This article emphasizes research as a reflective, critical practice, and as a transformer of social reality. It discusses some theoretical-methodological characteristics of collaborative, participative and collective research, taking into consideration the understanding of the formative nature of the processes triggered by each. Document analyses on the texts of authors considered a reference in each of the research types, as well as analysis of the result of intervention studies that are proposed for teaching training, reveals that these research studies proclaim specific ways of acting on the reality, thereby provoking changes in  it. It is possible to see the political-ideological dimensions that characterize each type of research, going beyond a descriptive and analytical process of the social contexts. However, some recent studies have shown that in practice, they end up suffering certain deviations, due to the fact that they are rooted in paradigms that are restricted to more individual actions, and that do not involve the political structures, which would also involve changes in the relationships of power.