A GOOD PRACTICE GUIDE

’Hard to reach’ communities have traditionally been just that, difficult to engage. All too often research with local ethnic minority communities has relied upon the ‘usual suspects’ to take part, leaving commissioning bodies with little in the way of an informed understanding of the true ethnic diversity of the local community on their doorstep. With the production of a new Good Practice Guide this could all change.

The Guide focuses on an approach to local research studies which involves the recruitment and training of local community members as community interviewers or facilitators. For one local authority, adopting this approach to its Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) housing needs study resulted in a sample of households from fifty-six separate ethnic groups.
The approach has been developed by staff from the Salford Housing and Urban Studies Unit at the University of Salford and used across twenty-three local authorities.

The Guide provides a practical step-by-step account of how to recruit, train and support local people to assist with community research. It provides case studies, checklists of issues to consider and answers to many commonly asked questions about the practicalities of such an approach. Section One of the Guide describes the process of recruiting local people and the importance of a publicity strategy. It then outlines the nature and format of the training, focusing not only on the necessary research skills but also on the type of interviewer support required. The second section describes the project which led to the development of the Guide, while the final two sections provide an overview of the literature in this area and a resource list.

Copies of the Good Practice Guide are available from Helen Albert 0161 295 6286 or by email h.s.albert@salford.ac.uk. Alternatively, write to us at Salford Housing & Urban Studies Unit, University of Salford, Peel Building, The Crescent, Salford, M5 4WT. The Guide costs £20 including p&p.

Return to top