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Reflexively drawing on my experiences as a young researcher conducting collaborative research with young people from migrant backgrounds in rural Australia, this paper brings a critical lens to participatory or co-designed research processes with youth. Drawing on learnings from three relationships with young people involved, I explore some of the ethical complexities of participatory processes with young people, the nature of voice and listening, trust and reciprocity, and knowledge co-production. I argue that paradigms of youth participation and co-design should involve more than sharing projects. They should also involve sharing processes of co-imagining and co-creating accessible, ethical, enjoyable, and realistic forms of participation with young people—which vary across communities, places, and over time. Further, I explore what might be possible, in these processes, if we move beyond "word-centric" approaches to knowledge, "voice", and connection, and learn to listen with our whole selves. What new insights might emerge when we recognise participatory processes and voice itself as co-created, co-creative, and mutually transformative? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Post-diagnostic support for autistic adults in the United Kingdom is geographically inequitable and, in general, considered inadequate. This results in autistic adults facing unnecessary challenges and wide-ranging poor outcomes. A modified Delphi study sought to establish autistic adults' priorities for optimal provision of post-diagnostic support. The study was co-designed with 10 autistic adults across a series of three online workshops. Forty-three autistic adults, who had received their diagnosis in adulthood, completed a series of three online questionnaires through which 153 support priorities were identified. In a fourth questionnaire round, completed by 139 autistic adults, 24 priorities reached or exceeded a consensus threshold of 80% agreement that the item specified an important element of post-diagnostic support. Participants ranked access to support where they live, training of professionals, support to process the impact of a late diagnosis, use of their preferred mode of contact and an individualised support plan as their key priorities for post-diagnostic support. The whole priority list provides a clear and practical articulation of what autistic adults want from post-diagnostic support. This should be used by policymakers and service providers in the United Kingdom to ensure that post-diagnostic support for autistic adults is fit for purpose. Autistic adults in the United Kingdom report that support for themselves and their peers is not suitable for their needs. There has been an increase in adults receiving an autism diagnosis, which many have reported as having a positive impact on their lives. However, the lack of support and understanding after diagnosis, combined with long wait times for an assessment to obtain a diagnosis and to access follow-on support, is having a negative impact on people's lives. This study took place to find out what support autistic people need and want after receiving their diagnosis. It was co-designed with a group of 10 autistic adults which means that the researchers and group members collaboratively designed the research. For the study, 43 autistic adults, diagnosed aged 18 or older, completed three questionnaires. A fourth questionnaire followed that was completed by 139 autistic people who received their diagnosis in adulthood. These questionnaires aimed to help people identify their own priorities when it came to the support they would have liked to receive after being given their autism diagnosis. Participants ranked access to support where they live, training of professionals, support to process the impact of a late diagnosis, use of their preferred mode of contact and a personalised support plan as their top priorities. This demonstrates that local support is highly valued by autistic adults, as are well-trained professionals who offer a range of contact options, support to process a late-in-life autism diagnosis and help to develop and implement support plans. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper I consider various shifts in my research and understanding stimulated by seeking how to combat social ecological crises connected to modern economies. The discussion and critical reflections are structured around five papers that were submitted to Environmental Values in an open call to address my work. A common aspect is the move away from neoclassical environmental economics, and its reductionist monetary valuation, to a more realist theory and multiple methods. This relates to my work on environmental ethics, plural values, stated preference validity and deliberative monetary valuation. Expanding beyond the narrow confines of mainstream orthodoxy has involved exploring a range of other disciplines (e.g. applied philosophy, social psychology, human geography, political science, social anthropology, history of thought and philosophy of science) and learning from this literature to rethink economics and develop social ecological economics. A broad range of subjects are covered here, including: personal responsibility, social practice, psychology of the individual, participatory processes, value (intrinsic, instrumental and relational), Nature–society relationships and interdependencies, critical realism and the conduct of unifying interdisciplinary science. I end with a series of comments concerning the failings of orthodox economics and the conduct of scientific research for social ecological transformation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the explanatory sequential mixed methods design, methods-level integration occurs between quantitative and qualitative phases. In typical use of this design, statistical findings alone may inform the qualitative phase. However, in studies that apply a participatory approach in the second phase, this can be a missed opportunity to incorporate participant perspectives. This Research Note presents the integration of quantitative and qualitative survey results from phase one of an explanatory sequential study using a joint display, which is then used to inform the development of qualitative data collection prompts. This strategy contributes to the field of mixed methods research by detailing the process for undertaking building integration to inform an explanatory sequential study's second participatory qualitative phase. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present methodological discussion describes and reflects on the challenges with decisions made at the planning, implementation, and closure phases of a transformative mixed methods research study aimed at exploring the social connectedness of Burmese, Congolese, Iraqi, and Somali resettled refugees and their perceptions of well-being and belongingness. Although the field of mixed methods research calls for advancement in advocacy, participation, and innovation, little research provides clear guidance in this process. Therefore, this article contributes to the field by providing tangible recommendations to direct mixed methods researchers in their work with vulnerable, cross-cultural populations, promoting a transformative approach to scholarship with vulnerable populations that creates innovative research alongside the community, appropriately representing and empowering participant voices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the application of comics in futures research to involve stakeholders in infrastructure strategy discussions for disruptive futures. It employs a graphic novel called "Vanishing Point! Our Built World," which augments generative AI art with human storytelling to transport participants into a speculative 2150 with a solarpunk theme. The narrative applies the concept of future-self continuity and a temporal discontinuity framework to promote visions of sustainability for both humanity and the environment. The research emphasises the ability of comics to foster meaningful discussions on future infrastructure coordination by incorporating Social Construction Theory, Social Construction of Technology Theory, and Actor Network Theory. Comics being adapted into videos and used in workshops highlight their effectiveness in promoting engagement and facilitating semi-structured discussions. This demonstrates comics as a dynamic tool in futures research and participatory methodologies. Relevant themes: Anthropocene, Ecocene and Climate Change/Post-capitalism/Utopias, Eutopias and Dystopias/Solar Punk and its relations/Artificial Intelligence and Automation/Wicked Problems/Futures and Metaphor/Reimagining Futures Tools and Methodologies. Statement acknowledging use of Generative AI Art and copyright ownership : "Vanishing Point! Our Built World" graphic novel artwork was created with Midjourney generative AI. These images were created using the author's prompts and ideas. The author owns these AI-generated photos and their derivatives. Synthesia was used to create animated films and AI-generated avatars from comic artwork. Statement on the use of Generative AI in the production of this manuscript : Referring to Author Guidelines on Using Generative AI and Large Language Models| Sage Learning Resources (sagepub.com), this manuscript employed various AI tools to assist with research and writing. ChatGPT4 and its plugin, Scholar AI, helped identify relevant literature in addition to traditional research. Litmaps revealed article linkages, clarifying the research landscape. ChatGPT4 critiqued the manuscript. Quillbot improved the manuscript's clarity and consistency by improving its language. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Evaluators' main encounter with views of the future is in the form of theories of change, about how a programme will work to achieve a desired end, in a given context. These are typically focussed on specific relatively short-term futures, which are both desired and expected. But even in the short term, reality often involves unpredictable events which must be responded to. Other ways of thinking about the future may be helpful and complementary, notably those developed by foresight practitioners working in the field of futures studies. These pay more attention to a range of possible futures, rather than a single perspective. One way of exploring such futures is by using ParEvo.org, an online process that enables the participatory exploration of alternative futures. This article explains how the ParEvo process works, the theory informing its design, and its usage to date. Attention is given to three evaluation challenges, and methods to address them: (a) optimising exercise design, (b) analysis of immediate results and (c) identifying longer-term impacts. Two exercises undertaken by the Cambridge-based Centre for the Study of Existential Risk (CSER) in 2021–2022 are used as illustrative examples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although the Futures Triangle, developed by Sohail Inayatullah in the 1990s, has become a staple mental model for the futures/foresight field, it has not been well explored in the academic literature in the context of other futures tools. Here, the authors use a variation of the Futures Triangle as a springboard for foresight work in groups of any size, with a particular focus on facilitating the mindset shift that precedes organizational transformation. The authors present directions and an 80-stakeholder use case of the Co-Creative Futures Triangle, an effective tool to help diverse members of a system to co-ideate unique, positive futures created from a pool of shared values and current realities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, pushed particularly by COVID-19 restrictions and lockdowns, virtual photovoice studies have emerged as an alternative modality of photovoice. Alongside this trend are questions about virtual photovoice practice and methodological questions of participation. This paper interrogates these questions using an Australian photovoice research with LGBTQ+ multicultural older people. Threading through the photovoice stages of conceptualisation, recruitment, photovoice production and discussions, it discusses participation in relation to both in-person and virtual photovoice literatures, highlights challenges and new opportunities. Reflecting on virtual photovoice as a method and a methodology, it positions virtual photovoice as a comparable choice that researchers can make. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the complexity and affordances of staying in 'the field'. Time as a resource for qualitative research is widely experienced as diminishing. Yet increasingly, academic emphasis is also being placed on the merits of time intensive approaches, like participatory scholarship. This tension raises critical questions about the ethics and practices of collaboration within arguably narrowing parameters. Taking a view from the edges of conventional research practice, this article focuses on staying beyond the formal completion of a sociological research project. Drawing on over 10-years of collaboration with youth service providers in an English city, I examine the dynamics and complexities of staying, where temporalities, relationships and practices extend beyond research. In doing so, this article contributes to methodological debates about research exit and participation, by introducing staying as a practice that affords new collaborative freedoms and possibilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reflects on the value of diary methods in the context of a qualitative, longitudinal narrative inquiry exploring the higher education decision-making of further education students in England. Event-based diaries were used alongside interviews and focus groups over a 14-month period to gain in-depth insights into the reasons and influences informing their decision-making trajectories. I explore the challenges, successful approaches and advantages of employing diary methods with young people in this context. Challenges consisted of maintaining participant engagement, which was overcome by combining methods and incorporating a reactive co-participatory element. Yet, a number of advantages emerged from participants' engagement with diary keeping which enhanced the richness of the data; this inspired deeper reflections on decision-making and influences and provided a private space for participants to disclose personal difficulties that could not be obtained via interviews. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In compulsory education in Chile, Deaf students and their teachers must navigate through an educational system that relies heavily on verbal language to validate and communicate knowledge. Most educational resources available to students have been produced for and within a hearing community, privileging sound and written verbal materials over other ways of exchanging knowledge. In this practitioner piece, verbal texts produced in an oral and written culture are transformed in a visual storytelling workshop by a group of Deaf students. The alterations made to the 'original' text are traced in four stages, conceptualized here as transmediation, outlining the way the verbal text is transformed into Chilean Sign Language scripts, objects and characters, altering its structure and meaning. The authors aim to provide teachers and practitioners who work in diverse educational settings with ways of producing educational material through participation with students in creative ways. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rivers mentioned in the Bible are often significant. This narrative-exegetical study focuses on the Mesopotamian rivers, along with the Nile and the Jordan, with the latter leading from the Hebrew Bible on into the New Testament. The paper explores the ways in which these rivers convey divine revelation and mission, asking what the rivers say in expressing that revelation and also what the rivers do as part of its drama. A rich mixture of themes emerge: enabling life and reminding of loss; the nature of power, hubris and vulnerability; transition into new beginnings through crossing the rivers and through washing in them; and ultimately hope for a renewed creation through the flow of life-giving divine presence. In a variety of ways - symbolic, instrumental, sacramental and participatory – the rivers speak and act as partners with their creator. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Autistic students experience strengths and challenges that can impact their full inclusion in higher education, including stigma. A participatory team of autistic and non-autistic scholars developed an autism and universal design (UD) training. This participatory approach centered the voices of autistic collaborators in training design and evaluation. Ninety-eight educators from 53 institutions across five countries completed assessments before training (pre-tests), 89 completed post-tests (after training), and 82 completed maintenance assessments (a month after post-test). Pre-test autism stigma was heightened among males, educators with less autism knowledge, and those who reported heightened social dominance orientation. Autism knowledge, autism stigma, and attitudes toward UD improved with training. Improvements remained apparent a month after post-test but were somewhat attenuated for knowledge and stigma. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first evidence of maintenance of benefits of an autism training over time. Participants' main reason for enrolling in the study was to gain a better understanding about neurodiversity. Feedback indicates that this goal was reached by most with the added benefit of gaining understanding about UD. Results suggest that interest in one type of diversity (e.g. autism) can motivate faculty to learn UD-aligned teaching strategies that benefit diverse students more generally. Autistic university students have many strengths. They also go through difficulties that professors may not understand. Professors may not understand what college life is like for autistic students. They might judge autistic students. A team of autistic and non-autistic researchers made a training to help professors understand autistic students better. This training also gave professors ideas to help them teach all of their students. Ninety-eight professors did an online survey before the autism training. They shared how they felt about autism and teaching. Before our training, professors who knew more about autism appreciated autism more. Professors who thought people should be equal and women also appreciated autism more. Then, 89 of the professors did our training and another survey after the training. This helped us see what they learned from the training. They did one more survey a month later. This helped us see what they remembered. Our training helped professors understand and value autism. It also helped them understand how they can teach all students better. The professors remembered a lot of what we taught them. This study shows that a training that autistic people helped make can help professors understand their autistic students better. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research that 'grows apart' from its original design and proposal is not uncommon, especially when involving participatory and creative methods. However, the disconnect between research intentions and research realization is seldom probed for the insights offered; this paper addresses this gap. Taking up the conceptual lens of research imaginaries, this paper dives into the tensions and discoveries experienced in between the design and the practice of a multi-site participatory research project. The study involved two groups of young people, in two cities in two countries, with a focus on digital lives. In a commitment to collaboration with artists, senior researchers, research assistants, and young people in community spaces, a complex project emerged. This paper describes the tensions and possibilities of an emergent methodology and in doing so argues for increased attention to the movement of research designs; rather than the adherence to them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many autistic people do not learn they are autistic until adulthood. Parents may wait to tell a child they are autistic until they feel the child is "ready." In this study, a participatory team of autistic and non-autistic researchers examined whether learning one is autistic at a younger age is associated with heightened well-being and Autism-Specific Quality of Life among autistic university students. Autistic students (n = 78) completed an online survey. They shared when and how they learned they were autistic, how they felt about autism when first learning they are autistic and now, and when they would tell autistic children about their autism. Learning one is autistic earlier was associated with heightened quality of life and well-being in adulthood. However, learning one is autistic at an older age was associated with more positive emotions about autism when first learning one is autistic. Participants expressed both positive and negative emotions about autism and highlighted contextual factors to consider when telling a child about autism. Findings suggest that telling a child that they are autistic at a younger age empowers them by providing access to support and a foundation for self-understanding that helps them thrive in adulthood. People learn they are autistic at different ages. We wanted to know if telling kids they are autistic earlier helps them feel better about their lives when they grow up. We are a team of autistic and non-autistic students and professors. Seventy-eight autistic university students did our online survey. They shared how they found out they were autistic and how they felt about being autistic. They also shared how they feel about their lives now. Around the same number of students learned they were autistic from doctors and parents. Students who learned they were autistic when they were younger felt happier about their lives than people who learned they were autistic when they were older. Students who learned they were autistic when they were older felt happier about being autistic when they first found out than people who did not have to wait as long. Our study shows that it is probably best to tell people they are autistic as soon as possible. The students who did our study did not think it was a good idea to wait until children are adults to tell them they are autistic. They said that parents should tell their children they are autistic in ways that help them understand and feel good about who they are. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Obscenity and pornographic culture did not disappear with Times Square's gentrification in the 1990s. Rather, gentrification inaugurated new obscene cultural forms, displaying the opulence of celebrity and the enclosed spaces of media production. Using observations and interviews with production staff at Total Request Live (1998–2008), the flagship music countdown show on the MTV cable network, the essay examines techniques of incorporating audiences and audience-generated content into late-1990s/early-2000s TV production, just before social media's rise. It examines media production within a material urban process, not simply producing ideology or images, but inciting and laboring on forms of self-exposure and a quasi-erotic excitement of watching others transgress deepening class hierarchies. The essay describes the urban material foundations of this cultural form as infrastructures of obscenity. For this, it theorizes obscenity beyond sex and explicitly erotic content. It likewise proposes obscenity as an alternative to standard analytical approaches to media, like 'ritual', 'transgression' and carnivalesque 'inversion' or resistance, which are insufficient to understand the production techniques at TRL. It connects those insights to Times Square's millennial transformations, focusing on the strategies used by MTV's Midtown Studio in the production of TRL. The analysis demonstrates how the social production of new architectural and infrastructural strategies in Times Square's post-Disney Store period used highly staged audience engagement to build a recursive, shared experience of obscenity through transgression, prurience, intensity, and authenticity. The infrastructures of obscenity approach complements theories of active viewership but also problematizes viewers' activity as fully-formed resistance or 'subversion,' implicitly or explicitly. This essay's evidence illustrates how an opposing organizational project by media capital happens, imperfectly, pragmatically, and perhaps even contrary to many theoretical assumptions about how audiences and industry encounter each other, provoking further an engagement with contradiction, ambivalence, and labor to materially organize the heterogeneity of social feeling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Transitional-aged youth (TAY) between the ages of 16 and 24 experience higher rates of mental distress than any other age group. It has long been recognized that stability, consistency, and continuity in mental health care delivery are of paramount importance; however, the disjointed progression from paediatric to adult psychiatric services leaves many TAY vulnerable to deleterious health outcomes. In Spring 2019, eight TAY living with mental health challenges participated in a Photovoice study designed to: (1) illuminate their individual transition experiences; and, (2) support a collective vision for optimal mental health care at this nexus. Participants took photographs that reflected three weekly topics— the good, the bad, and the vision —and engaged in a series of three corresponding photo-elicitation focus group sessions. Twenty-four images with accompanying titles and captions were sorted into nine participant-selected themes. Findings contribute to an enhanced awareness of psychiatric service delivery gaps experienced by TAY, and advocate for seamless and supportive transitions that more effectively meet the mental health care needs of this population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Autistic university students face stigma. Online trainings have been used to improve explicit autism stigma (social distance) and knowledge among university students in different countries. However, autistic university students have not typically been involved in developing such trainings. We developed two autism trainings: a participatory training (developed in collaboration with autistic university students) and a non-participatory training. We evaluated these trainings with undergraduate students in the United States and Lebanon. A pilot study revealed improvements in implicit biases (measured with an Implicit Association Test) and knowledge following both trainings, but no clear benefit of the participatory training in particular. Feedback revealed that participants found the Implicit Association Test tedious, suggesting that it might have dampened effects by boring participants. To increase engagement, we removed the Implicit Association Test and conducted a cross-university training comparison which revealed evidence that the participatory training was more effective than the non-participatory training at improving autism knowledge, explicit stigma, and attitudes toward inclusion. Autistic co-authors coded participant feedback and identified three key themes to guide future training development and adaptation: an (inter)personal element, accessibility, and clarity of information. These studies provide empirical support for the oft-cited, but rarely directed tested, benefits of involving autistic people in research about autism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The use of multimodal approaches to articulate young children's perspectives are evident in a wide range of recent research. This paper explores the creation of multimodal map-texts as a strategy to engage with young children and articulate their perspectives. It describes the development of a flexible map-based approach that was used in home, early years and community settings with children aged 4 to 5 years in England. Illustrative examples are included in which children represented and shared their views on the image-based texts they encountered within their everyday lives through the creation of a multimodal map-text. In this approach to research, children are viewed as competent message creators whose engagements encompass a range of modes and media. Consideration was given to young children's multimodal meaning-making practices throughout the act of mapping, as well as the resulting text. Taking this approach revealed knowledge, perspectives and contextual information which may otherwise have been overlooked. The paper concludes by identifying the contribution that children's map-texts can make when building a picture of young children's experiences, and appraises the advantages and limitations of map-making as a strategy for engaging with young children in research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article proposes improvements to an open framework for evaluating participatory science, including projects framed as citizen science. An original proposed framework, while valuable in its comprehensiveness, used problematic language that makes it unworkable in many international contexts. In countries like Australia where Indigenous data sovereignty matters profoundly, language about 'target groups' and 'easing access' to knowledge can harmfully perpetuate colonial discourses. The original proposed framework is sufficiently useful that it is worth constructively revising, so critique in this article is aimed towards collaborative progression of an open framework more suitable for international use. As well as replacing 'target groups' with partnership approaches, we argue that 'easing access' to knowledge for exploitation is a frame perpetuating the colonial doctrine of discovery, proposing recovery as an alternative aligned with several international movements for social justice and sustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: While the Texas infant mortality rate (IMR) is below the Healthy People 2020 objective (5.7 per 1,000 live births), stark differences in IMR are seen across Texas communities. Health indicators for the state suggest important missed opportunities for improving maternal and infant outcomes. The Healthy Families initiative was a collaboration between a Texas state agency, community partners, and academic institutions to understand how evidence-based interventions could be identified, adapted, and implemented to address community priorities and reduce disparities in pregnancy outcomes. Method: The Healthy Families initiative included two Texas counties, one with low utilization of prenatal care and one with persistent disparities in infant mortality. The model served to (1) identify community factors influencing IMR and maternal morbidity through stakeholder engagement and secondary data, (2) build community capacity to link pregnant women with existing and newly developed services, and (3) develop partnerships within the community and clinics to improve access to and sustainability of services. Results: A community-based participatory approach focused on stakeholder engagement was used to identify, design, and adapt strategies to address community-identified priorities. Conclusions: The Healthy Families initiative is a unique state–community–academic partnership aimed at improving pregnancy outcomes in vulnerable communities, with a focus on promotion of capacity building, maintenance, and sustainability of maternal and infant health programs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article aims to re-purpose evaluation to learn about social justice by anchoring evaluation in normative dimensions. This article demonstrates the ways in which evaluation with an establishment orientation can limit the scope for dialogue and neglect narratives that contest the status quo. It explains how a more participatory approach that engages with the standpoints of marginalised participants can enhance the potential to learn about social justice. An ethical commitment to social justice does not mean a rejection of rigour in evidence-based evaluation. Relating Fraser's critical theory of participatory parity to the regulative ideal of evaluation creates a foundation to systematically foreground explanations about how an intervention has delivered social justice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The writing skills of autistic university students have received very little empirical attention. Previous research has suggested that autistic people may struggle with writing, in part, due to challenges with Theory of Mind. However, other research indicates that Theory of Mind difficulties are far from universal in autism, varying across developmental and social contexts. Through a participatory research approach, autistic university students contributed to the current study examining the writing strengths and challenges of autistic (n = 25) and nonautistic (n = 25) university students. Autistic participants demonstrated more advanced writing skills, more perfectionistic attitudes about writing, and heightened nonverbal intelligence relative to nonautistic students. Autistic students did not exhibit reduced Theory of Mind skills. Although heightened nonverbal intelligence and being autistic were both initially predictive of writing quality, autism was no longer associated with writing quality after accounting for nonverbal intelligence. Findings suggest that autistic university students may often have enhanced cognitive and writing skills but may face challenges overcoming perfectionism. This research highlights the value of participatory collaborations with autistic students for identifying strengths that can help autistic students succeed in college. We do not know very much about the writing skills of autistic university students. Studies with autistic children and teenagers show that some autistic young people have difficulties writing. Other autistic people are talented writers. In fact, some autistic people would rather write than speak. Good writers often imagine other people's points of view when writing. Autistic people sometimes have difficulties understanding others' points of view. Yet, autistic people often work much harder to understand others' points of view than not-autistic people do. We collaborated with autistic university student researchers to see if autistic university students are better or worse at writing than nonautistic students. Autistic university students in our study were better writers than nonautistic students. Autistic students in our study had higher nonverbal intelligence than nonautistic students. Autistic students also put themselves under more pressure to write perfectly than nonautistic students did. Autistic students did not show any difficulties understanding other minds. This study shows that some autistic university students have stronger writing skills and higher intelligence than nonautistic university students. Yet, autistic students may be too hard on themselves about their writing. Fun activities that help students explore their ideas without pressure (like theater games) may help autistic students be less hard on their writing. Teachers can help autistic students express themselves through writing by encouraging them to write about their interests, by giving them enough time to write, and by letting them write using computers if they want to. This study shows that collaborations with autistic people can help us understand strengths that can help autistic people succeed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Participatory music engagement has the capacity to support well-being. Yet, there is little research that has scrutinized the processes through which music has an effect. In this meta-ethnography [PROSPERO CRD42019130164], we conducted a systematic search of 19 electronic databases and a critical appraisal to identify 46 qualitative studies reporting on participants' subjective views of how participatory music engagement supports their mental well-being. Synthesis of first-order and second-order interpretations using thematic coding resulted in four third-order pathways that account for how participatory music engagement supports mental well-being: managing and expressing emotions, facilitating self-development, providing respite, and facilitating connections. Our interpretation suggests that people benefit from participatory music engagement by engaging with specific and multiple processes that meet their individual needs and circumstances. These findings inform research directions within the field of music and well-being, as well as guiding the development and delivery of future music interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An increasing focus on health equity across a number of health disciplines is generating more consistent prioritizations of trauma-informed approaches, cultural responsiveness, and community engagement. These foci have heightened interest in photovoice as a participatory research method—particularly in research among vulnerable populations or related to sensitive topics. Photovoice's ballooning popularity can be traced in part to the alignment of its aims and practices with broad health equity goals; at the same time, its singular status reveals a lack of similarly creative, adaptive methods for use in vulnerable or sensitive contexts. In addition, photovoice is not without its concerning limitations, and its increasing usage warrants not only caution, but responsive innovation. To that end, this article draws on the extensive photovoice literature, as well as on the author's own work at the intersections of public health and the arts, to offer an overview of four photovoice limitations and related concerns. It then highlights the method's untapped potential by identifying under-researched qualities in need of development—noting these as opportunities to learn from (and further adapt) the photovoice method. Finally, the article pulls limitations and benefits together to frame photovoice as a basis for the continued innovation, study, and development of more equitable approaches to health research and practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is relatively little research unpacking provider processes or tensions (e.g., leadership decision-making) when attempting to gather and incorporate community feedback into gender-based violence work. Across focus groups with 18 sexual violence preventionists, we explored experiences collecting information and perspectives from or with community members; barriers, and facilitators; and how they navigate possibilities of community-informed sexual violence prevention. We learned that preventionists want to gather input, and they gather it in nonsystematic ways; they face barriers familiar to many community-informed processes; and the topic of sexual violence complicates community-informed processes. Determining boundaries of possibility is central to navigating practice. Further, organizational settings are influential in determining boundaries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Group level assessment (GLA) is a qualitative and participatory research-to-action methodology designed to engage a large group of relevant participants throughout the research process. As originally conceived, a single GLA session is led by a trained facilitator who guides the participants through seven structured steps: climate setting, generating, appreciating, reflecting, understanding, selecting, and action. The purpose of this manuscript is to describe the 25-year trajectory and uses, contributions as a liberating structure, and adaptations of GLA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article works at the intersection of creative, participatory and critical research. It explores an emergent qualitative methodology that is creative and participatory but not is always as critical as it might be: collaborative storytelling or storying. Understandings of critical collaborative storytelling and (more generically and inclusively) storying are developed through an account of a series of storying workshops. In these workshops, a group of young British Muslims made a short animated film titled 'Halal Dating'. In their animated film, the participants explored an otherwise hard-to-name part of their lives: sexual relationships. Thus, in addition to its methodological interest, this article may appeal to readers with more substantive interests in religion, young people, gender and sexuality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The authors have co-designed and co-facilitated an innovative training method and approach to gender-sensitive conflict analysis. International organisations rarely undertake gendered conflict analysis as it is perceived to be difficult, with unclear or inconvenient actions identified. Yet the authors' practice-based research shows it is essential to understanding and transforming the gendered root causes, discriminatory gender norms, and differentiated effects of violence and conflict. In this article, the authors share the lessons from workshops they conducted across multiple conflict-affected contexts. They detail the participatory process undertaken involving diverse gender groups from civil society and policymakers working in conflict-affected contexts and provide data on the effectiveness and sustainability of this innovative training approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article we explore how individual expressions of agency are shaped by structural factors and exercised by Black African girls with child sexual abuse (CSA) histories as they navigate resilience pathways. We employed a qualitative multiple instrumental case study design and purposefully recruited seven Black African girls, between the ages of 15 and 18 years, with a history of CSA. Participants were engaged in a range of participatory methods that included participatory diagramming (time lines), digital stories, and participatory videos. Data were analyzed using inductive thematic analysis. Findings highlight how agency, as a process of resilience, manifested as well as how these agentic expressions were activated, bound, and later reciprocated and sustained by the surrounding social structures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rapid Impact Evaluation offers the potential to evaluate impacts in both ex ante and ex post settings, providing utility for developmental and formative evaluation as well as the usual summative settings. Rapid Impact Evaluation triangulates judgments of three separate groups of experts to assess the incremental change in effects attributable to the program. Three methodological innovations are central to the method: the scenario-based counterfactual, a simplified approach to measuring change in effects, and an interest-based approach to stakeholder engagement. In evaluations to date, Rapid Impact Evaluation has proved to be a cost effective and nimble approach to assessing impacts and does not intrude on design or implementation of the program. By applying recent thinking on use-seeking research emphasizing joint knowledge processes over knowledge products, Rapid Impact Evaluation promotes salience, legitimacy, and credibility with decision makers and key stakeholders. Applications show Rapid Impact Evaluation to be fit for purpose. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Indigenous communities have always cultivated social studies learning that is interactive, dynamic, and integrated with traditional knowledges. To confront the assimilative and deculturalizing education that accompanied European settlement of the Americas, Montana has adopted Indian Education for All (IEFA). This case study evaluates the Digital Storywork Partnership (DSP), which strives to advance the goals of IEFA within and beyond the social studies classroom through community-centered research and filmmaking. Results demonstrate the potential for DSP projects to advance culturally revitalizing education, community connectedness, and identity-development. The DSP offers a model for social studies education that is not only culturally affirming and revitalizing for Indigenous communities, but also holds potential for use in all communities. We conclude with recommendations for educators, scholars, and community members engaged in similar efforts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper documents a collaborative, multi-site participatory action research project in collaboration with children to act on climate change within local community settings. The project was an after-school program that combined hands-on climate change educational activities with photovoice, a participatory action research method that uses digital photography as the basis for problem identification, group dialogue, and social change action. Grounded in transformative sustainability learning theory and integrated with an arts-based participatory action research methodology, the program was designed to strengthen children's climate change awareness and sense of agency through youth-led action projects. After describing the program, this article details the collaborative action projects designed and carried out by 10- to 12-year-olds in each community (e.g., policy advocacy, tree-planting, community garden) as well as how the program facilitated children's constructive climate change engagement through children's enjoyment and agentic action. The critical importance of participatory process and collaborative action in strengthening children's sense of agency is discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An introduction to creative and collaborative approaches to research and practice, with a social and criminal justice focus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For organizational ethnography we argue that traditional philosophies of onto-epistemological realism be supplanted by interpretive and reflexive thinking to provide fresh theoretical assumptions and new methodological proposals for film- and video-based research. The argument is developed in three phases: First, to establish analytical context, we explore the historical evolution of the ethnographic organizational documentary and discuss habitual problems – methodological, philosophical and technical – that filmmakers have faced when claiming qualities of directness and objectivity in their work, that is, through the style of ‘film-truth’. Second, to advance new conceptual logic for video-based organizational research, we supplant the objectivist and realist philosophy underpinning traditional documentary filmmaking with sociologically interpretive and reflexive arguments for undertaking ethnography in organizations, a subjective process which importantly yields greater understanding of affect and embodiment. Finally, to define new methodological opportunities, these interpretive and reflexive arguments are marshalled to underpin a strategy of participatory thinking in video-based organizational ethnography – a ‘withness’ approach facilitating a greater sense of affect and embodiment as well as polyvocal interpretation of visual data; a practice which sees filmmakers, social theorists, participants and viewers alike united in analytical space. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper considers research into civil society’s visions of a good society. In the context of this research, a good society was understood to be visions for society that included a variety of alternatives to the current neoliberal hegemony. These visions of a good society ranged from increased state intervention to place-based community level visions for society. Creative challenges were developed using creative participatory research approaches which are described below. These were framed around three core requests to civil society: to grow, encourage and converse. These core requests aim to empower the development of a broad solidarity of human values. This paper uses the theoretical perspectives of cultural, social, community and human capitals (Bourdieu, 1984; Flora and Flora, 2008; Putnam, 1995) to critically evaluate the creative challenges that have been developed by participatory research with civil society groups. The paper seeks to critically evaluate civil society’s visions of a good society, and to frame a counter-narrative to neoliberalism, which reflect creative challenges; to grow and encourage a civil society ‘field’ (Bourdieu, 1984). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With its conceptual origins in marketing, design, and education, co-creation also has analogues in the fields of science and museology. Reviewing its development in these different disciplines highlights some common challenges (e.g., power relations) and benefits (e.g., joint knowledge production, critical thinking, and shared investment). Aligning this overview with conceptual models such as Arnstein’s ladder of citizen participation and Bakhtin’s carnival theory we aim to further inform the development of co-creation broadly within science communication. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The film Dancing Days With Young People is inspired by art-based research and performative social science. Here artists and researchers examine important issues together. The film follows 1 teacher, 21 university students, and 200 high school pupils from various cultural backgrounds. It focuses especially on the young university students in a challenging course of teaching emphasizing creativity, embodied leadership, and dance. Here, they also teach the high school pupils various styles of dance. Research shows that it can be challenging for many young people to develop teaching competency and the embodied leadership they will need in their impending work as teachers. This is also an issue in many university educations and other educational fields. Therefore, the research questions examined how we can develop somatic awareness, creativity, and embodied leadership through innovative educational processes. And how close-to-practice, artistic elicitation methods may contribute to both researching and portraying this process. The film was created by collaboration between a researcher and teacher, a documentary film instructor, a musician, and a creative film editor. The film was both part of the research process and the result of the creative collaborative. It may be regarded as a coproduced research publication in itself, as it visualizes and documents the findings of the project. Therefore, the film may be seen as a contribution to the growing field within performative social science. Here, the film illustrates especially well the intense moments in sensual emotional situations, which cannot be captured solely in the world of words. The findings show that embodied leadership may be developed through real-world learning processes in which joyous, vulnerable, and subjectively experienced risk-filled situations become part of a common creative educational journey. The teaching methods and the theme of embodiment and leadership may be applicable in wider educational fields. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Places are more than mere locations indicated by coordinates on a map. They are sites invested with meaning that arises out of mobile, embodied, sensuous experience. The construction of place is explored here in the context of participatory, embodied, sensory ethnographic research. I curated a series of ethnographic engagements with international students who were newly arrived in the city of Manchester, England. A participatory, embodied, sensory ethnographic method was used to explore ways in which meaningful places are constructed through the body and senses. This article reports on walking interviews with Tala (from Zambia), Ann (from Romania), Al (from Tunisia), Abbie (from Spain), and her guide dog Tori (from the U.S.), to explore their corporeal and sensuous engagements with their new city, using a combination of transcribed interviews and other, less language-based products of our engagements (photography, artifacts, soundscapes). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many methodological approaches have been used to understand cultural dimensions to maternal health issues. Although a well-designed quantitative survey with a representative sample can provide essential information on trends in behavior, it does not necessarily establish a contextualized understanding of the complexity in which different behaviors occur. This article addresses how contextualized data can be collected in a short time and under conditions in which participants in conflict-affected zones might not have established, or time to establish, trust with the researchers. The solution, the Participatory Ethnographic Evaluation and Research (PEER) approach, is illustrated through a study whereby South Sudanese marginalized women were trained to design research instruments, and collect and analyze qualitative data. PEER overcomes the problem that many ethnographic or participatory approaches face—the extensive time and resources required to develop trusting relationships with the community to understand the local context and the social networks they form. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Methodologies such as participatory, feminist, or co-produced research aim to democratise research practice. These kinds of methodologies are devised and embraced by activists as they work to shift the balance of power. Activists and researchers can be uneasy bedfellows, and trying to be both activist and researcher can lead to identity confusion and communication problems. Yet within democratic research practice, researchers and others are often required to enact multiple identities. This article will highlight some of the relationships between activism, research, identity and power. An account of an incident that occurred during a piece of co-produced activist evaluation research, which threatened to undermine that research, illustrates some of the relationships between the enactment of multiple identities and power imbalances in the practice of co-produced activist research. The theoretical work of Karen Barad is used as a lens to help elucidate the complexity of this phenomenon and identify what, and how, we can learn from such incidents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is increasing policy demand for real-time evaluations of research and capacity-building programmes reflecting a recognition of the management, governance and impact gains that can result. However, the evidence base on how to successfully implement real-time evaluations of complex interventions in international development efforts is scarce. There is therefore a need for reflective work that considers methodologies in context. This article shares learning from the experience of conducting a participatory, real-time, ‘theory driven’ evaluation of the African Institutions Initiative, a Wellcome Trust-funded programme that aimed to build sustainable health research capacity in Africa at institutional and network levels, across seven research consortia. We reflect on the key challenges experienced and ways of managing them, highlight opportunities and critical success factors associated with this evaluation approach, compared with alternative evaluation approaches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The Precede–Proceed model has provided moral and practical guidance for the fields of health education and health promotion since Lawrence Green first developed Precede in 1974 and Green and Kreuter added Proceed in 1991. Precede–Proceed today remains the most comprehensive and one of the most used approaches to promoting health. Objective: A decade after the most recent edition of the model was published in 2005, this paper examines the model’s theoretical underpinnings, history, and influence on the field of health promotion. Although the limited evidence for effectiveness of this and other models is discussed briefly, this review focuses on the socio-ecological and ethical implications of the model. Approach: Theory and literature review. Results: Precede–Proceed has promoted public health and health promotion practice in five ethically and practically important ways: (1) by advancing the ecological perspective on health that, today, has come to dominate public health practice; (2) by remaining population-centred, rather than focusing on individuals; (3) by demanding democratic and participatory approaches to health promotion; (4) by setting quality of life, rather than behaviour change or even health, as the goal for health promotion; and (5) by being deeply grounded in practice. Conclusion: Precede–Proceed guides practitioners in bridging health promotion goals of enabling people to control and improve their own health with larger public health goals of creating the conditions where people can be healthy. It also provides an ethical guide to promoting health in democratic and participatory ways. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article reframes the work of participatory development architect John Turner in the 1960s Peru as a practical realization of the political potential of autogestive space advocated in Henri Lefebvre's post-Marxist discourse. An analysis of the anarchistic politics that underpin Turner's participatory development reveals a critical intersection of autogestion and informal space and subsequently a questioning of the sociospatial resonances of anarchist practices and Marxist theories. This analysis is exemplified by the critical reframing of Lefebvre's much cited proposition of "The (Social) Production of (Social) Space" against Turner's anarchist questioning of "Who Decides and Who Provides?" [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous research has been critical of mainstream media’s attempts at blogging, with studies finding that journalists are maintaining their traditional gatekeeper function and failing to engage with readers. This study examines the work of 13 journalists who have political blogs on Australian mainstream newspaper websites, with data gathered from a content analysis of comment-threads as well as interviews. Surprisingly, the results show that most of these journalists are engaging with readers, and some have been doing so since July 2006. They regard such participation as an essential part of their blogging practice, and see their role as not only moderators but also facilitators of discussion. These results contrast with overseas studies which show there is a ‘minimalist’ view of participation that dominates in journalistic organisations in the United Kingdom, the United States and Europe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this explorative qualitative study the effect of political decentralization on vocational school leadership is investigated. Through conducting structural interviews with 15 school principals in the states of Bremen and Lower Saxony in Germany, the study was able to conclude that political decentralization entails the creation of elected bodies through which various stakeholders are involved in the decision-making process, and that schools are able to discretionally plan their own goals and objectives. As a result, it can be seen that school leadership adopts a participatory leadership model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is growing pressure on development organizations to improve their evaluation systems and capacities. This presents considerable challenges for time- and resource-poor organizations in developing countries. Evaluation capacity development (ECD) approaches are needed that are appropriate and effective for such organizations. We argue that this requires a long-term, holistic, participatory, learning-centred approach that aims to develop learning organizations and build the capacity of whole organizations and their stakeholders. It also needs to incorporate local knowledge and ideas and ongoing meta-evaluation of ECD activities. We describe this approach and how it was applied in a four-year action research project with a non-governmental organization in Nepal. Drawing on findings from this project and various follow up activities, we suggest some principles and strategies for designing and implementing an effective and sustainable approach to ECD that can help to address the many challenges and issues we have identified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ways the New York Times has incorporated citizen videos from the Syrian conflict into its live blog, The Lede, is explored in this article. The analysis reveals the creation of a new journalistic element – the Collaborative News Clip – in which ordinary people are now producing immersive, emotional, multidimensional self-created videos that news outlets cooperatively incorporate into online content. The Collaborative News Clip is created through joint framing and shared gatekeeping by a tier of citizen-activists working with a professional news organization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the characteristics of systemic action research. It looks at the conceptual underpinnings of systemic action research and explores some of the ways in which it differs from (builds on) other forms of action research. It then explores some of the issues and dilemmas faced by systemic action researchers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]