Annotated Bibliography on Community-Based Research
Lin Nelson, Member of the Faculty
The Evergreen State College
Brown, Phil and Edwin Mikkelsen, No Safe Place:
Toxic Waste, Leukemia and Community Action, (1997), Berkeley: UC Press.
This is essential reading for faculty, staff, students
and community advocates interested in education/research regarding health,
environmental risk and community knowledge. Based on the Woburn MA case
of aggrieved and activated parents undertaking research, the book also
provides a broad view of emergent capacities and interests nationally.
Center for Public Integrity, Citizen Muckraking:
How to Investigate and Right Wrongs in Your Community, (2000), Monroe,ME:
Common Courage Press.
A great toolbox for the student or teacher wanting
to consider all possible research and documentation capacities in the community.
Drawing upon the traditions of muckraking journalists, the Center (which
can be visited at
www.publicintegrity.org)
works to enhance citizens’ knowledge about and application of public and
corporate records.
Chambers, Robert, Whose Reality Counts? Putting
the first last, (1997), London: Intermediate Technology Publications.
This, among other work by Chambers, provides an
international framework for examining the relationship between democratic
research/knowledge and the certified knowledge that typically has the upper
hand in development theory and practice. This is an enlightening portrayal
of how higher education can be quite dislocated and disconnected from emergent,
dynamic, uncredentialled knowledge.
DeKoning, Korrie and Marion Martin, Participatory
Research in Health: Issues and Experiences, (1996), NJ: Zed Books.
This collection provides a broad analysis of the
international, historical, educational and gendered aspects of health-focused
participatory research (a variant of CBR). While of particular relevance
for health educators and practitioners, it provides an important view of
higher education in partnership with citizens for inclusive public agendas.
Heiman, Michael, “Science by the People: Grassroots
Environmental Monitoring and the Debate Over Scientific Expertise,” Journal
of Planning Education and Research, 16(4), Summer 1997.
Provides a review and analysis of community efforts
at eco-monitoring and “lay epidemiology,” while also identifying collaborations
with neighboring high schools and colleges. The author concludes,” it is
high time that we opened the university and college research doors to actual
participation by a motivated public.”
Irwin, Alan, Citizen Science: A Study of People,
Expertise and Sustainable Development, (1995), NY: Routledge.
This is an analytic, erudite treatise on the urgent
need for the democratization of scientific knowledge. It presents case
material in the context of science/policy frameworks; it also provides
a well articulated rationale for how education/research is contextualized
and can be made accountable through citizen challenges.
Murphy, Danny and Madeleine Scammell and Richard
Schlove (1977), Doing Community-Based Research: A Reader,
Loka Institute.
This is a significant orientation to doing research
in, with and for communities. It represents a range of academic disciplines
and community perspectives, focusing on the meeting ground of “laypeople”
and “expert.” The concerns include “good science” in the community, feminist
perspectives, grassroots AIDS research as model for other issues, among
others.
Park, Peter and Mary Brydon-Miller, Budd Hall,
Ted Jackson, Voices of Change: Participatory Research in the United
States and Canada, (1993), Westport, CT: Bergin & Garvey.
This is a valuable resource for examining the theoretical
and practical positions and debates. It includes important case material,
a student reflection, and a profile of “professionalization” of participatory
research.
Schlove, Richard and Madeleine Scammell and Breena
Holland (1998), Community-Based Research in the US.
The long subtitle is “An Introductory Reconnaissance,
Including Twelve Organizational Case Studies and Comparison with the Dutch
Science Shops and the Mainstream American Research System."
Building on the 1977 CBR Reader, this is a more structured analysis,
with helpful case profiles and “findings” regarding strengths and weaknesses
of current efforts. Includes CBR directory and literature.
Williams, Lee, “An Annotated Bibliography for Participatory
and Collaborative Field Research Methods,” (1996), Community Partnership
Center, University of Tennessee, Knoxville.
A rich collection with sections on applied research,
ethnography, feminist approaches, evaluation. Tools and techniques, from
oral histories to surveys to visuals, are identified . Case materials are
also included, as well as much needed consideration of ethical challenges.
www.bio.uu.nl/living-knowledge
This is the website for Living Knowledge: The International
Science Shop Network: Building Partnerships for Public Access to Research.
Building on the pioneer Dutch Science Shops, this network provides models
and resources for campus/community connections.
www.hrec.org
The Highlander Research and Education Center in
New Market, TN is one of the most significant and enduring centers of popular
education, participatory research and community-based work. This website
provides profiles of Highlander, links to others in the popular education/community
research network, newsletters and publications. Collaborations with higher
education are selective, purposeful and constructed through mutual benefits
instead of traditional service relations.
www.incommunityresearch.com
Action Research Promoting Health, Education and
Culture, based in Hartford CT, is a lively example of a community identifying,
honoring, and strengthening the local knowledge base.
www.loka.org
The Loka Institute is considered one of the nervecenters
of CBR, linking up advocates and participants internationally. The broad
framework of democracy in science and public policy attracts a wide range
of adherents from community activists to students and teachers to higher
education administrators. Essential is the negotiation of just, equitable
collaborations between communities and researchers in the academy. The
website is an important portal to news, exchanges, literature and links.
www.luc.edu/depts/prag
The Policy Research Action Group, based at Loyola
University in Chicago, is one of the most well developed collaborative
projects, involving many campuses and communities. Projects have strong
educational and research impacts, and there is a premium placed on assessment,
accountability and sustainable benefits.
www.slic.com/afte
This is the website for the Akwesasne Task Force
on the Environment, one of the most recognized and respected community
forces for democratic, accountable research. With links to Cornell, the
State University of NY, and others, the Task Force is the generator and
guardian of projects that enrich the community and the educational partnerships
in the region and serve as an important model for other community/campus
collaborations.