Community-Based Is Not Necessarily Community-Engaged: A Workshop Linking Concepts, Methods, and Strategies Along a Participatory Continuum

Background: Since Jane Addams, community research has been a hallmark of social work scholarship and practice and is a critical strategy for advancing social work science, impacting policies and programs, and informing collective action. Many researchers assume that any involvement of a community means that they are engaging in community participatory research, yet this is not the case. Instead, there is a community research continuum predicated on the degree of involvement and ownership that the community has in the research endeavor. Research that extracts data from a community differs significantly from more participatory approaches in which community members shape or drive the investigative enterprise. Components of community engagement can include framing research questions; identifying, gathering, and analyzing data; or using results for community capacity building, advocacy, and resource acquisition. Authentic community-engaged research aims to advance equity and inclusion in collaboration with the community. Often, creative strategies, such as photovoice or World Cafe, are used as means of facilitating community engagement.

Objectives: This workshop's primary objective is for participants to understand, delineate, and assess different community research approaches that range from investigator driven to fully engaged, community driven research. Using their own research case studies, workshop facilitators will share key concepts, points of departure, strategies for developing community relationships, investigatory methods, sense-making strategies, and dissemination protocols as they are arrayed along a continuum of community research approaches. Emphasis will be placed on distinguishing research endeavors that genuinely engage and partner with a community from those that do not. A secondary objective is to expand the network of community-engaged researchers to assist doctoral students, early career investigators, and established scholars in incorporating community research concepts and methodologies into their work, as well as support the development of high-quality, innovative community-engaged scholarship. The workshop is intended to create opportunities for community researchers to network, share resources, and develop new collaborative scholarly projects.

Content: This workshop will provide participants with important tools and resources to incorporate community research methods, principles, and values into their work. Workshop content will include a research orientation assessment tool and focus on specific concepts and methods used in different community research models. Substantive foci will include: an overview of a community research continuum; establishing and maintaining community research partnerships; differing mechanisms for and degrees of community involvement; connecting community theory and practice; employing cultural humility as a means to address race, class, gender and other cultural differences; contending with ethical challenges; owning and disseminating data; funding strategies; and balancing demands of the academy with the needs of the community. Participants will discuss their community research endeavors so that promising practices can be identified collectively.

Approach: Following a presentation on the community research continuum and key assumptions of community research models, this workshop will focus on varying aspects of community research. Facilitators will use a Deep Dive Worksheet to engage participants in each phase of the workshop. Participants will discuss and receive feedback from the facilitators and other participants on issues related to their community-oriented scholarship.