Compare methods

	Photovoice	Participatory Rural Appraisal
Field	Anthropology	Anthropology
Family	Process / pipeline	Process / pipeline
Year of origin	1997	1994
Originator	Caroline Wang & Mary Ann Burris	Robert Chambers and collaborators
Type	Participatory visual research and action method	Family of participatory field appraisal and planning methods
Seminal source	Wang, C., & Burris, M. A. (1997). Photovoice: Concept, methodology, and use for participatory needs assessment. Health Education & Behavior, 24(3), 369–387.	Chambers, R. (1994). The origins and practice of participatory rural appraisal. World Development, 22(7), 953–969.
Aliases	Photo Voice, Participatory Photography, Photo-Novella, Community Photography Method	PRA, Participatory Learning and Action, Participatory Rural Appraisal Methods, PLA
Related	2	2
Summary	Photovoice is a participatory visual method in which community members use cameras to document their own lives and concerns, then collectively discuss and interpret the images to surface shared issues and influence policy. Developed by Caroline Wang and Mary Ann Burris in 1997, it has three goals: to let people record and reflect their community's strengths and concerns, to promote critical dialogue through group discussion of photographs, and to reach policymakers with that community-generated knowledge.	Participatory rural appraisal is a growing family of approaches and methods that enable local people to share, enhance, and analyze their own knowledge of their lives and conditions, and to plan and act on it. Associated above all with Robert Chambers, PRA reverses the conventional research relationship: outside facilitators hand over the stick, and community members themselves do the mapping, ranking, diagramming, and analysis that drive planning and action.