Frisby, Wendy

This article considers how feminist theories have and can contribute to action research, while acknowledging some of the tensions that arise when applying and building feminist theories. While feminist theorizing undoubtedly occurs in some action research, whether it is named or not, the gap appears to be in linking local knowledge to existing theoretical frameworks. Feminist theories, even though they are always partial and contested, have acted as an intentional counter to dominant theories about human experiences and strategies for change. They prompt people to ask new questions and to see power dynamics and relationships that may otherwise be missed or misread. As a result, they have an important role to play in any action research with transformative intentions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)

Although there has been a rise in calls for participatory forms of research, there is little literature on the challenges of involving research participants in all phases of the research process. Actively involving research participants requires new strategies, new researcher and research-participant roles, and consideration of a number of ethical dilemmas. We analyzed the strategies employed and challenges encountered based on our experiences conducting feminist participatory action research with a marginalized population and a variety of community partners over 3 years. Five phases of the research process were considered including developing the research questions, building trust, collecting data, analyzing data, and communicating the results for action. Our goals were to demonstrate the relevance of a participatory approach to sport management research, while at the same time acknowledging some of the realities of engaging in this type of research.