The collection of essays in this book illustrate commonalties and differences among the theories, practices, and forms of organization of participatory action research in different countries. Participatory action research expresses the recognition that all research methodologies are implicitly political in nature, and this is reflected in the various essays. The following are included: (1) "Reading the Collection" (Robin McTaggart); (2) "Guiding Principles for Participatory Action Research" (Robin McTaggart); (3) "Action Research: A Closed Chapter in the History of German Social Science?" (Herbert Altrichter and Peter Gstettner); (4) "Action Research: The Problem of Participation" (Clem Adelman); (5) "Participatory Action Research in Colombia: Some Personal Feelings" (Orlando Fals Borda); (6) "Toward an Epistemology of Participatory Research" (Anil Chaudhary); (7) "Participatory Educational Research in Australia: The First Wave--1976 to 1986" (Shirley Grundy); (8) "Participatory Research in Venezuela: 1973 to 1991 (John Dinan and Yuraima Garcia); (9) "A Background to Action Research in Spain" (Maria Saez Brezmes); (10) "Sources of a Theory for Action Research in the United States of America" (William H. Schubert and Ann Lopez-Schubert); (11) "Integrating Participatory Action Research Tools in New Caledonia" (Jean Delion); (12) "Action Research: Improving Learning from Experience in Nurse Education in Thailand" (Arphorn Chuaprapaisilp); and (13) "A Census as Participatory Research" (Srilatha Batliwala and Sheela Patel). References follow each chapter. (SLD)