About
Our Principles
The following assumptions guide our work and are the impetus behind it.
Research and evaluation can lead to continuous improvement
Organizations and communities that incorporate evaluation into their work process have better outcomes.
Research and evaluation can positively inform policy and practice
Research results should be disseminated not only to the academic community but also to the communities and organizations that are affected. Findings should be easy to implement and accessible to the target audience.
Evaluations should have scholarly integrity
Evaluations must be designed as rigorously as possible in order to inform the larger body of knowledge in a particular area.
Social issues are multifaceted
Most social issues are complex in nature; therefore, researchers trying to tackle them should work in multidisciplinary teams.
Partnerships should be flexible
Given that evaluation takes place within a political and organizational context, methodological flexibility is important to accommodate all the stakeholders' needs and interests.
Community-based research can bridge the gap between theory, research, and practice
Community members can benefit by knowing how to make sense of data, which can lead to program improvement, and researchers can acquire a deeper understanding of community issues by actively engaging in the communities.
Community-based research is more effective when all the stakeholders work collaboratively
All stakeholders involved in an evaluation should share decision-making and contribute equally to the evaluation process. Stakeholders can learn from each other; those who are implementing the results have increased capacity to do so in the future and researchers have the benefit of learning from practitioners who work on the front lines.
Learning is more effective when it is experiential
Students who are interested in community-based research enhance their learning by directly engaging with communities, while community partners can learn much by interpreting data and framing messages for communicating to broader audiences.
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