The article touches upon the participatory research methodology in Russia. As a form of civil society phenomenon participatory studies are shown to become urgent, being developed simultaneously with civil society, and revealing the formation of the participation culture among different population groups. This type of studies is mostly connected with the modern public sociology. The development of participatory research is briefly described and it is revealed that in Russia the usage of the participatory method is limited by the restricted nature of the civil institutions. The author describes the conceptual and methodological features of the participatory research, specific practice of its realization in the sociocultural sphere. The “participatory research” term is found to be not firmly established in scientific practice, but the main features of such researches include a social communities’ participation as co-researchers in the project; a project orientation towards the certain practical results connected with social reality changes; a marked educational effect of the project arising as a deeper self-understanding of the nature of the social community (and the methods of study), its problems and challenges; a rise of the civil activity oriented towards the social change. Participatory researches influence the development of the social well-being at both local and global levels, reveal and solve problems the members of social projects are bound to be engaged in as they are a part of such research. The article reveals the role of participatory research in building the participation culture and developing civil institutions as well as describes the methods and results of some participatory research projects which were implemented in different museum activities.