COMMUNITY-BASED RESEARCH
An Introduction for Faculty
Presented by Brenda Marsteller Kowalewski
Community Involvement Center, Co-Director
Weber State University
for
Teaching Learning Forum
September 17, 2007
A presentation developed by the National Community-Based Research Networking Initiative
CBR:
AN OVERVIEW
◘ What is CBR?
◘ Principles of Practice
◘ How does it differ from traditional research?
◘ Why do CBR?
◘ Pedagogical Methods
◘ Benefits & Challenges
◘ What It Takes
◘ Examples of CBR at WSU
◘ Resources
CBR:
WHAT IS IT?
◘ A collaborative, participatory
research process that embraces:
 Research
• Community has information needs
• Campus partners have research tools and resources
 Education
• Community has valuable local knowledge & experience
• Campus partners have theoretical and large scale
perspectives
 Action
• Build organizational and community capacity
• Effect policy change
CBR:

Definition
“CBR is a partnership of students,
faculty, and community members who
collaboratively engage in research
with the purpose of solving a
pressing community problem or
affecting social change” (Strand, et al.,
2003).
CBR:
Principles of CBR
• CBR is a collaborative enterprise between
researchers and community members.
• CBR involves the democratization of
knowledge
• CBR has as its goal social action and
social change for the purpose of achieving
social justice (Strand et al., 2003: p. 8).
CBR:
Collaboration
• research with and for the community.
• community partners should be working
with students and professors at every
stage in the research process.
CBR:
Democratization of Knowledge
• knowledge brought to the project by all
partners involved is equally valued
• multiple research methods are used
• user friendly approaches to the dissemination
of knowledge are provided
• conventional assumptions about knowledge
itself are challenged
CBR: Social Change for Social Justice
• produce information that can be used to
bring about needed change
• findings of the research or the process
itself might contribute to social change
CBR:
Vs. Traditional Research
Goal of Research
Traditional
Advance
knowledge
CBR
Address
social need
advancement
Source of Question
Existing work
Community
identified
need
Designer/Researcher
Trained
researcher
Trained
researcher +
students +
comm. partner
CBR:
Vs. Traditional Research
Traditional
CBR
Researcher
Role
Outside
Collaborator
Role of
Students
None or RA
Partners
Role of
Community
Subject to be
Knowledgeable
studied
partner
expert
CBR:
Vs. Traditional Research
Relationship of
Researcher &
Traditional
CBR
Short-term
& detached
Longterm +
Participants
Measure of value Acceptance by
of the research
academic peers
connected
and multifaceted
Usefulness to
partners (as
well as publish)
CBR:
Vs. Traditional Research
Methodology
Criteria/
Methods
Traditional
Conform to
CBR
Conform to
rigor
rigor
Objectivity &
positivistic
Open to
new info.
Researcher
control
Flexibility
Quantitative
Mixed
CBR:
Vs. Traditional Research
Beneficiaries
“Owner” of
Researcher,
Research
Traditional
Researcher,
Field
CBR
Researcher,
students, &
community
Researcher
students, &
community
CBR:
Vs. Traditional Research
Presentation &
Dissemination
of Findings
Traditional
CBR
Articles,
Articles,
Conference
Conference
presentation,
Books/Chapter
presentation,
Books/chapter
Reports,
Public meeting,
Art work/media
CBR:
WHY DO IT?
◘ Complex social problems ill-suited
to “outside expert” research alone
◘ Impact community capacity
◘ Build long-term relationship with
community partners
◘ Effective method of teaching and
learning for all participants
◘ The ultimate form of servicelearning?
CBR:
Ultimate S-L Experience
• The quality of service-learning is
enhanced through CBR in that it offers the
most opportunities for:
– collaboration
– direct application of course content
– potential for social change
CBR:
PEDAGOGICAL METHODS
◘ Course-based options model
◘ CBR-based semester courses
◘ Long-term, course-based
projects
◘ Interdisciplinary, multi-course
collaborative projects
CBR:
BENEFITS
◘ Community
Access to faculty expertise
Organizational capacity building
Policy change
◘ Students
 Develop new skills
 Improve existing skills
 Connect classroom learning with real-world
application
◘ Faculty
 Enhanced teaching credentials
 New venues for publishing and presenting
 Positively impact students and community
CBR:
CHALLENGES
◘ Unpredictability
◘ Calendar conflicts
◘ Role confusion
◘ Participant compensation/
recognition
CBR:
WHAT DOES IT TAKE?
◘ Time
◘ Long-term vision
◘ Communication
◘ Flexibility
◘ Willingness to develop research
process with community input
CBR:
Examples at WSU
◘ Lauren Fowler, Psychology
◘ Bryan Dorsey, Geography
CBR:
RESOURCES
◘ National Community-Based
Research Networking Initiative
www.cbrnet.org
◘ CBR Course and Project Database
www.bonner.org/campus/cbr/profiles.taf
◘Campus-Community Partnerships
for Health
www.ccph.info
◘ Community-Based Research &
Higher Education: Principles &
Practices
Strand, Marullo, Cutforth, et. al.