Why Am I
Always
Being
Researched?
A guidebook for community organizations, researchers, and funders to address unintended bias in research specifically as it relates to COVID-19
“IF WE WANT TO AVOID PERPETUATING THE SAME SYSTEMIC PROBLEMS AND STRUCTURAL BIASES THAT HAVE PERSISTED IN COMMUNITIES OF COLOR FOR GENERATIONS, AND WHICH COVID-19 IS NOW PRESENTING TO US IN FULL COLOR, WE NEED TO CHANGE OUR ORIENTATION IN HOW WE PRODUCE, ANALYZE, USE, AND ASSESS THE VALIDITY OF EVIDENCE.”
Pre-COVID-19, Chicago Beyond published “Why Am I Always Being Researched?” a guidebook to offer “how” we can begin to level the playing field and reckon with unintended bias when it comes to research. It was written to help shift the power dynamic and the way community organizations, researchers, and funders uncover knowledge together. It is an equity-based approach to research that offers one way in which we can restore communities as authors and owners.
In the year since its publication, “Why Am I Always Being Researched?” has been used in more than 70 countries and all 50 states, and helped to inform the actions of significant funders, researchers, community members, nonprofits, journalists, and more, who discovered the guidebook and applied it in their own work.
Today, in response to COVID-19, many funders are seeking to make evidence-based decisions about what comes next. Pre-existing efforts to collect and analyze data have been disrupted. Many are launching new efforts.
This supplemental guidebook to “Why Am I Always Being Researched?” is a start, and by no means the answer to all that we face while we look toward world-wide recovery. We see these guides not as solutions, but as kindling to something greater, and a new path toward “how” we can all arrive at a more authentic truth in research.
This guidebook takes the core Seven Inequities Held in Place by Power from “Why Am I Always Being Researched?” and applies them to offer a way forward through and post-COVID-19.
THIS GUIDE IS FOR:
Funders doing strategic planning, scenario planning, and making decisions about what comes next, incorporating evidence into their process;
Funders using outcomes metrics to make new grants or manage existing grants for COVID-19 recovery;
Current research and data collection efforts that have been disrupted;
New efforts to learn and analyze, including new research and data collection;
Community organizations and community members seeking to lead on decisions about their communities;
Community organizations and community members who may participate in evidence-making.
The Beginning
Thank you for your time, consideration, and use of the COVID-19 Edition guidebook. We see it not as a solution, but as a kindling to something greater, and a new path toward “how” we can all arrive at a more authentic truth in research. We ask that you share these questions and ideas with others in the social impact space, and host conversations to address unintended bias and leveling the playing field to do the most good for our communities.
- Share this with your team and encourage reflection and discussion.
- Share the guidebook on social media using our social media toolkit.
- Bring this to your network, in one-on-one conversation with your board members, staff, allies, challengers, and friends.
- Host a virtual discussion. Email us at connect@ChicagoBeyond.org to partner with our team and bring this guidebook to your community
Engage in our community of practice. What successes have you had with equity-based research? What has made you uncomfortable, or frustrated you? Send us a note at connect@ChicagoBeyond.org to join the dialogue about our ongoing learning.
