Researching With: A Decolonizing Approach to Community-Based Action Research

173 Pages·2020·2.988 MB·English

by  Jessica Smartt Gullion, Abigail Tilton

Researching With
PERSONAL/PUBLIC
SCHOLARSHIP
Series Editor
Patricia Leavy (USA)
Editorial Board
Carolyn Ellis (University of South Florida, USA)
Donna Y. Ford (Vanderbilt University, USA)
Henry Giroux (McMaster University, Canada)
Stacy Holman Jones (Monash University, Australia)
Sut Jhally (University of Massachusetts, USA)
Kip Jones (Bournemouth University, UK)
Jean Kilbourne, (Wellesley Centers for Women, USA)
Peter McLaren (Chapman University, USA)
Scope
The Personal/Public Scholarship book series values: (1) public scholarship (scholar-
ship that is accessible to academic and popular audiences), and (2) interconnections
between the personal and public in all areas of cultural, social, economic and politi-
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VOLUME 6
The titles published in this series are listed at brill.com/pepu
Researching With
A Decolonizing Approach to Community-Based
Action Research
By
Jessica Smartt Gullion and Abigail Tilton
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All chapters in this book have undergone peer review.
The Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available online at
http://catalog.loc.gov
ISSN 2542-9671
ISBN 978-90-04-42483-8 (paperback)
ISBN 978-90-04-42484-5 (hardback)
ISBN 978-90-04-42485-2 (e-book)
Copyright 2020 by Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands, excepted where
stated otherwise.
Koninklijke Brill NV incorporates the imprints Brill, Brill Hes & De Graaf,
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ADVANCE PRAISE FOR
RESEARCHING WITH
“Though there are many books on community-based action research (CBAR),
Gullion and Tilton have provided an indispensable volume for researchers who
are deeply concerned with social justice, equity, and collaborative methods
to solve problems that matter to members of underserved communities.
Combining both a participatory approach and a decolonizing world view, they
map out the characteristics and issues of CBAR, what constitutes decolonizing
research, methods for doing CBAR, especially with underrepresented groups,
and an essential chapter on public scholarship approaches to dissemination,
all viewed through the lens of public health (arguably a primary tool of
the colonizer). Written in accessible language with tons of illustrative and
anecdotal examples yet grounded in the historical and current literature, this
book provides a theoretical and practical guide for both student researchers
or researchers who want to interrogate their own privilege, positionality, and
inherited colonial frames of reference regardless of their areas of research
interest.”
– Rosemary Reilly, PhD, CCFE, Professor of Applied Human Sciences
at Concordia University
“A much-anticipated text that elevates people and communities and bridges
the gap between research theory and practice. Using decolonization as a
theoretical framework, Gullion and Tilton explore how relationality can
be used to solve community problems. Interrogating scientistic, Western
standards in research is a central theme in this book. Yet, the authors offer
practical, Indigenous knowledge-centered solutions to community-based
action research that are integral in addressing power and privilege within the
research process from the researcher’s positionality to the methods used to
collect and disseminate data. Adding to the current literature on social justice-
centered scholarship, Gullion and Tilton offer tools to help researchers explore
their own path in decolonizing knowledges in their research process. This
book is a must read for any scholar doing human subjects research and should
be required reading for graduate students doing social science research.”
– Sheila Bustillos, PhD, Director for Strategic Initiatives at the Texas
Center for Child and Family Services
“Drs. Gullion and Tilton have applied their experience and expertise to
dig deeper into social justice within diverse groups and their interactions.
Meticulously peeling away layers of implicit bias, barriers to feminism,
paternalistic cultural norms—they guide an in-depth discussion of the
undercurrents of bias in community conversations. Objective analysis is
important, and this work forces objectivity while educating the reader on
hidden motivations that can hinder progress in community organizing. This
material is rich in research, and requires much of the reader. The destination
is worth the journey: a better understanding of why we see our world the way
we do and recognize our biased eyes.”
– Matt Richardson, DrPH, MPH, FACHE, Director of Public Health,
Denton County Public Health
“This book validates the critical impact of stakeholder involvement for
successful development of community-based projects. It should be read by
every person that sits on a grant giving board. Implementing the critical steps
of stakeholder engagement would improve the success rate of community-
based projects.”
– Dian Jordan, PhD, Senior Lecturer at the University of Texas Permian
Basin, and Visiting Curator, Museum of the Red River
“Researching With: A Decolonizing Approach to Community-Based Action
Research is a significant and long-overdue contribution to the research
methodology literature. It incorporates a deeply-embedded respect for
communities and applies the Boyer Model as an inclusive framework for
recognizing knowledge. Gullion and Tilton present a persuasive and thought-
provoking approach based on decades of research practice that will engage
both new and experienced researchers.”
– Lisa Zottarelli, PhD, Sociology Professor and SACSCOC Liaison, San
Antonio College
CONTENTS
Acknowledgements ix
Introduction 1
Organization of the Text 3
Our Backgrounds 5
Chapter 1: Community Health 9
Historical Roots of Community-Based Action Research 11
Understanding Community-Based Action Research 14
Issues to Consider 19
Public Academics 22
The Slow Professor 27
The Boyer Model 30
Chapter 2: Decolonizing Research 37
Colonization of Knowledge 38
Indigenous Research 41
Honoring Culture 44
Sacred Knowledge 46
Black Feminist Methodology 48
The Neoliberal Agenda and the Politics of Science 52
Other Considerations 53
Chapter 3: Doing Community-Based Action Research 63
Epistemic Privilege 64
Top-Down Solutions Often Fail 65
Your Role as Researcher 70
Objectivity 77
Finding Projects 78
Gather a Group of Like Minded People 81
Define the Goals 86
Mapping the Problem and Collecting Data 88
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs 95
vii
CONTENTS
Conflict Management 99
When People Don’t Want to Participate 102
Chapter 4: Research Ethics 109
Procedural Ethics 110
Situational Ethics 112
Relational Ethics 114
Chapter 5: Getting the Message Out 121
The Problem with Academic Journals 122
Voice 124
Telling the Story 128
Writing in Accessible Language 128
Don’t Feed the Trolls 130
Working with the Media 133
Putting Action into Action Research 135
Conclusion 139
Appendix A: A Pedagogical Approach to Action Research 141
Jessica Smartt Gullion and Erin Graybill Ellis
Teaching Action Research 142
The Project 145
Action Research, Start to Finish, 15 Weeks 147
Discussion 151
Conclusion 154
References 157
About the Authors 165
viii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
We begin with an acknowledgement of the lands on which this text was
created. We live and work in North Texas, in the traditional lands of the
Wichita, Caddo, and Apache tribes. We also acknowledge and pay respects
to the intellectual elders upon whose work we draw throughout the volume
and who guided us on our intellectual journeys. We do this with a nod to
Kakali Bhattacharya, who wrote about “intellectual elders” on her Facebook
page; this is her term.
This project would not have manifested if not for the support of Patricia
Leavy, John Bennett, Peter de Liefde, Jolanda Karada, Paul Chambers and
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board of the Personal/Public Scholarship book series, and the anonymous
reviewers for their insightful feedback.
Two additional individuals were crucial to the development of this text.
Rosemary Reilly was a tremendous help with ensuring we had writings from
a diverse group of Indigenous scholars. Susan Harper assisted with literature
reviews and copy editing (although any remaining errors within are ours),
and provided a sounding board throughout the writing of this book. Susan,
you are a lifesaver!
We also wish to express gratitude to the many different community groups
we have been honored to work alongside over the years, some of which
appear in this text and others which do not. Thank you to the Texas Woman’s
University Office of Research and Sponsored Programs for a small grant
award that supported this project.
JESSICA’S ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Thank you to all the strong, feminist women who have supported and
lifted me up throughout this process. In particular, I want to acknowledge
my mentor and friend, Brenda Phillips, for introducing me to Participatory
Action Research and showing me how rich qualitative knowledge work can
be. Special thanks to Erin Ellis, Sandra Faulkner, Susan Harper, Patricia
Leavy, Claire Sahlin, and Jessica Williams. Thanks also to my coauthor,
Abigail Tilton. I’m impressed that you could deal with my nonlinear writing
practices. And many thanks to Vagner Whitehead for your friendship and
exchange of ideas.
ix