Community-led action research is a process where the community decides on an issue to be researched, designs and carries out the research, and makes use of the results.

This makes community-led action research different from traditional research which tends to be conducted on the community by researchers from outside the community.

"Community-led action research is not research for the sake of it, to prove a theory or to satisfy the curious. It is about people asking their own questions about the issues they experience, getting the information, and evidence they need, and testing actions for change."