Anthropology 320 - Participatory Research Methodology Assignment

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Participatory Research Methodology Assignment

Anthropology 320 - Dr. Susan Vincent

Raymond Nattress, 200309971

February 05/2007



                Role Playing - Accessibility on Campus for the Disabled


       Throughout this paper I will discuss the conclusions derived from our opportunity

to explore and experiment with the participatory research methodologies of Slocum 2003,

elected by the group of four with whom I worked. The methodology approaches that we

selected to facilitate our study were Relevance Trees and Role Playing. Using these two

aforementioned methods and their corresponding techniques, I will establish and discuss

the pros and cons of these particular approaches and explain how both research methods

work within a small system; as well as providing supporting evidence gathered over the

course of our study.


       The dilemma to which we applied these methods, in regards to our campus, was

the accessibility, for disabled peoples, of the St. Francis Xavier University campus.

Although this particular dilemma does not personally affect every individual of the St.

Francis Xavier student population, it is still something that needs to be explored and

talked about. The rationale for this is that we feel there is a lack of knowledge and

awareness within our campus, and a better understanding of the challenges that other

people face would help us to grow as individuals and as an institution, to help improve

the overall quality of student life here at St. FX.
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       The first method which assisted us in our study of this dilemma was role playing.

Dr. Nikki Slocum defines the process of this methodology in her Participatory methods

toolkit: a practitioner's manual.

       “Role-playing enables people to creatively remove themselves from their usual

       roles and from the perspectives that go along with those roles. These activities

       open imaginations to allow people to understand the choices that another person

       might face and to make decisions and plans as if they had different

       responsibilities”(Slocum, 2003).

This seemed to be an appropriate method because it would allow our subjects or

participants to remove themselves from their roles as capable, non-disabled bodies and

into their prescribed roles of blind, deaf, assisted walking, paralyzed and able bodied.

       We assigned these disabilities to our participating individuals and had them

consider and reflect on how they would go about an average day at St. FX. Throughout

this methodology many strengths and weaknesses of role playing became evident, and

throughout this next section I will discuss them. Role playing eventually stood out as an

effective form of learning, through this prescribed process of simulation. Through this

process you come to identify the other strengths which role playing offers and they

appear to be that it is helpful to expand information into a reaction, essentially you see

and experience facial expressions, body language and language that reflects how the

participants understand their assigned disabilities. This process is helpful for encouraging

participants to determine outcomes rather than being given answers, it seems to be great

for examining and clarifying current values and beliefs and it can increase participants’

motivation to be involved, outside of their ordinary state of mind. Role playing also
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offers an openly controlled environment, where the facilitators can lead discussion but do

not dominate it and in our situation of no hierarchy it allowed the participants to be open

with the facilitators because we are all in the same current situation as students and we

were all around the same age. It created a comfortable setting for answers and discussion,

everyone seemed able to participate freely and there did not appear to be any hesitation or

awkwardness coming from the participants.

       However, I think the fact that we were all fairly close in age and were friends

could affect the outcome of such a study. In our particular case I do not think it had a

negative effect because we all gave our input based on our individual experiences and we

were able to choose a method that would best gain evidence from people who are able

bodied. On the contrary, if the study had been on the entire student body I think the

outcome would be affected if organized and conducted by friends or people of similar

ages because participants’ answers may seem geared toward what is socially acceptable

within that group, versus what their accurate opinions and/or outlooks are.

       Another aspect of the role playing methodology that shows weakness is the

representatives of the group of participants. If you do not have participants who offer a

diverse group of individuals, not all aspects will be covered such as age, sex, gender and

all other important and concerning differences within society. Finally the last aspect of

role playing that creates a problem is its ability to affect those people who can actually

make a change; unless your participants are people of political power or hold some type

of hierarchy regarding your problem, it seems some problems may be too great to be

dealt with based on this one methodology alone.
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          Once we achieved the procedures in which different disabilities would function,

we related the conclusions to the methodology of relevance trees. As previously

mentioned these are Dr. Slocum’s methods, she defines the relevance tree as “an analytic

technique that subdivides a broad topic into increasingly smaller subtopics, presenting

this in terms of a tree-like diagram” (Slocum, 2003). This methodology of the relevance

tree is

          “A normative forecasting method, which starts with future needs or objectives and

          then seeks to identify the circumstances, actions and technologies required to

          meet those needs. It therefore sets out various aspects of a system, problem or

          even a proposed solution so as to facilitate a more complete understanding of the

          topic and a deduction of requirements to reach a particular outcome. It may be

          used to determine the relative importance of efforts to implement policies or

          increase technological performance” (Slocum, 2003).

This method as any other has strengths and weaknesses, but there is one fundamental

aspect of each side. The strength of the relevance tree is that “material is often presented

in a manner that creates a greater understanding of a concept. Relevance trees can break

down topics in new and insightful ways” (Relevance, 1994). This helps to generate the

most productive ways of problem solving and creates a good outline and plan for doing

so. On the other hand the negative aspect of the relevance tree is that it leaves room for

human error. “The development of relevance trees requires critical judgments. If the

underlying thought processes are not insightful, the outcomes of these methods will be

weak” (Relevance, 1994). Therefore weak methods and insightful thought processes are
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or can be the cause of failure in any working project, due to faulty purposes or

aspirations.

       Overall, upon reflection of this assignment of Participatory Research

Methodology, the experience was a high-quality demonstration and allowed for

outstanding perception of how different methods can be applied and the achievements

and breakdowns of them. Therefore, if given the opportunity to facilitate research using

these methodologies in an authentic life situation, role playing and the relevance tree may

not be the finest solution or my first choice of research methodology; however

throughout this research study it has emerged as a technique that provides a great position

or starting point to initiate further research and gain a more accurate understanding of

unknown specific positions.
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                                     Bibliography

Slocum, Nikki. "Participatory Methods Toolkit: a Practitioner's Manual." United Nations
      University. 2003. United Nations University. 02 Feb. 2007
      <http://www.unu.edu/hq/library/Collection/PDF_files/CRIS/PMT.pdf>.

"Relevance Tree and Methodological Analysis." Futures Research Methodology. 1994.
       AC/UNU Millennium Project. 03 Feb. 2007
       <www.futurovenezuela.org/_curso/12-tree.pdf>.

Vincent, Susan. "Participatory Methodology Assignment." Dr. Susan Vincent. 31 Jan.
      2007. St. Francis Xavier University. 02 Feb. 2007
      <http://people.stfx.ca/svincent/anth320/assignmentonequestions.htm>.