PAarticip Short Guideatory Assto Communityet Mapping Based Participatory Action Research A COMMUNITY COMMUNITY RESEARCH RESEARCH LAB LAB TOOLBOX TGUIDETOOLKITOOLBOX COMMUNITY a program of DECEMBER 2011 RESEARCH About Us Acknowledgments ADVANCEMENT PROJECT ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Advancement Project (www.advancementprojectca.org) Healthy City, through the Community Research Lab, devel- is a public policy change organization rooted in the civil oped this guide with funding from First 5 Los Angeles. This rights movement. We engi neer large-scale systems and other toolkits can be accessed through the Healthy change to remedy inequality, expand opportunity and open City website at www.healthycity.org/toolbox. paths to upward mobil ity. Our goal is that members of all communities have the safety, opportunity and health they need to thrive. Advancement Project’s Programs include: Educational Equity, Equity in Public Funds, Healthy City, and Urban Peace Institute. HEALTHY CITY CONTENT Healthy City (www.healthycity.org) is an information Authors: Janice C. Burns, M.A.; Deanna Y. Cooke, Ph.D.; + action resource that unites community voices, rigor- Christine Schweidler, M.P.H. ous research and innovative technologies to solve the root causes of social inequity. We transform how people Editors: Taisha Bonilla, M.T.S. and Tahirah Farris, A.I.C.P, access and use information about their communities. As M.PL a program of Healthy City, the Community Research Lab partners with community-based organizations to develop, DESIGN implement, and disseminate data/ mapping projects, tools, and workshops that promote community knowledge and Rosten Woo and Colleen Corcoran / bycommittee.net Community Based Participatory Action Research. For more information, visit www.advancementprojectca.org or contact us at (213) 989-1300. Copyright Dec. 2011 Advancement Project – Healthy City All rights reserved. Use and reproduction of these mate- rials in any format should be credited to Advancement Project- Healthy City Community Research Lab. Materials are not to be used or sold for commercial purposes or profit. A SHORT GUIDE TO COMMUNITY BASED PARTICIPATORY ACTION RESEARCH 1 About the Toolbox About this Guide Healthy City supports communities in identifying, organiz- How can this guide be used? ing, and sharing its collective voice with decision makers at the local and state levels. Through the Community + As an Introduction to the CBPAR framework, Research Lab, we share best practices and methods for which democratizes how research is conducted Community-Based Organizations (CBOs) interested in in communities and guides the research methods supporting their strategies with research that combines covered in all of the Community Research Lab toolkits community knowledge with Healthy City technology. Toward this aim, we have developed the Community + As a workbook for workshops on understanding Research Lab Toolbox. how to apply the CBPAR framework to research that is place-based and informs social action. The toolbox presents research concepts, methods, and tools through topical guides and toolkits such as + As a resource and information guide for conducting Community Research, Participatory Asset Mapping, and research within the CBPAR framework. a Short Guide to CBPAR (all of which can be accessed at www.healthycity.org/toolbox). It is based on best practices from our work with CBOs and a unique approach What will you find in this guide? to the Community Based Participatory Action Research (CBPAR) framework, which promotes research that: + Key research concepts and methods 1. Starts with issues and strategies then produces + Glossary terms in BOLD analysis that informs action + Notes like the one below to write down any 2. Uses mapping technology to engage organizations thoughts or ideas you have as you read in the research process 3. Is both community-based and place-based, often focusing on a geographic place such as a neighborhood HOW CAN THIS GUIDE BE USEFUL IN YOUR The toolbox’s CBPAR framework explicitly focuses on SPECIFIC WORK OR PROJECTS? community-based organizations that bring together com- munity members to visualize and actualize research and its outcomes. This includes non-profit organizations that operate in specific, local communities and are staffed by, work with, represent, assist, and/or advocate on behalf of residents of those communities on issues that affect their quality of life. These organizations have worked to gain trust among community members and have brought together a spectrum of people with varying ideas and perspectives that unite around a particular set of concerns relevant to a large portion of the community. Though it may have utility for other groups, it supports these organizations whose work directly engages community members in creating change. A SHORT GUIDE TO COMMUNITY BASED PARTICIPATORY ACTION RESEARCH 2 Contents I. WHAT IS COMMUNITY BASED PARTICIPATORY ACTION RESEARCH? 5 II. CBPAR AND PLACE-BASED RESEARCH 6 III. COMMUNITY PARTICIPATION AND ENGAGEMENT 7 IV. BENEFITS OF CBPAR 8 V. RESEARCH ETHICS IN CBPAR 9 VI. PLANNING A CBPAR PROJECT 10 VII. GLOSSARY 14 VIII. RESOURCES AND REFERENCES 17 A SHORT GUIDE TO COMMUNITY BASED PARTICIPATORY ACTION RESEARCH 3 This page left intentionally blank. What is Community Based Participatory Action Research? Community Based Participatory Action Research all aspects of the research process (ex. Participatory (CBPAR) is a collaborative approach to research that Action Research, or Action Research). As a frame- involves all stakeholders throughout the research work for research conducted in, for, and by communities, process, from establishing the research question, to devel- CBPAR recognizes that: oping data collection tools, to analysis and dissemination of findings. It is a research framework that aims to address + Community knowledge is irreplaceable and the practical concerns of people in a community and provides key insights that ground-truths fundamentally changes the roles of researcher and who administrative data is being researched. The CBPAR framework begins with a community’s issue, proposed action, or strategy and then + Complex social issues often cannot be well supports or enhances this action with research that is understood or resolved by “expert” research community based and engaged.i It frames research to be: + Interventions from outside of the community COMMUNITY BASED— grounded in the needs, issues, have often had disappointing results concerns, and strategies of communities and the com- munity-based organizations that serve them + Communities should have equal inclusion and collaboration in the identification, research, and PARTICIPATORY—directly engaging communities and resolution of community issues community knowledge in the research process and its outcomes + There is value and legitimacy in the knowledge of individuals, families, and others in the community ACTION BASED AND ORIENTED—supporting and/or enhancing the strategic action that leads to community CBPAR has a specific goal of collaborative research transformation and social change that engages stakeholders in an iterative research and action process. The diagram below shows that CBPAR By its nature, CBPAR is applied research; it seeks to links research and action, recognizing that social action change issues that are critical to communities and focuses requires further research and social research requires on engaging community members in research directed further action.ii at addressing their social concerns. It is derived from several research approaches that are based on commu- nities collaborating with researchers (ex. Community Based Research), or community members engaging in A SHORT GUIDE TO COMMUNITY BASED PARTICIPATORY ACTION RESEARCH 5 CBPAR and Place-Based Research Often, the work of CBOs centers on a specific geographic innovative, and analytical research methods. It “aims to community that can be defined by the streets, landmarks, apply methods of data collection and analysis to generate or other physical boundaries. Therefore, the CBPAR findings that have highly practical results. The audience framework discussed in this guide promotes community for such findings is typically made up of community mem- research that focuses on a geographic place or neighbor- bers, practitioners, and local policymakers who wish to hood. It recognizes that CBOs often refer to community design an intervention that benefits a geography-…based as a place, or a physical, geographic space or location, community.”iii such as a neighborhood, in which issues and interven- tions are concentrated and change is intended to occur. Like CBPAR, place-based research recognizes that This framework serves as a foundation to community residents have the ultimate knowledge of the issues, research that is community-based (engages the com- strengths, and solutions that most impact their com- munity) and place-based (focuses on a geographic area). munity. It thrives with community engagement in the research process, especially through primary data The work of CBOs includes place-based strategies that collection methods such as interviews, focus groups, build upon the existing strengths and address the multiple and Community-Engaged Mapping. This community issues of the places they work in. Building upon this holis- engagement ensures that those who represent that place, tic model of neighborhood change, place-based research, particularly those who reside there, ground this research within the CBPAR framework, uses comprehensive, with