Aligning Community-Engaged Research Methods with Diverse Community Organizing Approaches

Community-Engaged Research (CER) often involves partnerships between academic or professional researchers and community organizers. Critical CER organizing each aim to mobilize people resources produce actionable knowledge in order build grassroots leadership power that promote equity justice for marginalized communities. This article argues critical collaborations can benefit by carefully matching the choice of research methods with partners’ strategies ensure aligns supports goals. We add literature a more specific rationale why should share control over organizers, detailed guidance how teams select best advance organizers’ After summarizing many ways which collaborative support efforts, we argue different align widely-used approaches (including Alinskyite, Freirean, feminist, building resilience-based, transformative approaches). illustrate discussion examples conducted organizations rooted environmental (EJ) movement, prioritizes as strategy draws from multiple traditions, including case study techniques used Environmental Health Coalition, one oldest EJ groups U.S.