Research Approach and Values - National Center for Farmworker Health

“If research doesn’t change you as a person, then you aren’t doing it right.” – Dr. Shawn Wilson

Our approach to research is grounded, action-oriented, and focused on our relational accountability to farmworker communities. We create research methods that rely on socio-critical and Indigenous research paradigms, recognizing that farmworkers are the experts to guide and design any research about their lives, and that social change and improving farmworkers’ wellbeing is the central goal of any research we create or engage in.

We strive to balance the realities of funder’s priorities with the priorities of farmworkers and their families. We fairly compensate farmworkers as subject matter experts to guide the design and interpretation of research and data collection activities, along with academically-trained experts to ensure our work stays grounded in farmworkers’ lived experience. We also recognize that achieving this balance is an iterative process and we remain open to continuous improvement.

We center these values in our research work:

Relationality: No research is conducted in a vacuum, and instead reflects the researchers’ relationships with people, the land, systems of power, and the cosmos. These relationships guide our work.
Relational accountability: We are also accountable to the relationships we have, in how we select research topics, how we implement research, how we analyze the data collected, and how we share the results. We critically evaluate the intended and unintended consequences of our research and our language on farmworkers, farmworker advocates, and agriculture. When we ask farmworkers to participate in any form of data collection, we view the interaction not merely as the extraction of information, but as the development of a new relationship.
Reciprocity: We do not ask farmworkers to participate in research without providing some form of reciprocity and gratitude for their time, expertise, and experience. Farmworkers’ time and experience is incredibly valuable, and we work to maintain fair and just compensation for farmworkers as research participants or subject matter experts.
Flexibility: We recognize that rigorous research relies on clear, well-developed protocols, and we also recognize that every farmworker community is unique and shaped by the local land, social conditions, politics, and backgrounds of community members. We adapt our methods to match the local community whenever appropriate and necessary.
Actionability: We seek to create research that will not only lead to positive action for farmworker communities but also supports advocates and government agencies in better serving farmworker families. We work towards building capacity for community-based organizations to participate in research, and for researchers to participate in community.