Gateways: International Journal of Community Research and Engagement, Vol. 13, No. 1, May 2020
ISSN 1836-3393 | Published by UTS ePRESS | http://ijcre.epress.lib.uts.edu.au

RESEARCH ARTICLE

Assessing excellence in community-based research: Lessons from research with Syrian refugee newcomers

Rich Janzen, Joanna Ochocka

Centre for Community Based Research, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada.

Corresponding author: Rich Janzen; rich@communitybasedresearch.ca

DOI: http:dx.doi.org/10.5130/ijcre.v13i1.7037

Article history: Received 24/01/2020; Revised 06/04/2020; Accepted 18/05/2020; Published XX/05/2020.

Citation: Janzen, R. and Ochocka, J. 2020. Assessing excellence in community-based research: Lessons from research with Syrian refugee newcomers. . Gateways: International Journal of Community Research and Engagement, 13:1, Article ID 7037. http:dx.doi.org/10.5130/ijcre.v13i1.7037

© 2020 by the author(s). This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), allowing third parties to copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format and to remix, transform, and build upon the material for any purpose, even commercially, provided the original work is properly cited and states its license.

DECLARATION OF CONFLICTING INTEREST The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. FUNDING The authors received financial support for the research from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada and from Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada.

Appendix


	Outcome category	Sub-category	Indicators used
Research engagement	Driven by community	Evidence of community entry being engaging and relevant Evidence that those most affected by the issue under study control the research agenda Evidence that research aligned with community norms, needs and capacities	Clear list of stakeholders affected by the issue under study Gatekeeper involvement in research exploration Translators used in research exploration Community members’ co-applicants on research proposals Research purpose supported by community stakeholders and seen as valuable and useful to community Financial resources shared with the community Research placed high value on experiential knowledge of community members Community members took ownership over research process, including data collection and data management Stakeholders responded to drafts of research proposal Community researchers were hired, trained and mentored Community members gave input to guide each step of research activities Research carried out in a way that honoured community traditions and ways of acting and knowing Community members able to react to and resolve ethical challenges (e.g. via steering committee) Appropriate and relevant language used
Research engagement	Meaningful participation	Evidence of collaborative research structure Evidence of reciprocal participation among research partners	A cross-stakeholder steering group guided research process, with clearly defined roles/responsibilities equitably negotiated Clearly defined responsibilities for research team members Partnership principles of working together defined and respected New researchers hired, trained and mentored Research partners experienced ‘synergy’ of working as a team towards a common goal Ongoing reflection on project learnings and impact among partners Community stakeholders contributed to recruiting research participants and to disseminating research findings Research partners stayed with the project to the end Trusting relationships were built that lasted beyond the project
Research rigour	Quality/useful data and interpretations	Evidence of rigorous methodology Evidence of rigorous analysis	Research methods appropriate for the research purpose and research questions Method triangulation (i.e. multiple methods) leading to utilisation-focused learning and action Accepted procedures for sampling, recruitment and data gathering Diverse stakeholder perspectives incorporated when sampling research participants Ethical review conducted prior and during the study that included consideration of community benefits and harm Data analysis linked to the study purpose and main research questions Comprehensiveness of stakeholder perspectives involved in data analysis (analysis triangulation) and verification Data analysis that followed quantitative and qualitative standards of quality
Research impact	Knowledge mobilisation	Evidence of research partners implementing a knowledge mobilization strategy Evidence of research partners responding to knowledge mobilization request from others	KM strategies appropriate for intended audiences Active involvement of a range of community partners in contributing to KM products Community forum to share research findings Peer-reviewed, policy-related and community-related KM products created and disseminated Requests for research findings from community members, policy-makers, and academics New stakeholders show interest in the research Stakeholder groups acknowledge usefulness of the research Research findings support new funding applications
	Mobilisation of people	Evidence of short-term mobilisation Evidence of long-term mobilisation	Knowledge exchange events held (e.g. forum, policy roundtable) Stakeholders applied knowledge and implemented action Additional dollars leveraged by research to implement action Community-based research valued by community members, with capacity to use it again in the future Community members demonstrated capacity to enact personal and collective change Research influenced local and national activities and policy
	Societal impact	Unique to each project	Innovative and strengthened local refugee support system created in a way that is scalable and sustainable (study 1) New interventions to support refugee newcomer youth and parents created (studies 2 & 3) Federal government policies altered and new policies introduced to support refugee support system change (study 1) and new interventions (studies 2 & 3). Greater capacity towards a resettlement ‘learning community’ in Waterloo Region (all 3 studies)

¹Indicators used were adapted from sample indicators found on CBRET.