Shared Decision Making in Early Childhood Research: A Foundation for Successful Community-University Partnerships

Abstract

The purpose of the paper was to examine the relationship between shared decision making and successful community-university research partnerships. Community partners and university researchers from 60 different partnership projects completed the Head Start Research Partnership Questionnaire that assessed the level of shared decision making of key partnership participants. The questionnaire also addressed the formation, maintenance, and focus of the partnership, community partners' levels of participation in the research, overall satisfaction with the partnership process, and the perceived value of the projects' findings and products. Respondents whose projects had a high level of shared decision making were compared to respondents whose projects had a low level of shared decision making, Results showed that high levels of shared decision making among partnership members led to more openly expressed and valued differences of opinion, better defined roles among partners, higher levels of concern for cultural sensitivity and for the protection of participant rights, as well as greater participation by community partners in all phases of the research project. Finally, partners with high levels of shared decision making reported higher levels of overall satisfaction with the research partnership project and found greater value in the research findings and products. Implications for future research also were discussed.