Participating in the analysis, analyzing the participation: Methodological aspects of a participatory research-intervention on mental health

Abstract

This article discusses the articulation between the participants and data analysis according to the methodology in participatory research-intervention linked to the Gaining Autonomy & Medication Management (GAM) approach. For this intervention study, all participants are researchers, which alters the prevailing understanding about how to analyze in a study. We understand that there is a circular relationship between participation and analysis: effective participation depends on the collective achievement of the analysis by all researchers; the analysis allows the identification and transformation of different qualities of participation, being a tool to promote autonomy and co-management. In this article, we seek to identify two main qualities of participation present in the field experience with a group of GAM family members: automatic participation and autonomous participation. This distinction has as one of its main references Francisco Varela's enactive approach, his characterization of cognitive automatism and his concept of breakdown. In this context, participation and analysis are mutually implicated, since the analysis allows the identification of automatisms and the promotion of breakdowns, fomenting the autonomy in the participation; on the other hand, this has the effect of collectivizing the analysis and the distribution of the task of knowledge production among all participants.