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APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing

Recorded presentation

Darcy Freedman, MPH¹, Marsha Davis, PhD², and Sarah VanHooser, BA¹. (1) Department of Human and Organizational Development, Community Research and Action program, Vanderbilt University, 1905 Convent Place #7, Nashville, TN 37212, 615-579-0783, darcy.a.freedman@vanderbilt.edu, (2) Department of Internal Medicine and Public Health, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, 1215 21st Avenue South, 6000 Medical Center East, North Tower, Nashville, TN 37232-8300

Participatory research methods (PRM) are intended to increase community control over the research process; yet few studies critically examine the extent to which participatory researchers inadvertently control the development of community voice. Two commonly used methods for establishing community voice are focus groups (FG) and photovoice (PV), though the participatory nature of these methods varies. To assess researcher influence on the planning stage of a childhood obesity prevention intervention, facilitator comments from 3 FGs were compared to comments from 1 PV session. FG and PV sessions were facilitated by the lead author. Data were analyzed through an iterative process using Atlasti. On average, the facilitator contributed to 13.3% of the FG dialogues compared to 8.1% of the PV dialogue; facilitator comments differed between FGs and PV. On average, the facilitator shifted the topic of conversation 10.3 times in the FGs compared to only once in PV. The FG dialogues were less democratic; the facilitator needed to solicit participant feedback 11.3 times (on average) in the FGs compared to 8 times in PV; however, solicitation tactics in the FGs were much more likely to be individually-directed because some voices remained unheard without direct solicitation. PV enhanced community and relinquished researcher control over the research process to a greater extent than the more conventional method of FGs; further examination of why this happened is warranted. Participatory researchers should institute steps in the research process to identify how they unintentionally influence the knowledge production process so the aims of PRM may be achieved.

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