Darby, SJC (2017) Making space for co-produced research ‘impact’: learning from a participatory action research case study. Area, 49 (2). pp. 230-237. ISSN 0004-0894
Abstract
There is growing emphasis in the UK on promoting research that creates a positive impact on society. Research Councils UK, the major national research funding agencies, have recently defined a framework for promoting and measuring this impact. This paper contributes to current debates about this developing agenda and, particularly, the problematic intersection of the impact agenda and co-production research approaches. I argue that processes of negotiating values, aims and power relations are essential to creating relevant, ethical impacts with research participants. In contrast to the emphasis placed on linear and top-down change by the impact agenda, my experience doing participatory action research with a UK community group shows that co-produced research produces different kinds of impacts: co-produced impacts are emergent and non-linear; responsive and relational; and empowering when rooted in reciprocal collaboration with research partners. This paper questions the implicit values the impact framework imposes on academic researchers and community partners, calling for continued critical engagement with the impact agenda to encourage the value-rational reflection, deliberation and collaboration needed for creating socially transformative research.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2017 Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers). This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: Darby, S. (2017), Making space for co-produced research ‘impact’: learning from a participatory action research case study. Area. doi:10.1111/area.12321; which has been published in final form at https://doi.org/10.1111/area.12321. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with the Wiley Terms and Conditions for Self-Archiving. |
Keywords: | UK; co-production; participatory action research; power; research impact; values |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Environment (Leeds) > School of Geography (Leeds) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 08 Mar 2017 13:28 |
Last Modified: | 28 Feb 2019 01:38 |
Published Version: | https://doi.org/10.1111/area.12321 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Wiley |
Identification Number: | 10.1111/area.12321 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:113316 |