Participation in decision-making by subordinates in an organization is frequently cited in the literature on organizational change. The exact nature and extent of the participation-change relationship, however, is a topic of some disagreement among reviewers and researchers in the education field. This paper presents an analysis of six major reviewers' seemingly contradictory interpretations of the participation-change relationship. It includes an indepth investigation of their literature bases, together with an explication of the methodological and theoretical frameworks that guided the research. The analysis provides an example of the complex issues that arise when the emphasis of research becomes one of proof or disproof rather than the integration of ideological positions into an overall conception of a social phenomenon. The paper concludes with some implications of this dilemma for future participation-change research. (Author/LD)