CBR Faculty Fellows Program Presented by: Brenda Marsteller Kowalewski September 16, 2009

 Outline the ideal principles of CBR and discuss how they translate to a real CBR project.  Collaboration  Democratization of knowledge  Social Justice  Outline the steps in CBR practices and identify any special considerations necessary in a CBR project as opposed to traditional research.

 Community is involved in each stage and phase of the CBR project  Identifying the research question  Choosing a research design and method  Collecting the data  Analyzing the data  Reporting the results

 Full collaboration is not often achieved ◦ Working with grassroots orgs – often unorganized ◦ Working with one step up from grassroots  CBR in the middle  Agencies are more organized, leadership established but puts more distance between researcher and the organization’s clients  Bare minimum for collaboration ◦ Defining research focus and question ◦ How and if the results will be used

 Family Self Sufficiency Program – Ogden Housing Authority ◦ Handout – book chapter

 CBR makes professors, students and community members all knowledge producers  Use mixed research methods – quote p. 78  CBR insists on connectedness and relationship building; distance increases inaccuracy

 Researchers often struggle because of our training in traditional research and within our disciplines ◦ CBR challenges traditional conceptions of expertise and objectivity ◦ CBR neither recognizes nor respects rigid disciplinary boundaries – real problems don’t fit neatly into any one discipline

 CBR seeks to “contribute to altering some aspects of the political, social, or economic institutional operations or cultural context that give rise to a problem” – p. 81  Challenge the status quo

 Change is often times small ◦ Whereas research may be the focus of the researcher, it is only one small part of a bigger project for the community. ◦ Creating or affecting social change is difficult and knowledge is only one of the resources necessary to create any change

 Researchers have a hard time translating their findings into action. ◦ Youth Impact example  Roles of the Researcher in Social Change (p. 84) ◦ Initiator – manages the social change project as well as the research ◦ *Consultant – manages the research only, and from a distance ◦ Collaborator – Is a full participant in social change project, but primarily as researcher or educator *Most researchers

 Step One – Choosing a problem ◦ Specifying what the range of problems might be or extent of a problem; example Youth Impact research  Step Two – Identifying resources and solutions ◦ Research on what resources already exist or researching solutions or models  Step Three – Developing a plan ◦ Introspective research where a group analyzes itself  Step Four – Implementing the plan ◦ Research as action – Freedom Riders example, p. 92  Step Five – Evaluating ◦ Research done by the powerless on the powerful; participatory evaluation; example p. 93

 Steps in CBR Project ◦ Identify the research question ◦ Choose a research design and method ◦ Collect the data ◦ Analyze the data ◦ Report the results  There are special considerations that need to be made at each step in a CBR project

 Connect with a community organization needing research  Find out what they want to know  Translate what they want to know into a manageable research question  Write the research question(s) down and post

 Traditional Research & CBR ◦ Resources (time, money, people) available ◦ Population characteristics ◦ Population availability ◦ Orientation and skills of the researcher ◦ The nature of the research question

 Additional criteria for CBR ◦ Purpose of the research ◦ Skill levels of students and community members ◦ Academic time crunch ◦ Learning goals

 Do you involve community members in data collection? ◦ Benefits  Rewarding for community members  Can act as “informants”  Can build community relationships  Community members develop expertise or skills ◦ Challenges  Community members may be willing but are untrained  Risk that data collection will not get done on time or done well enough

 From sources other than humans ◦ Archives and agency data, public records, newspapers, web sites, organizational charts, land use records, transcripts (YI example), etc. ◦ Challenges – incomplete or incomprehensible records, bureaucratic regulations that limit access, uncooperative or incompetent gatekeepers, bad weather, etc.

 From human subjects ◦ More challenging than gathering samples from other sources ◦ Securing participants ◦ Sample size and representativeness take a back seat ◦ Ethical issues – protecting the privacy and dignity of respondents  IRB Application Form  Training for students -protections.asp

 Ideally, faculty, students and community partners are involved ◦ Academic researchers bring experience, training and access resources ◦ Students carry out the data entry and analysis ◦ Community partners provide an insider’s view on findings and their uses  Most CBR analysis can be done with basic training and resources

 Key Questions: ◦ In what format should results be presented? ◦ Where should results be shared? ◦ Who should present the findings?

 Written Reports  PowerPoint presentation  Skit  Colorful Poster illustrating key results in graphs  Press release  Press conference  Theatrical presentation  Demonstration or rally

 Campus-based presentations ◦ Sharing results with community partners ◦ Service Symposium  Community-based presentations  Academic Conferences

 If the social change requires the action of an external party, the researcher may be the most appropriate person to present.  If the students have been the most intimately involved with the CBR project or if the project involves some politically charged issue, the students may be the most appropriate.  If the research is primarily for the community, it may be best received if community members present the findings.