By Samiha Ali Dusty roads, narrow passageways, every three feet or so a small shop selling tea and snacks. A child wailing in the distance and the smell of freshly fried samosas in the air. To a qualitative field researcher, this scenario is not an uncommon scenario. Walking down the winding streets of Korail slum with […]
Ateeb Ahmad Parray I met Rahima (pseudo name) in Korail slum while doing a group session as a part of a training. She has lived in Korail slum for many years. Now she is a community health worker in BRAC’s health programme. While discussing the changes in the slum over the period, Rahima stated: What’s […]
By Wafa Alam, Tasnuva Wahed and Bachera Aktar Informal settlements are not a one-dimensional box. Dr. Hossain Zillur Rahman, BRAC Chairperson At a recent workshop, stakeholders discussed the health, well being, housing and water and sanitation related challenges faced by the residents and the governance systems in urban informal settlements. They talked about important issues […]
By Wafa Alam, Shafinaz Sobhan and Bachera Aktar Everyday many young men and women migrate to Dhaka city from rural areas of Bangladesh in search of work and in hope of a better life. Many of these people end up in informal settlements where they live in unhealthy and unsafe conditions, often subjected to harassment. […]
By Samira Sesay Walking along the narrow spaces in between two, two-storey tin shed houses of the Korail slum in Dhaka, signs of community development were all around us. Korail is the largest slum in Dhaka with over 200,000 households, and about 534 houses. In December 2016 the community was devasted by a fire that […]
Involving community researchers and the broader community in the development and validation of priorities, study tools, data collection processes, data analysis, interpretation and action planning is important to the quality of the CBPR process. Consistently engaging the community in monitoring the progress of community activities and gaining their reflexive accounts of the actions ensures rigour within the research process.
Capacities (competencies and conditions)
●Awareness of trustworthiness criteria that draw on critical epistemologies
●Ability to assess and develop contextualised code of research ethics including safeguarding
●Capacity to undertake validation exercises with stakeholders and the wider community to ensure the study is relevant, accepted and supported
●Ongoing learning, quality assessment and safeguarding assessment
●Capacity to contextualise research materials that value local ways of knowing and knowledge production
●Knowledge on how to engage in and apply reflexivity, considering positionality with regard to research findings, to strengthen rigour and trustworthiness
●Ability to triangulate different sources of information to determine research priorities, approach and actions
●Rigorous research findings which draw on trustworthiness criteria
●Generalisable research processes that can enhance CBPR techniques
●Community based research that is robust and adds value to communities, policies and practices
●Community members learn research skills, gain access to resources, and find ways to legitimate their knowledge, which have previously been limited by a history of exclusionary research practices
●After the research partnership has undertaken a process of prioritisation, and before conceptualising the research, validate the priorities and incorporate additional context to increase trustworthiness in the process
●Design research analysis and interpretation procedures that involve community researchers and associated stakeholders
●Have an outsider to help increase the rigour and real and perceived validity of the research
●Conduct data interpretation sessions to discuss interpretations, add context to information collected, and facilitate a better understanding of project documentation
●Triangulate data sources and add participant checking
●Undertake co-analysis activities with co-researchers and stakeholders
●Increase the reliability of the study by developing and using a case study protocol and a chain of evidence
●Design survey and interview questions that are culturally aligned enhancing the fit of the research with the implementing context
●Identify relational and situated ethical and safeguarding concepts and approaches that best fit the specific context and the process-oriented nature of CBPR (25)
●Constructive negotiation with gatekeeping bodies such as funders and research ethics committees to increase understanding of appropriate approaches
●Engage co-researchers and community members during the research tool preparation to cover all the essential aspects of the research including safeguarding risks
Utilise quality criteria to evaluate the CBPR process – see Springett, Atkey (26) and Sandoval, Lucero (27
●Documentation on the translation and adaptation of the materials and quality assurance processes through minutes and notes on discussions and engagement within the team and with stakeholders
●Documentation of research validation processes
●Documentation of discussion during triangulation of findings
●Case studies/stories/blogs that show reflexivity processes
●Peer reviewed publications
●Audio or notes from community validation processes
●NVivo or other screenshots showing quality checking processes
●Development and use of a case study protocol and the development of a database and a chain of evidence to improve reliability of the study
*Please note that some statements are adaptations or direct quotes from the papers listed in the reference section
