Participatory research--'challenging the throne without losing your head': an interview with Tony MacCulloch....

Participatory research approaches, though varied methodologically, share a belief in the importance of social action and the involvement of research participants. This article focuses on a modified approach to co-operative inquiry, a participatory methodology predominantly informed by humanistic psychology. It is the thirteenth in a series of articles based on interviews with nursing and midwifery researchers, designed to offer the beginning researcher a first-hand account of the experience of using particular methodologies. After describing briefly some of the varieties of approaches to participatory research and their theoretical underpinnings, the article presents an interview with Tony MacCulloch (RPN; RGN; Dip Couns; MEd) who used a modified form of co-operative inquiry to explore the risks experienced by tertiary educators who challenged oppressive structures in their workplace. It examined their experience of strategies that supported them in the course of voicing their concerns. A secondary purpose was to support educators who sought to further the ideals of transformative education.