Machinery is modified to see if a new configuration works or not, and the next change is built on the one that came before. It is unlikely that a replicated experiment conducted over time would yield more useful results. People learn from each other by seeing planter modifications in the barn or by observing the planter in action in the field. Much of the communication can be in the oral tradition or other means rather than written text. Information processing often seems to occur by individual testing of the idea against one's own experience using heuristics derived from previous trial and error learning.
Much individual testing is essential.
Just as the language of considering findings needs to be reconsidered, so too does the language through which participatory research is negotiated and implemented. Declaring goals, needs, and assumptions, as growers and researchers partner to undertake a project, should become the standard practice rather than the exception. The context of decision making in the production system ought to be introduced into the research design. Even the design and conduct of participatory research, undertaken by a group of individuals to serve multiple objectives, needs to be addressed. In the language of participation with growers there is space for values and expression of feelings.