Engaging Youth in Participatory Research and Evaluation

TLDR

Participatory research with youth partners is a relatively new practice, driven by positive youth development principles, offering benefits to individuals, organizations, and communities, yet lacking a systematic evidence base. The article aims to illustrate active youth participation through four case projects. The authors describe four projects that exemplify active youth participation in research. The projects demonstrate opportunities for positive youth development, foster intergenerational partnerships, and yield findings that inform future interventions and organizational improvements, including community mobilization.

Abstract

Although participatory research has been applied by a wide range of disciplines, the engagement of youth as partners in research and evaluation efforts is relatively new. The positive youth development movement has influenced scholars and practitioners to include youth as partners in the design and implementation of research involving issues that affect their lives. Engaging youth in research and evaluation not only generates useful knowledge for communities and individuals but also provides opportunities for the development and empowerment of youth participants, leading to benefits for young people, organizations, the broader community, and the research process. However, there has been little systematic study to establish an evidence base for these effects. This article describes four projects that illustrate active youth participation in research. These examples demonstrate opportunities for positive youth development, create a context for intergenerational partnerships, and generate research findings to inform future interventions and organizational improvements, including community mobilization.