The Power and the Promise: Working With Communities to Analyze Data, Interpret Findings, and Get to Outcomes

Abstract

Although the intent of community-based participatory research (CBPR) is to include community voices in all phases of a research initiative, community partners appear less frequently engaged in data analysis and interpretation than in other research phases. Using 4 brief case studies, each with a different data collection methodology, we provide examples of how community members participated in data analysis, interpretation, or both, thereby strengthening community capacity and providing unique insight. The roles and skills of the community and academic partners were different from but complementary to each other. We suggest that including community partners in data analysis and interpretation, while lengthening project time, enriches insights and findings and consequently should be a focus of the next generation of CBPR initiatives.

Public Participation in Scientific Research: a Framework for Deliberate Design

“…PPSR efforts have emerged from a variety of social and academic fields, ranging from participatory action research in the fields of development studies (Chambers 1994) and public health (Cashman et al 2008) to citizen science projects with a long history of ornithology and astronomy research (Droege 2007, Bonney 2008, Raddick et al 2009) to water quality monitoring (Firehock and West 1995, Ely 2002, Wilderman 2005) and community-based natural resource management (Guijt 2007, Fernandez-Gimenez et al 2008, Wilmsen et al 2008b. As collaborative endeavors between science researchers and public participants-including but not limited to amateur experts, concerned community members, scientists trained in other fields, and/or school students-PPSR projects must address the needs and interests of all parties.…”

Limites e potencialidades da educação dos trabalhadores de saúde da família para promoção da atividade física: uma pesquisa participativa

“…A process in which researchers and community members have jointly developedresearch actions was considered to be the best strategy to evaluate limits and potentialities of PA education in the context of the Brazilian primary health care [11][12] . For this reason, the authors have chosen to construct an education program together with the health teams to be developed within the daily routine of the Primary Healthcare Unit (PHCU) of Ermelino Matarazzo neighborhood, in the east region of the city of São Paulo.…”

The Quantified Community and Neighborhood Labs: A Framework for Computational Urban Science and Civic Technology Innovation

“…Others have examined how participatory data collection and crowdsourcing can enhance knowledge, but also recognizing the limits of a descriptive, rather than causal, perspective (Elwood et al, 2012). The QC relies on direct engagement from the outset with local community partners to understand neighborhood needs and goals, identify problem areas and sensor locations, and, importantly, create a continuum that extends from data collection to translating the analysis into actionable information (Cashman, 2008). The QC informatics infrastructure can be used to support applications and participatory data collection, but also citizen scienceinvolvement of local residents in the study of their own neighborhoods, and in the consideration of alternatives to address key priorities.…”