Packaging Findings
How and where will we communicate our findings and who will put the communications together? Have we budgeted for developing communications on our findings at the end of the research process?
Create publications, webinars, executive summaries, books, panels, power points, etc. to distribute the findings. Determine which partners will be responsible for communicating the findings. Keep in mind all the tasks that are involved in packaging findings (i.e., design, writing, promotion, etc.) and include all associated costs in the budget when applying for funding.
Resources:
Research presentation examples
Writing journal articles on community based research
Dissemination
How and when will we release our findings?
When communicating the research results, timing is important. Good times to disseminate can include the budget or election cycle, depending on the research and its goals. Dissemination of the research findings respects decisions made about data ownership in the project planning phase.
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Taking Action
How will we act on our findings? Who will we approach and how?
With the investment of resources and time it is important that the research results in change, action and advocacy. Moving from research to implementation can be a crucial step to achieving the desired outcomes. Since the research conducted tends to fill a gap, normally there will be actionable items that come from it.
Resources:
A guide for policy work for community-based participatory research
Impact
What will signal to us that our project is having a positive impact? How can we help to sustain the value of our work over time?
When designing research, the potential impacts (and unintended impacts) are useful to suss out. If more work will be needed after the research and dissemination to ensure that outcomes are achieved, it should be considered at the outset for planning purposes. Maintenance may be necessary to hold government accountable, for example, or to follow-up with any individuals/organizations implementing change resulting from this research.
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