussion and that it was interesting to see similar themes and ideas emerge across the different discussion topics. As for my own final reflection, I now understand why participatory research is so important, and I appreciate the significance of research that is informed by the people behind it, along with the many considerations that need to be taken into account when conducting it.

To hear about future events like this, sign-up to the TSRF mailing list!

For more reflections from the event, see this blog from Helen Berry (Binks Hub doctoral researcher)