Why Am I Always Being Researched?: A Guidebook for Community Organizations, Researchers, and Funders
In a report titled, Why Am I Always Being Researched?, Chicago Beyonds offer ideas on how we can begin to level the playing field and reckon with unintended bias when it comes to research. This guidebook is intended to help shift the power dynamic and the way community organizations, researchers, and funders uncover knowledge together. It is an equity-based approach to research that offers one way in which we can restore communities as authors and owners. It is based on the steps and missteps of Chicago Beyond’s own experience funding community organizations and research, and the courageous and patient efforts of their partners, the youth they serve, and others with whom they have learned.
Right or wrong, research can drive decisions. If we do not address the power dynamic in the creation of research, at best, we are driving decision-making from partial truths. At worst, we are generating inaccurate information that ultimately does more harm than good in our communities. This is why we must care about how research is created.
To access the full report, click here.