scholarly journals Community engagement in Canadian health and social science research: Field reports on four studies

2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 118-134
Author(s):  
Andrew Eaton
Keyword(s):  
Social Science ◽  
Community Engagement ◽  
Science Studies ◽  
Social Science Research ◽  
Science Research ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Leadership Role ◽  
Community Based ◽  
Community Based Research ◽  
Canadian Health

Community engagement is a hallmark of Canadian health and social science research, yet we lack detailed descriptions of pragmatic peer engagement possibilities. People personally affected by a study’s topic can actively contribute to design, data collection, intervention delivery, analysis, and dissemination yet the nature and scope of involvement can vary based on context. The shift from academic to community-based research teams, where peers who share participant identities assume a leadership role, may be attributed to the HIV/AIDS response where community co-production of knowledge has been a fundamental component since the epidemic’s onset. This article discusses four health and social science studies from a community-based participatory research (CBPR) framework and synthesizes the strengths and limitations of community engagement across these endeavours to offer lessons learned that may inform the design of future CBPR projects.

New Data Sources in Social Science Research: Things to Know Before Working With Reddit Data

2019 ◽  
pp. 089443931989330 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ashley Amaya ◽  
Ruben Bach ◽  
Florian Keusch ◽  
Frauke Kreuter
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Social Science ◽  
Social Science Research ◽  
Science Research ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Data Sources ◽  
Front Page ◽  
Social Media Data ◽  
New Research ◽  
Media Data

Social media are becoming more popular as a source of data for social science researchers. These data are plentiful and offer the potential to answer new research questions at smaller geographies and for rarer subpopulations. When deciding whether to use data from social media, it is useful to learn as much as possible about the data and its source. Social media data have properties quite different from those with which many social scientists are used to working, so the assumptions often used to plan and manage a project may no longer hold. For example, social media data are so large that they may not be able to be processed on a single machine; they are in file formats with which many researchers are unfamiliar, and they require a level of data transformation and processing that has rarely been required when using more traditional data sources (e.g., survey data). Unfortunately, this type of information is often not obvious ahead of time as much of this knowledge is gained through word-of-mouth and experience. In this article, we attempt to document several challenges and opportunities encountered when working with Reddit, the self-proclaimed “front page of the Internet” and popular social media site. Specifically, we provide descriptive information about the Reddit site and its users, tips for using organic data from Reddit for social science research, some ideas for conducting a survey on Reddit, and lessons learned in merging survey responses with Reddit posts. While this article is specific to Reddit, researchers may also view it as a list of the type of information one may seek to acquire prior to conducting a project that uses any type of social media data.

Sociodrama for Training Applied Anthropologists

1987 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 13-16
Author(s):  
David Rymph
Keyword(s):  
Social Science ◽  
Graduate Training ◽  
Evaluation Research ◽  
Social Science Research ◽  
Science Research ◽  
Health Department ◽  
Practical Experience ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Applied Social Science ◽  
Fayette County

As a practicing anthropologist with strong ties to university-based graduate training programs, I have occasionally been invited to give guest lectures to classes in applied anthropology, evaluation research, and public administration. When asked to share my practical experience, what I have most often wanted to communicate to students are the lessons learned on the job about how administrators, program people, and researchers get on with one another. I am referring to my own struggles to learn and adapt to the social realities of how public agencies make decisions about the proper use of social science research. While lectures on behavior in complex organizations may be helpful, experience is the better teacher. Toward this end, my colleague Carol Bryant, a Ph.D. anthropologist with the Lexington-Fayette County, Kentucky Health Department, and I have developed a technique to help trainees experience the multi dimensional character of applied social science problems in human service systems. Combining role play with conflict resolution goals, sociodrama gives students and trainees the opportunity to act out aspects of real world roles and problem situations in a non-threatening and supportive atmosphere.

The Ethical Stakes of Collaborative Community-Based Social Science Research

2018 ◽  
Vol 53 (4) ◽  
pp. 503-531 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ronald David Glass ◽  
Jennifer M. Morton ◽  
Joyce E. King ◽  
Patricia Krueger-Henney ◽  
Michele S. Moses ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Research Ethics ◽  
Ethical Issues ◽  
Social Science Research ◽  
Historical Trauma ◽  
Science Research ◽  
Ethics Codes ◽  
Community Based ◽  
Community Based Research ◽  
Critical Theories ◽  
Collaborative Community

This multivocal essay engages complex ethical issues raised in collaborative community-based research (CCBR). It critiques the fraught history and limiting conditions of current ethics codes and review processes, and engages persistent troubling questions about the ethicality of research practices and universities themselves. It cautions against positioning CCBR as a corrective that fully escapes these issues. The authors draw from a range of philosophic, African-centric, feminist, decolonial, Indigenous, and other critical theories to unsettle research ethics. Contributors point toward research ethics as a praxis of engagement with aggrieved communities in healing from and redressing historical trauma.

scholarly journals Using Social Media to Advance Community-Based Research

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-5
Author(s):  
Rebecca A. Glazier ◽  
Morgan Paige Topping
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Longitudinal Research ◽  
Social Science Research ◽  
Science Research ◽  
Communication Tool ◽  
Research Subjects ◽  
Little Rock ◽  
Community Based ◽  
Research Project ◽  
Community Based Research

ABSTRACT Community-based research can improve validity and benefit its subjects, but building trust with communities and research subjects can be challenging. Social media is a powerful tool that can be used to build connections and share information. Yet, little research has been done on how social media can be used as a recruitment and communication tool for community-based research (CBR) projects. Our study used Facebook to advance the goals of a community-based social science research project in Little Rock, Arkansas. We compared participation and results distribution rates for this longitudinal research project in 2012, 2016, and 2018, and we found increases in 2018, the year we used social media. The results indicate that social media can aid CBR by helping to build trust, improve credibility, and facilitate communication.

Current Issues in Behavioral and Social Science Research Ethics

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
James DuBois ◽  
Emily Lisi
Keyword(s):  
Social Science ◽  
Ethical Issues ◽  
Social Science Research ◽  
Community Based Participatory Research ◽  
Science Research ◽  
Ethical Review ◽  
Research Topics ◽  
Community Based ◽  
Social Landscape ◽  
Privacy And Confidentiality

Many researchers consider behavioral and social science (BSS) studies as “soft” science with negligible ethical risk. However, specific ethical issues arise in BSS research that require special consideration on the part of researchers and ethics review committees. This chapter focuses on these issues within the context of three studies that demonstrate concerns that may arise in conducting BSS research. Topics include deciding what BSS studies should be defined as “research” (or not), risks inherent in specific types of BSS research, protection of privacy and confidentiality, and special considerations in informed consent for BSS studies. Special topics addressed in this chapter include the ethical issues associated with studies utilizing social media and community-based participatory research, as well as the importance of rigor and reproducibility in BSS research in the context of ethical review. Finally, the chapter highlights the necessity of empirical study of ethical issues in BSS research to assess decision-making in an ever-evolving social landscape.

Recruitment of Community-Based Samples: Experiences and Recommendations for Optimizing Success

2021 ◽  
pp. 084456212110609 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna Garnett ◽  
Melissa Northwood
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Social Science ◽  
Social Science Research ◽  
Science Research ◽  
Early Career ◽  
Health Providers ◽  
Community Based ◽  
Building Relationships ◽  
Ethnic Representation ◽  
Early Career Researchers

Background Recruitment in health and social science research is a critically important but often overlooked step in conducting successful research. The challenges associated with recruitment pertain to multiple factors such as enrolling groups with vulnerabilities, obtaining geographic, cultural, and ethnic representation within study samples, supporting the participation of less accessible populations such as older adults, and developing networks to support recruitment. Purpose This paper presents the experiences of two early career researchers in recruiting community-based samples of older adults, their caregivers, and associated health providers. Methods Challenges and facilitators in recruiting two community-based qualitative research samples are identified and discussed in relation to the literature. Results Challenges included: identifying potential participants, engaging referral partners, implementing multi-methods, and achieving study sample diversity. Facilitators included: making connections in the community, building relationships, and drawing on existing networks. Conclusions Findings suggest the need for greater recognition of the importance of having clear frameworks and strategies to address recruitment prior to study commencement as well as the need to have clear outreach strategies to optimize inclusion of marginalized groups. Recommendations and a guide are provided to inform the development of recruitment approaches of early career researchers in health and social science research.

Enacting the Logic of Possibility in Organizations and Management1

2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 95-107 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martha S Feldman ◽  
Prami Sengupta
Keyword(s):  
Social Science ◽  
Public Management ◽  
Science Studies ◽  
Practice Theory ◽  
Management Practice ◽  
Social Science Research ◽  
Science Research ◽  
Area Of Study

Abstract Public management sits at the intersection of social science studies and management practice. Social science studies are largely based on a logic of probability. Management practice, however, requires both a logic of probability and a logic of possibility. As a way of increasing the relevance of social science research to management practice, we explore ways of developing scholarship based on a logic of possibility. We discuss three approaches that provide ways of theorizing possibility: process theorizing, pragmatism, and practice theory. We identify concepts within each approach that can be used to reorient scholarship to a logic of possibility. We review an area of study, the field of routine dynamics, where these three approaches have been formative as a way of illustrating what can be achieved through adopting a logic of possibility.

The Race Project: Researching Race in the Social Sciences Researchers, Measures, and Scope of Studies

2017 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 300-346 ◽  
Author(s):  
John A. Garcia
Keyword(s):  
Social Science ◽  
Lived Experience ◽  
Science Studies ◽  
Social Research ◽  
Meta Analysis ◽  
Social Science Research ◽  
Science Research ◽  
Static Characteristic ◽  
Bivariate Analysis ◽  
Social Scientists

AbstractWhile the concept and measurement of race has been a longstanding focus of social science research, capturing its significance requires a broader notion than utilizing only racial group categories. More recently, race has been treated as both a “characteristic” and a set of experiences that affect a multitude of life conditions and outcomes. This discussion and analysis moves away from treating race as only a categorical and static characteristic to a multi-dimensional concept that is dynamic, relational, and represents the intersection of individual, ecological, and structural components. By exploring the data collection of the Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research and studies that include race as a variable, we were able to trace how race has been used by social scientists over the past 60 years. Using an extensive coding protocol, we have attained key characteristics of the principal investigator(s) (PI), funders, scope of the overall study, and the use of different measures of race. As a result, this “meta-analysis” of social science surveys enabled this researcher to examine how these studies use a wide scope of racial “variables,” and the way in which PI characteristics affected the inclusion of race-related items. In addition, bivariate analysis is presented to examine social scientists’ tendencies in investigating race and inclusion of qualitative examples of item wordings and response categories. This overview of social science studies is placed in the context of conceptual and measurement issues surrounding the use and meaning of race. Hopefully this can serve to advance the discussion and strategic approaches in doing research about race and what should be incorporated in studying race as a lived experience.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document