Community based research

Community-based research is a method in the social sciences that gives greater prominence to members of the community to collaborate in the research process, not just as people who respond to the surveys and who may also be the recipients of eventual changes in society, but rather participate in the administration of the questionnaires, selecting the samples of qualified interviewees with relevance criteria and also participating in other stages of the study and suggesting modifications for improvements in the project. This community collaboration is closer to a deal between equals or a bridge, between those who are responsible for the project and those who are surveyed, thus integrating knowledge and action for the mutual benefit of the parties, see Social action.

The other aspects of the community survey technique remain the same: non-intervention in the respondent's opinions, anonymity, etc. It is not a participatory survey. It is about enhancing the quality of the results by incorporating together the best work of those who designed the survey, those who administered the surveys and those who provided responses to all of this. An attempt is also made to enrich the stratification of the sample by the intervention closest to the community or based on it. The subject has been studied in the Social Sciences by Bárbara Israel and others (1998). There is also community school based education, which covers the needs of extracurricular instruction and leadership.

The project directors first send an invitation to participate, they are sent instructions on the operation to follow, giving priority to the attitude of the volunteer-pollsters in relation to the respondents: response capacity and diversity of the respondents and not to anonymous and sometimes uncontrolled sampling. These sample stratification criteria will not be a problem due to their knowledge of the community. Those selected are those who have already participated in community projects, be they quality of life, sustainable development or others, or who have simply taken an interest in the community. Abstracts from an Actual Survey in a New England County., Nov. 2004.

The Participatory-Action-Research (IAP) is the latest update, for a more collaborative application, of cases of socioeconomic training for social development plans; example: Commune of Diego de Almagro (Chile). The more complete methodology is scattered in the other various examples. The method has one more step with the inclusion of the City Council, the Neighbors and the Researchers in round tables for discussion and application of a project, which is where the conclusions will come out. Try to involve and hold all parties accountable. Popular knowledge as a source of knowledge in action with participatory observation, without leading roles. An investigation applied to action, without scientism or elitism. The stages are a diagnosis of the situation (field work and working group, strengthening citizenship, seeking sustainable development and stimulating social organizations and neighbors with a methodological principle of transparency: participate and share and with a mission of revitalization of the group by the researchers and their control, monitoring the degree of involvement of the social agents, taking care that the conclusions and actions are not invalidated by isolated interventionisms.