Developing the next generation of community-based researchers: tips for undergraduate students

Abstract

Universities and funding agencies are increasingly calling for collaborative research between community partners and academics. When combined with faculty roles in training the next generation of researchers, these collaborative frameworks can present a challenge to undergraduate students seeking experience with research activities—both in terms of the types of needed training and the timelines involved. The quality and effectiveness of student research experiences, however, will have longstanding impacts on their future research careers, as well as repercussions pertaining to the community experience with the research process. The purpose of this study is to provide primarily undergraduate students with information about how to get the most out of their community-based research experiences. Given geography's traditional strengths as a field-engaged discipline, community-based research is a natural fit for geography and brings renewed vitality to the discipline. Key topics to be addressed include finding community research opportunities, identifying what you should know and what you should ask before engaging with a research team, how to obtain a breadth of research skills and experiences, researcher etiquette and demeanour in the community, budgeting, time management and developing long-term, meaningful relationships with communities.

Keywords:

• Undergraduate student research training
• community-based research
• collaboration
• funding

Notes

1. Faculty refers to university professors, lecturers and teaching staff.

2. There are many different terms used for community-based research internationally [i.e. participatory action research in the UK and Australia (Cameron & Gibson, 2005; Jupp, 2007), community-based participatory research in the USA (Andrews, Newman, Meadows, Cox, & Bunting, 2010; Viswanathan et al., 2004) or community-based research in Canada (Roche, 2008)]. For the general purposes of this study, we use the term community-based research to draw upon our lessons and experiences in Canada.

3. PIRGs are “autonomous, non-profit, university student-funded and directed organizations that conduct research, education, and action on social and environmental justice issues” (OPIRG, 2011, http://www.opirg.org).

4. In 2009, the Government of Canada's federal budget indicated that Canada's three main granting institutions, including the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council, needed to cut roughly $148 million from their budgets over the next 3 years (Laucius, 2009).