Current thoughts on Best Practices for research to be conducted in energy-impacted communities:

  • communication
  • modifying approaches
  • sharing results
  • ethical considerations for community engagement

Finding ways to share results with communities is key. Here is an excerpt from a survey completed by a citizen from a Texas energy development community:

Survey: Do you believe it is important that researchers share their findings/results with the members of the community? Why or why not?

Citizen: I think it's extremely important to share the findings with the community.  This practice shows that the members' participation is useful.  Not taking the time to share the findings would make it much less likely that anyone would be interested in participating in future research interviews.

Survey: To what extent have researchers who have conducted studies in/around your community shared the findings/results with the local citizens? Please elaborate.

Citizen: I remember only one time when researchers shared their findings with our local citizens.  It's possible it happened more than once, but the one time is all I can remember. 

Better Communication and Coordination among Researchers

 

Kris Smith and Julia Haggerty discuss the need for better communication and coordination among researchers studying energy-host communities. (video length: 3:23)

Be Prepared to Modify Approaches

 

Kris Smith talks about the evolution of her own research practices over time and offers advice for co-creating community-driven research and connecting local research to a larger national or international context. Julia Haggerty shares an example of a project that changed mid-course due to updated information from the participants involved. (video length: 3:25)

Sharing Research Results Back with Communities

 

Kris Smith talks about various ways to share research findings and information back with community members. Julia Haggerty also shares some options in addition to academic publications that can be useful for communities. (video length: 2:44)

 Moving Towards a Researcher Code of Ethics

 

Julia Haggerty discusses the importance of thinking ahead of time about how research impacts a community. (video length: 1:03)

 

Previous: Before Going Into a Community as a Researcher

 

Next: Advice for Communities