Proceedings of the 9th International Conference on Communication and Media (i-COME 24)

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Participatory Rural Appraisal as a Tool of Development Communication: A Systematic Literature Review

Authors
Harsha Raj Gatty1, Jayakrishnan Narayanan2, *
1Research Scholar, Department of Mass Communication, Amrita School of Arts, Humanities and Commerce, Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, Coimbatore, India
2Asst. Professor, Department of Mass Communication, Amrita School of Arts, Humanities and Commerce, Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, Coimbatore, India
*Corresponding author. Email: n_jayakrishnan@cb.amrita.edu
Corresponding Author
Jayakrishnan Narayanan
Available Online 29 May 2025.
DOI
10.2991/978-94-6463-756-4_8How to use a DOI?
Keywords
Participatory Rural Appraisal; Community Media; Community Development; Community Media; Literature Review
Abstract

Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) is one of the most sought-after participatory approaches used in community development studies. PRA has undergone significant evolution in its application since its conceptualization in the 1980s. Although conceptualized as a tool of community empowerment, early studies used PRA primarily as a data collection tool. In the recent past, PRA has been recognized by various studies for its potential in development communication to empower communities, especially by fostering a participatory developmental approach. This paper, through a systematic literature review, analyses the methodological shift in PRA, tracing its evolution from a primarily data extractive practice to one rooted in community reflection. We analyse how researchers from various academic fields, including agriculture, community media, and public communication, have applied PRA effectively in encouraging communities to describe their situations, prioritize their needs, diagnose problems, and engage in effective participatory development. The paper summarizes the key contrasts and similarities of how PRA has been utilized in these studies, apart from identifying the chief criticisms that have been raised against it. By reviewing the recent studies that employ PRA, we examine the elements of the PRA, including transect-walks and grass-root level interactions that continue to remain relevant as chief tools of facilitating community-led development.

Copyright
© 2025 The Author(s)
Open Access
Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

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Volume Title
Proceedings of the 9th International Conference on Communication and Media (i-COME 24)
Series
Atlantis Highlights in Social Sciences, Education and Humanities
Publication Date
29 May 2025
ISBN
978-94-6463-756-4
ISSN
2667-128X
DOI
10.2991/978-94-6463-756-4_8How to use a DOI?
Copyright
© 2025 The Author(s)
Open Access
Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

Cite this article

risenwbib
TY  - CONF
AU  - Harsha Raj Gatty
AU  - Jayakrishnan Narayanan
PY  - 2025
DA  - 2025/05/29
TI  - Participatory Rural Appraisal as a Tool of Development Communication: A Systematic Literature Review
BT  - Proceedings of the 9th International Conference on Communication and Media (i-COME 24)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 75
EP  - 84
SN  - 2667-128X
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-94-6463-756-4_8
DO  - 10.2991/978-94-6463-756-4_8
ID  - Gatty2025
ER  -