What is Community-Based Research?
Community-Based Research focuses on questions that are meaningful to a community and engage both professional academics and community members as experts. Partners share power and collaborate to develop and carry out the research together.
Why do Community-Based Research?
- Address Community Needs: Prioritize the concerns and issues identified by the community, ensuring that research is relevant and beneficial to the people it aims to serve.
- Enhance research: Design research that can be easily translated and implemented in real-life situations and environments.
- Engage Community: Create solutions to societal problems by engaging community members in the design, implementation, and evaluation of interventions.
- Foster Trust: Establish stronger trust between academic researchers and communities to facilitate potential collaborations.
- Represent the U: Show that the University of Utah is committed to serving the communities of Utah
- Promote equity and social justice: Extend services and resources to populations that are currently underrepresented or underserved.
“Research inherently comes from a place of not knowing and of curiosity. I recommend starting CBR from a place of shared curiosity and a desire to understand, change, and/or find solutions. Ensure that the matter at hand is a priority for the community, that they want to spend their time researching it and finding solutions.” — Kiana Taheri, CRC Reviewer, In It Together: Community-Based Research Guidelines for Communities and Higher Education