The Importance of Data from Marginalized Communities

Data collection is an incredibly important part of planning any poverty solution. Projects are often unsuccessful because the researchers involved fail to adequately address “challenges related to planning, collecting or interpreting data”[1]. We have to fully understand the lives and needs of the target population in order to develop programs or implement policy that fosters equality[2]. Data becomes information when it is analyzed, and knowledge is derived from the interaction of information and experience with a topic[3]. In particular, it is essential to gather data from women because they are frequently the most impacted by oppression, conflict, disease, and other damaging forces, as we have seen during the COVID-19 pandemic[4].

The collection of data itself is a process that has been repeatedly reexamined and refined. First, a researcher must make connections with “gatekeepers,” individuals who can provide ins with other members of the population. To gather the data, the researcher may need to create a setting where members of the community would come together, such as a social event. This event should be “mutually beneficial for all parties and grounded in reciprocity and ethics”[5]. The researcher must remember that their relationship to the community is not fixed, and that closeness with the community does not mean there aren’t power imbalances[5].

When collecting data it is important to be mindful of the Hawthorne Effect, named for Hawthorne Works, the Chicago factory where the phenomenon was first observed in the 1920s. Researchers were measuring how different variables influenced workers’ productivity, and they found that no matter what variable they changed, productivity increased. Later analysis concluded that productivity increased because sociologists were paying attention to the workers. Since then, sociologists have come to carefully plan what role they play in the study to avoid influencing the results[6].

ACESWorld understands the significance of data collection. Our data is collected by local activists, college students, and nonprofit organizations that live in or near the community. Data is typically collected during an event or training where members of the community gather together. To make these events safe spaces, ACESWorld discusses concerns with colleagues and partnering organizations to identify possible threats and solutions, then design events and content to be culturally appropriate, sensitive, and responsive. The data is collected individually and privately, with a free-form option. Then it is thoroughly analyzed by our data team to guide our development of poverty solutions.

Sources

[1] Abstract: “Addressing barriers to engaging with marginalized communities: Advancing research on information, communication and technologies for development (ICTD)”
https://asistdl.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/pra2.2017.14505401080

[2] “Who We Measure Matters: Connecting the Dots Among Comprehensive Data Collection, Civil Rights Enforcement, and Equality”
https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/women/news/2020/03/02/481102/measure-matters-connecting-dots-among-comprehensive-data-collection-civil-rights-enforcement-equality/

[3] “Collecting and Analyzing Comprehensive Community Needs Assessment Data”
https://communityactionpartnership.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Collecting-Analyzing-Comprehensive-CNA-Data_-Courtney-Kohler.pdf

[4] “COVID-19: How to include marginalized and vulnerable people in risk communication and community engagement”
https://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/COVID-19_CommunityEngagement_130320.pdf

[5] “Challenges, Triumphs, and Praxis: Collecting Qualitative Data on Less Visible and Marginalized Populations”
https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5b35081c5cfd79d345e4e012/t/5be1d1644fa51ae6fdc2c78f/1541525864581/2018+Collecting+Qualitative+Data+on+Marginalized+Populations+QUEER+METHODS.pdf

[6] “Research Design: Collecting and Interpreting the Data of Everyday Social Reality”
https://openpress.usask.ca/soc112/chapter/equipping-an-interpretivist-research-tool-box-part-ii-selected-methods-of-data-collection-and-interpretation/