IQMR 2026

Community-Engaged Research (Modules 3, 7)

Monday, June 15; Tuesday, June 16

Eggers Hall, Room 018

Jamila Michener (Cornell University)

This module offers conceptual, theoretical, and practical insights on how to conduct research with, in, and alongside communities and community partners. Standard social science methodological training focuses on data collection and analysis techniques driven by the imperatives of replicability, reliability, validity, generalizability and similar standards of rigor. While these methodological priorities have merit, they often overlook the reality that data collection and analyses sometimes require and facilitate contact, interaction, and reliance on people and organizations within communities. This is especially true of qualitative and mixed methods research. Though community engaged research shares some of the same standards, methods, and objectives as other kinds of research, it is nevertheless distinct. In order to be accurate and generative, research that involves substantive connection and relationship with communities must center the perspectives, power, and needs of those communities. This often necessitates changes to researchers’ decision making processes, methodological choices, funding needs, writing style and much more. Indifference to these core aspects of research practice can undermine the strength of empirical analyses, threaten the integrity of research findings, and compromise scholars’ ethical obligations. This module confronts and addresses these dynamics. We will explore varied ways of conceptualizing and defining community-engaged research, outline best practices for conducting research with, in, and alongside communities, and provide practical examples of research designs that treat communities as integral co-producers of knowledge.

Participants are strongly encouraged to attend the full module sequence (though they may enter the sequence after it has begun if necessary).

Community-Engaged Research I (M3, June 15)

This module will focus on understanding what Community Engaged Research (CEnR) is, how it is distinct, when it is appropriate (and when it is not), and what challenges it involves.

8:45am - 10:15am – What is Community Engaged Research: Making Sense of Community Engaged Research

This session will focus on understanding what Community Engaged Research (CEnR) is and how it differs from other approaches. We will consider dilemmas of defining the core elements of CEnR and assess whether and how the central logic of CEnR is distinct relative to other approaches (e.g., civically engaged research, community based participatory research, traditional social science research, etc.).

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1:30pm - 3:00pm – Why (and Why Not) Community Engaged Research

This session will consider the benefits and rationale for doing CEnR, the circumstances where it is most appropriate, and the conditions under which CEnR is not the best choice. We will also consider what (if any) specific methodological techniques lend themselves to CEnR approaches, what (if any) do not, and what this means for the relationship(s) between this research approach (CEnR) and social science research methods.

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3:30pm - 5:00pm – Challenges of Community Engaged Research

This session will consider the challenges of CEnR including the political dimensions of such work, the ways CEnR fits (or does not fit) into larger academic expectations and norms, the labor intensive efforts required to conduct CEnR and more.

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Community-Engaged Research II (M7, June 16)

This module will focus on learning from specific case studies (i.e., research that has been conducted using a community engaged approach). In this module, we will also work together to develop ideas for community engaged studies that students can apply in their own research.

8:45am - 10:15am – Case Studies in Community Engaged Research

In this session, we will explore two specific examples of community engaged research, with an emphasis on applying the insights developed in module 1 to glean substantive and practical perspective on CEnR.

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1:30pm - 3:00pm – Developing a Community Engaged Research Project

In this session, we will work through practical steps for developing a community engaged research project. Each student will develop an idea and sketch its broad contours.

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3:30pm - 5:00pm – Developing a Community Engaged Research Project

In this session, students will present their ideas for community engaged research and we will work together to offer constructive feedback on those ideas.

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