What are community-based methodologies?
Why do communitybased research?
It’s important to think about…
●● Research can often not actually benefit the communities it is studying
●● Unequal power dynamics between the researcher and the community (e.g. who has funding, time, or benefits from institutional power).
●● Giving space for the community to identify their own needs ●● Empowering a community to better understand and address the issues they face
●● Long-term impacts of a project (e.g. after the project is over, who will be responsible to maintain it? What are the afterlives of the project?)
●● Funneling academic resources to serve a community
●● Who do you define as the “community”? Who is included or excluded by that definition?
Collaborative research can be generative, inspiring, and creative!
●● Will the research be presented in a way that it is useful for the community?
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