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Discovering what the people knew

The 1979 Appalachian Land Ownership Study

University of Kentucky, USA, shaunna.scott{at}uky.edu

The Appalachian Land Ownership Study is recognized as a pioneering effort in the interdisciplinary field of participatory action research. This article analyzes this community-based study of land ownership and taxation in Appalachia to determine what lessons it offers a new generation of action researchers. It demonstrates both the practical difficulties in community-based research as well as the challenges to legitimation that may be launched from policy and social science audiences who embrace positivistic research methodologies and epistemologies. The article concludes with the lessons that the land study offers a new generation of researchers who wish to conduct socially relevant, participatory research. Despite the obstacles and disappointments associated with the Appalachian Land Ownership Study, this article concludes that it had long-lasting political, social, personal and scholarly impacts.

Key Words: Appalachia • community-based research • community development • land ownership • participatory action research

Action Research, Vol. 7, No. 2, 185-205 (2009)
DOI: 10.1177/1476750309103257


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