Indigenous Intersections: Tribally-Driven and Community-Based Participatory Research as Means to More Culturally Responsive State- and Federally-Funded Government Studies November 13, 2015 American Evaluation Association 1
The IMPAQ Team 2
Welcome Our goals today: Increase your awareness of evaluation work in the Tribal context Share strategies for applying the principles of Tribally-Driven Participatory Research in the context of Federal and state-sponsored work Provide a framework to support your application of TDPR principles 3
Why is this important? Exemplary evaluations in a multicultural world should include Tribally-Driven Participatory Research (TDPR). AEA Guiding Principles, especially: Integrity/Honesty (C4) Respect for People (D6) [Cultural] Competence (B2) 4
Community Based Participatory Research Research with traditionally underrepresented or marginalized communities Contrasts with helicopter, outsider, or safari research True partnership between researchers & those being studied Findings are incorporated to produce results that are accurate, relevant, & meaningful to the community 5
Tribally-Driven Participatory Research TDPR extends CBPR to include sovereignty & to focus on the interests of Tribal communities: Acknowledges the legal & political constructs within the study that are unique for sovereign Tribal governments Considers the diverse cultural, linguistic, traditional, & social aspects of Indigenous communities 6
TDPR / CBPR Comparison TDPR accepts the core principals of CBPR but moves from a passive to active stance: Research is tribally driven vs. tribally based. The term Tribally-Driven Participatory Research echoes the core principles of CBPR while capturing the critical governmental authority of American Indian tribes. 7
TDPR / CBPR Comparison cont. The qualitative difference between CBPR & TDPR is that Tribal governments have the authority to codify research requirements in tribal statutes that can be more stringent than federal requirements. Macaulay et al., 1998 Model Tribal Research Code, 1999 Fiher & Ball, 2003 Letendre & Caine, 2004 Brugge & Missaghian, 2006 8
TDPR: Multi-jurisdictional research design With its more active stance, and recognition of Tribal sovereignty, TDPR can accommodate a design that includes the legal jurisdictions of Tribal governments & individuals: A multi-jurisdictional design in Indigenous contexts demonstrates how research teams, sponsoring agencies, & study participants will adhere to multiple sets of research codes & policies 9
TDPR: What it looks like in the field Wear appropriate attire: Informal but professional Ask permission for info about Tribal government and cultural policies, protocols, and community practices Be flexible: Visit with formal and informal leaders Exchange traditional or other gifts 10
TDPR: Communication in the Field Interpersonal interactions: sometimes informal; be respectful: listen, humility, and authenticity; Style and content: blended use of technical language, informal language, humor, and concrete examples Envision/embrace the circle; sitting around the fire to work with the community and not on them 11
TDPR Principles throughout the Evaluation TDPR Procure Design Build Skills/Capes Implement Analyze Report CBPR 12
TDPR Principles: Procure Finding Indigenous researchers: not everyone has business cards from AEA 2005 13
TDPR Principles: Design Shared tasks between research groups Built-in feedback loops for continuous community input Aug-- Discuss study with ITOs Sep-- Oct-- Share survey & interview questions with ITOs Feedback from Tribal leaders Revise questions Discuss site visits with ITOs Pilot survey and interview questio Nov-- Dec-- 14
TDPR Principles: Design cont. Widely disseminated Tried to balance breadth (giving all a chance to share their opinions) with depth (learning about the how and why) 15
TDPR Principles: Build Skills & Capacities Designed a researcher training Provided high-level facts about AI history that are key to understanding current context Introduced CBPR and TDPR Discussed what Tribal sovereignty means for research Outlined application of TDPR in our study Reviewed instrumentation and logistics 16
TDPR Principles: Implement Instrument Design Co-designed survey and site visit protocol Published initial questions in Fed Register / revised Cognitive interviews / revised Data Collection Multi-modal survey Recruitment of research partners i.e., Tribes that would allow us to visit their communities and learn done by Indigenous researchers 17
TDPR Principles: Analyze Member checking/validation Show diversity in Indian country, where possible Kept it simple: minimize inference Strengths-based approach This can be difficult to budget 18
TDPR Principles: Report Publicly-available dataset will be delivered in electronic and hard copy to participating Tribes With agency permission, de-brief with interested Tribes using official Tribal Consultation process With agency permission, distribute readerfriendly version of findings via OTR and other means 19
TDPR Principles Worksheet Procure Design Build Skill and Capacity Implement Analyze Report Key Questions Key Constructs Key Stakeholders Key Activities Strengths Gaps & Challenges Solutions Lessons Learned 20
Concluding Thoughts: A strong TDPR-steeped evaluation Provides visual examples of forms, instruments, or other databases to demonstrate the study methodology Uses/modifies existing Tribal instruments, databases, processes Considers from the Tribal perspective how research may enhance the development of current or new capacities, policies, or protocols Shares successes & best practices with other Tribal governments & Indigenous organizations, with the knowledge, consent, & participation of Tribal constituents Obtains permission to share, present on, or publish information outside of the Indigenous context 21
Contact Nicole Bowman (Mohican/Munsee), PhD President, Bowman Performance Consulting nicky@bpcwi.com (715) 526-9240 TW: @nbpc1 www.bpcwi.com Anne Chamberlain, MS Sr. Research Associate, IMPAQ achamberlain@impaqint.com 443-259-5215 TW: @impaq www.impaq.com 22