Community-based participatory research (CBPR)
In contrast to other participatory research approaches, community-based participatory research (CBPR) aims to involve communities with research-relevant experience and - depending on the study design - practitioners in the entire research process wherever possible. Participation is envisaged in the development of the research questions, data collection and analysis as well as the interpretation and utilization of the research results. The aim is to jointly create new knowledge, promote the empowerment of all participants and develop strategies for action to improve the social situation of the communities involved. The methodological principles of CBPR include an explicit call to critically reflect on aspects of power and disadvantage with regard to various dimensions (including race) at every stage of the research. CBPR thus focuses on the research process itself, as racisms and other processes that cause social inequality can also be reproduced in the collaboration during the research process.
CBPR is demanding and time-consuming, and partnerships need to be built up over a longer period of time in order to facilitate trust and understanding and to develop the necessary skills in all those involved. Scientists, for example, are not always able to work in partnership with community partners without additional training. Community partners are also not able to participate in knowledge production as co-researchers without training.
CBPR usually brings together very different partners: Representatives from communities that are structurally disadvantaged and partners who are more privileged (such as the researchers involved). The structural conditions for participation are generally unequally distributed - this requires active management and critical reflection in order to make the collaboration as equal as possible. In addition, more resources are generally needed to enable the participation of disadvantaged communities.
There may also be limitations from a methodological and practical research perspective. The choice of co-researchers and study participants sets the course that can have a positive or negative influence on the further course of the study. For example, the actors provide insights into lifeworlds and interpretations that are only possible in this way, but blind spots also arise. Certain access points are opened up and others are closed off.
Another challenge is the limited possibility of theorizing. The formation of theory is not fundamentally excluded; on the contrary, it is repeatedly demanded and sometimes even realized. However, the development of theory in CBPR is usually not the top priority and can therefore be neglected in the implementation.
