Principles of Best Practice for Community-Based Research
Kerry Strand, Hood College
Sam Marullo, Georgetown University
Nick Cutforth, University of Denver
Randy Stoecker, University of Toledo
Patrick Donohue, Middlesex County College

University researchers are increasingly practicing community-based research (CBR). In many CBR projects, community members are trained to conduct collective research to better understand and address shared social problems and concerns. Based on a recent community-based research project with injured workers, this article identifies challenges faced when academics engage in CBR based at a university. The challenges discussed include dealing with the constraints and requirements of academic research funding, bridging the goals of academics and community members, and functioning within the university’s institutional structures.

The case of Colgate University is used to argue that community-based research can be a vibrant and effective form of service-learning, especially in rural communities. However, community-based research is difficult to execute well. There is little flexibility and high consequences for failed projects. As such, community-based research requires negotiation at multiple levels and developing a set of principles to guide decision-making and project development.

This article, written by four undergraduates with extensive experience in community-based research (CBR), summarizes each author’s project and offers their views on conditions necessary for CBR success and benefits of CBR for students.

While in recent years there has been an increasing amount written about how to conduct individual community-based research (CBR) projects, little is known about the infrastructure supporting such projects. This paper compares seven multi-institutional CBR networks in Appalachia, Colorado, the District of Columbia, Minneapolis-St. Paul, Philadelphia, Richmond, Virginia, and Trenton, New Jersey. After reviewing the histories of the networks, we conduct a comparative SWOT analysis, showing their common and unique Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats. We conclude with the lessons suggested by the network histories and SWOT analyses.

This article examines the benefits and challenges of undertaking assessments in community-based research (CBR). Such assessments are compared and contrasted to more traditional research processes. Further, the challenges of integrating CBR assessments into an ongoing social change initiative are analyzed. To aid in undertaking CBR assessments, five principles to guide CBR assessments are articulated: 1) community driven; 2) collaborative; 3) systematic and rigorous, yet flexible and context-specific; 4) guided by grounded theory; and 5) multidimensional. This analysis develops a three-dimensional conceptual framework for assessments, based on the level of activity to be examined, the change goals being examined, and the process or effects outcomes. Finally, a decision-tree is offered with guiding questions to help practitioners consider the range of assessments they may wish to undertake. The framework and decision-tree developed here provides a common language for facilitating knowledge sharing across boundaries.

Last Updated May 29, 2003