Recommended Resources

I. Research Methods

Booth, Wayne C., Gregory C. Colomb and Joseph M. Williams. The Craft of Research.
Chicago: University of Chicago, 1995.

Comment: This guide to research takes the prospective researcher from the stage of choosing a research question through the writing of a final research report. This book is not a guide to field research techniques. However, it is an excellent sourece of tips on framing research questions, organizing the research process, and planning and writing research reports.

Lofland, John and Lyn H. Lofland. Analyzing Social Settings: A Guide to Qualitative Observation and Analysis. Belmont (CA): Wadsworth, 1995.

Comment: An excellent introduction to qualitative research techniques.

Schensul, Jean J. and Margaret D. LeCompte, eds. Ethnographer's Toolkit (7 volumes). Walnut Creek (CA): AltaMira, 1999.

Comments: This series of seven books provides a wealth of information on conducting ethnography, a research approach for learning about "the social and cultural life of communities, institutions, and other settings" (vol. 1, 1). The books are written for an audience of "novice fieldworkers" rather than seasoned experts, making it particularly appropriate for students and fellows planning to conduct field research. The topics of each of the volumes are described below, as summarized in the introduction to volume 1:

Volume 1: "Designing and Conducting Ethnographic Research." defines ethnographic research and provides an overview of research methods, project design, and methods of data collection and analysis. It also discusses ethical considerations of ethnographic research (vol. 1, xiv).

Volume 2: "Essential Ethnographic Methods." provides an introduction to core ethnographic research methods, including participant and non-participant observation, interviewing, and surveying (vol. 1, xiv-xv).

Volume 3: "Enhanced Ethnographic Techniques." Discusses audiovisual data collection, focus group interviewing, and "elicitation techniques" (vol. 1, xv).

Volume 4: "Mapping Social Networks, Spatial Data and Hidden Populations." Discusses research methods that enhance understanding of "how social networks and patterns of interaction. . . influence human behavior and beliefs" (vol. 1, xvi).

Volume 5: "Analyzing and Interpreting Ethnographic Data." A guide for transforming raw data collected through a variety of methods into results accessible and usable to a wider audience (vol. 1, xvii).

Volume 6: "Researcher Roles and Research Partnerships." The first part of this volume discusses the multifaceted roles researchers inhabit in their research environments. The second part discusses researchers' partnerships in the field, a subject of critical importance for students and fellows conducting research in collaboration with organizations and communities (vol.1, xvi-xvii).

Volume 7: "Using Ethnographic Data: Interventions, Public Programming and Public Policy." This volume discusses a subject of great interest to students and fellows: the use of ethnographic research in "developing and evaluating interventions, planning public programs, and influencing public policy" (vol. 1, xvii).

II. Discussions of Community-based Research

Nyden, Philip and Wim Wiewel. "Collaborative Research: Harnessing the Tensions Between Researcher and Practioner." The American Sociologist, Vol. 23, Issue 4 (Winter 1992).
Also available to Duke students, faculty and staff via the web via the Academic Search Elite database.

Abstract: "Discusses the development of a collaborative research model that more effectively links researchers and community activists together. Authors' research work with community organizations; differences between the model and traditional academic research."

Comments: An interesting examination of why collaborative research is important, and also of the challenges that researchers using this approach face from inside and outside of "the academy."

Stoecker, Randy. "Are Academics Irrelevant?" American Behavioral Scientist,
Vol. 42, Issue 5 (Feb. 1999), pp. 840-854.
Also available to Duke students, faculty and staff via the web via the Academic Search Elite database.

Abstract: "Presents information on participatory research (PR). Characteristics of PR; Variations in PR and options for the academic; PR in context and recommendations for academics."

Comments: An engaging examination of the manner in which researchers can make research a true tool for community empowerment and systemic change. Provides practical tips for researchers seeking to carry out research in collaboration with communities.

Other resources

I. Research Methods

Emerson, Robert M., Rachel I. Fretz and Linda L. Shaw. Writing Ethnographic Fieldnotes.
Chicago and London: University of Chicago, 1995.

Jackson, Bruce. Fieldwork. Urbana and Chicago: University of Illinois, 1987.

From the book cover: "Fieldwork deals with the practical mechanical, ethical and theoretical aspects of collecting data… an abundance of useful information to those who do folklore fieldwork as well as those who work in any of the other social sciences or humanities."

McNiff, Jean, Pamela Lomax and Jack Whitehead. You and Your Action Research Project. London: Routledge, 1996.

Stringer, Ernest T. Action Research, Second Edition. Thousand Oaks (CA): Sage, 1999.

II. Journal Articles about "Participatory Research"

I. The American Sociologist, Vol. 23, Issue 4 (Winter 1992).
Available to Duke students, faculty and staff via the web via the Academic Search Elite database.

Comments: This issue is devoted entirely to introducing and examining "participatory research" to readers. Articles explore theoretical perspectives on participatory research and present case studies of participatory research projects.

Articles include:

Bailey, Darlyne. "Using Participatory Research in Community Consortia Development and Evaluation: Lessons from the Beginning of a Story." The American Sociologist, Vol. 23, Issue 4 (Winter 1992).

Abstract: "Explores the first 18 months of the development of a community-based consortium project that employs the methodology of participatory action research. Use of the Community-Based Consortia Development framework in identifying critical phase specific issues; implications to participation philosophy and process for the empowerment of communities."

Hall, Budd L. "From Margins to Center? The Development and Purpose of Participatory Research." The American Sociologist, Vol. 23, Issue 4 (Winter 1992).

Abstract: "Focuses on the development of participatory research in Tanzania in the early 1970s. Establishment of the original Participatory Research Network; participatory research as a contribution to social change."

Lynd, Mark. "Creating Knowledge through Theater: A Case Study with Developmentally Disabled Adults." The American Sociologist, Vol. 23, Issue 4 (Winter 1992).

Abstract: "Presents a case study describing a participatory research project in which the author assisted a group of developmentally disabled adults with the creation of two musical theater productions titled `Get a Job!' and `Special' and an interview project. Paulo Freire's ideas on critical pedagogy; feminist consciousness-raising movement on critical pedagogy; educational activities cited."

Nyden, Philip and Wim Wiewel. "Collaborative Research: Harnessing the Tensions Between Researcher and Practioner." The American Sociologist, Vol. 23, Issue 4 (Winter 1992).

Abstract: "Discusses the development of a collaborative research model that more effectively links researchers and community activists together. Authors' research work with community organizations; differences between the model and traditional academic research."

Park, Peter. "The Discovery of Participatory Research as a New Scientific Paradigm: Personal and Intellectual Accounts" The American Sociologist, Vol. 23, Issue 4 (Winter 1992).

Abstract: "Presents considerations for the placing of participatory research in the practice of sociology. Definition of participatory research; author's preoccupation with participatory research; historical roots of participatory research; potential for a paradigm shift."

Plaut, Thomas and Suzanne Landis. "Enhancing Participatory Research with the Community Oriented Primary Care Model: A Case Study in Community
Mobilization." The American Sociologist, Vol. 23, Issue 4 (Winter 1992).

Abstract: "Discusses the combination of participatory research with an approach to community mobilization called Community Oriented Primary Care (COPC) in Madison County, North Carolina. Definition and purpose of participatory research; stages of COPC; requirements of participatory research."

Sanchez, Maria Eugenia and F.H. Eduardo Almeida. "Synergistic Development and Particpatory Action Research in a Nahuat Community." The American Sociologist, Vol. 23, Issue 4 (Winter 1992).

Abstract: "Focuses on participatory action research conducted by a team of Mexican urban professionals with community members in the Nahuat community of San Miguel Tzinacapan at Sierra Norte de Puebla in Mexico. Issues of Latin American participatory action research projects; formative years of the project; creation of infrastructure; strengthening of local organization."

Stoecker, Randy and Edna Bonacich. "Why Participatory Research? Guest Editors' Introduction." The American Sociologist, Vol. 23, Issue 4 (Winter 1992).

Abstract: "Discusses the employment of participatory research (PR) in the study of sociology. Challenges faced by the authors as sociologists; issues that need to be addressed in the field of sociology; goals of PR."

II. The American Sociologist, Vol. 24, Issue 1 (Spring 1993).

Available to Duke students, faculty and staff via the web via the Academic Search Elite database.

Comment: Another issue of The American Sociologist devoted entirely to participatory research. Articles include:

Cancian, Francesca M. "Conflicts Between Activist Research and Academic Success: Participatory Research and Alternative Strategies." The American Sociologist, Vol. 24, Issue 1 (Spring 1993).

Hondagneu-Sotelo, Pierrete. "Why Advocacy Research? Reflections on Research and Activism With Immigrant Women." The American Sociologist, Vol. 24, Issue 1 (Spring 1993).

Kelly, Deirdre M. "Secondary Power Source: High School Students as Participatory Researchers." The American Sociologist, Vol. 24, Issue 1 (Spring 1993).

Nash, Fred. "Church-based Organizing as Participatory Research: the Northwest Community Organization and the Pilsen Resurrection Project." The American Sociologist, Vol. 24, Issue 1 (Spring 1993).

Comment: This article discusses the work of an IAF-affiliated community organization, and considers whether the work it undertakes might be considered participatory research. This article may be of particular interest to students who have studied the IAF model of community organizing in Hart Leadership Program classes.

Petras, Elizabeth McLea and Douglas V. Porpora. "Participatory Research: Three Models and an Analysis." The American Sociologist, Vol. 24, Issue 1 (Spring 1993).

Reardon, Ken and John Welsh. "Participatory Action Research from the Inside:
Community Development Practice in St. Louis." The American Sociologist, Vol. 24, Issue 1 (Spring 1993).

Simonson, Lynell J. and Virginia A. Bushaw. "Participatory Action Research: Easier Said than Done." The American Sociologist, Vol. 24, Issue 1 (Spring 1993).

III. Other Books

Walshok, Mary Lindenstein. Knowledge Without Boundaries: What America's Research Universities Can Do for the Economy, the Workplace, and the Community. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1995.