Project and research issues
2018_0514
(A)
(1) The basic research question is What is the population of the Montagnard community in the USA?
(2) To answer this question we must define the term, “Montagnard”. Specifically, we must be able to explain who is a Montagnard and who is not. In the USA, we accept that individuals are free to state how they wish to be identified by race, ethnicity and gender. Some examples in the 2010 Census included White, Black or African American and Hispanic.
(3) We must ask individuals without using coercion or limited choices, What do you call yourself? To clarify the question, we might offer a prompt such as, For examples, sometimes I hear people call themselves Jarai or Koho, or Dega or Montagnard. Another prompt might be It doesn't have to be one name. If there are more than one name, please tell me. Another prompt might be There is no right or wrong answer. The reason you offer prompts is to make the intention of your question clearer to the respondent. You do not want to force, pressure or coerce someone to give you an answer or an answer that they think you want to hear (or want others to hear). You want the respondent to be relaxed and free to speak their mind.
(4) As a community-based research project (CBPR), which is similar to participatory action research (PAR), means that respondents and community members are entitled to know why you are asking. Please study the diagram above and use it to start a conversation with community members about how you are going about doing the research and why the answer is important.
(B)
(1) The research team is made up of at least one coordinator and several team members. The coordinator gives continuity to the project and oversees communications. Team members may be temporary or long term. Because this is a very big project, we are asking team members to give what they can and to let us know their limits (one day a week, the academic semester, only two hours per week, etc).
(2) Every meeting should have minutes that are distributed to members and interested parties. Upload the minutes as a shared doc.
(3) Task-Talent-Time means clearly defined task, who's responsible for seeing it done and when does it need to be done. By the end of every meeting, the coordinator must review things to do and make sure each is formatted by Task, Talent, Time. Team members must acknowledge their assignments and indicate they understand the due date.
(C)
(1) Learn to apply college-taught theories and ideas.
(2) Peace and conflict studies and techniques: Use PACS perspectives and theories to help inform you about the problems and issues this project raises. For example, a simple Montagnards versus Vietnamese analysis does not explain the strong differences between churches or leaders here in NC. It does not explain why there are so many problems in courts and doctors' offices with interpretation.
(2) Justice and policy studies and techniques: This might include community-building and other social justice terms.
(3) In general, many of you have taken courses in research and research methodology. This might include PAR and CBPR (see above, A4) or other useful activities such as how to construct a survey or focus group or how to analyze findings. Use this project to share your expertise, review your college training and practice putting theories and classroom exercises into finding real answers to real community problems.
(D)
(1) A working definition of a Montagnard community member might be “A Montagnard has one of the following family names or whose name follows certain unique conventions.” Those conventions include the use of H and Y to designate gender.
(2) A church list will benefit several groups and its creation is a good community service.
(E)
(1) Face to face meetings time a lot of time to plan and represent a big commitment by team members, so respect everyone’s time and make sure meetings are organized.
(2) A meeting must have an agenda. The agenda must be circulated in advance of the meeting, not when people are seated.
(3) A meeting must have a time limit. It cannot be allowed to go on forever.
(4) If people must leave early or come late, then it is their responsibility to stay informed about what they missed.
(5) It is better to have 3-5 agenda items thoroughly covered with clear follow up (Task, Time, Talent) than to rush through 10 items and have several more lfet over as time runs out.
(6) If there is a long list of announcements then put them into the agenda for people to read in advance. It is a waste of time to have people gather only to hear what they could otherwise read.
(7) Before a meeting ends, the facilitator must review Task, Time and Talent (what needs to be done, when is the deadline and who is responsible). Responsible team members must acknowledge they understand and accept the task and conditions.
(8) Minutes must be taken and then circulated no later than 2 days after the meeting.
(F)
(1) Distinguish between high context and low context cultural settings. Because we’re studying and working with the Montagnard community some of our perspective and interaction will be high context. But because we are using Western research methods and working across cultures, in our research roles we are communicating in a low context manner, very detailed in our wording, using specific terms and techniques.
(2) Participatory Action Research: Act, Observe, Reflect feedback loop as explained by Jeremy Rinker as he addresses members of the Bhutanese community gathered at the Bonner Center.
(G)
(1) Converting community roles and tasks into academic positions for credit means describing specific tasks in scholarly terms with measurable progress (you can be graded on your performance) and specific outcomes (products you can share with academics and community members alike) https://docs.google.com/document/d/1H8lemFdJlAMtptgZFrEQZPCLRQNDCPMCxnmHYTxbjyw/edit?usp=sharing
(2) This process means converting community questions into a form that can be answered through existing research methods.
(3) Example: List common Montagnard surnames and define common naming conventions to create an algorithm that reliably identifies Montagnards from a larger set of Vietnamese, American and other names.
(H)
(1) IRB stands for Institutional Review Board. Every organization that sponsors research with human participants must have several members who serve on the board and review research proposals to ensure the safety and protection of everyone who participates. An example of a very lengthy and complete IRB application is here: PDF link
(2) The Belmont Report is the guiding text that explains the history of experiments with human participants and why very high standards apply to researchers. Their work must ensure participants’ human rights and dignity and their research methods must be ethical. Link to the Belmont Report.
(3) Do you need a IRB approval from your college or university to ask your aunt or brother how they identify themselves? Do you need an IRB to compile a church list? Do you need an IRB to create a survey? At this stage of the project, you are only doing preliminary research exploring the topic, learning about and testing methods, identifying sources and building a team. You are not collecting names that will be published or putting individuals at risk.
(4) When everything is ready, only then will we have a full review with professors to ensure that formal research can begin. Right now, we expect that to start in Fall 2018.
(I)
(1) Pew Research has strong materials, disaggregated data, on Asian-American populations. Find them here:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1bNxdqJKHWErG502YKqm_Sx-OcUR9Jt6W4600QaKYmY0/edit?usp=sharinghttp://www.pewresearch.org/topics/asian-americans/
(2) I have taken the same data and compiled it in a comparative way:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1bNxdqJKHWErG502YKqm_Sx-OcUR9Jt6W4600QaKYmY0/edit?usp=sharing
2018_0514
(A)
(2) To answer this question we must define the term, “Montagnard”. Specifically, we must be able to explain who is a Montagnard and who is not. In the USA, we accept that individuals are free to state how they wish to be identified by race, ethnicity and gender. Some examples in the 2010 Census included White, Black or African American and Hispanic.
(3) We must ask individuals without using coercion or limited choices, What do you call yourself? To clarify the question, we might offer a prompt such as, For examples, sometimes I hear people call themselves Jarai or Koho, or Dega or Montagnard. Another prompt might be It doesn't have to be one name. If there are more than one name, please tell me. Another prompt might be There is no right or wrong answer. The reason you offer prompts is to make the intention of your question clearer to the respondent. You do not want to force, pressure or coerce someone to give you an answer or an answer that they think you want to hear (or want others to hear). You want the respondent to be relaxed and free to speak their mind.
(4) As a community-based research project (CBPR), which is similar to participatory action research (PAR), means that respondents and community members are entitled to know why you are asking. Please study the diagram above and use it to start a conversation with community members about how you are going about doing the research and why the answer is important.
(B)
(1) The research team is made up of at least one coordinator and several team members. The coordinator gives continuity to the project and oversees communications. Team members may be temporary or long term. Because this is a very big project, we are asking team members to give what they can and to let us know their limits (one day a week, the academic semester, only two hours per week, etc).
(2) Every meeting should have minutes that are distributed to members and interested parties. Upload the minutes as a shared doc.
(3) Task-Talent-Time means clearly defined task, who's responsible for seeing it done and when does it need to be done. By the end of every meeting, the coordinator must review things to do and make sure each is formatted by Task, Talent, Time. Team members must acknowledge their assignments and indicate they understand the due date.
(C)
(1) Learn to apply college-taught theories and ideas.
(2) Peace and conflict studies and techniques: Use PACS perspectives and theories to help inform you about the problems and issues this project raises. For example, a simple Montagnards versus Vietnamese analysis does not explain the strong differences between churches or leaders here in NC. It does not explain why there are so many problems in courts and doctors' offices with interpretation.
(2) Justice and policy studies and techniques: This might include community-building and other social justice terms.
(3) In general, many of you have taken courses in research and research methodology. This might include PAR and CBPR (see above, A4) or other useful activities such as how to construct a survey or focus group or how to analyze findings. Use this project to share your expertise, review your college training and practice putting theories and classroom exercises into finding real answers to real community problems.
-------------------
(D)
(1) A working definition of a Montagnard community member might be “A Montagnard has one of the following family names or whose name follows certain unique conventions.” Those conventions include the use of H and Y to designate gender.
(2) A church list will benefit several groups and its creation is a good community service.
(E)
(1) Face to face meetings time a lot of time to plan and represent a big commitment by team members, so respect everyone’s time and make sure meetings are organized.
(2) A meeting must have an agenda. The agenda must be circulated in advance of the meeting, not when people are seated.
(3) A meeting must have a time limit. It cannot be allowed to go on forever.
(4) If people must leave early or come late, then it is their responsibility to stay informed about what they missed.
(5) It is better to have 3-5 agenda items thoroughly covered with clear follow up (Task, Time, Talent) than to rush through 10 items and have several more lfet over as time runs out.
(6) If there is a long list of announcements then put them into the agenda for people to read in advance. It is a waste of time to have people gather only to hear what they could otherwise read.
(7) Before a meeting ends, the facilitator must review Task, Time and Talent (what needs to be done, when is the deadline and who is responsible). Responsible team members must acknowledge they understand and accept the task and conditions.
(8) Minutes must be taken and then circulated no later than 2 days after the meeting.
(F)
(1) Distinguish between high context and low context cultural settings. Because we’re studying and working with the Montagnard community some of our perspective and interaction will be high context. But because we are using Western research methods and working across cultures, in our research roles we are communicating in a low context manner, very detailed in our wording, using specific terms and techniques.
(2) Participatory Action Research: Act, Observe, Reflect feedback loop as explained by Jeremy Rinker as he addresses members of the Bhutanese community gathered at the Bonner Center.
(G)
(1) Converting community roles and tasks into academic positions for credit means describing specific tasks in scholarly terms with measurable progress (you can be graded on your performance) and specific outcomes (products you can share with academics and community members alike) https://docs.google.com/document/d/1H8lemFdJlAMtptgZFrEQZPCLRQNDCPMCxnmHYTxbjyw/edit?usp=sharing
(2) This process means converting community questions into a form that can be answered through existing research methods.
(3) Example: List common Montagnard surnames and define common naming conventions to create an algorithm that reliably identifies Montagnards from a larger set of Vietnamese, American and other names.
(H)
(1) IRB stands for Institutional Review Board. Every organization that sponsors research with human participants must have several members who serve on the board and review research proposals to ensure the safety and protection of everyone who participates. An example of a very lengthy and complete IRB application is here: PDF link
(2) The Belmont Report is the guiding text that explains the history of experiments with human participants and why very high standards apply to researchers. Their work must ensure participants’ human rights and dignity and their research methods must be ethical. Link to the Belmont Report.
(3) Do you need a IRB approval from your college or university to ask your aunt or brother how they identify themselves? Do you need an IRB to compile a church list? Do you need an IRB to create a survey? At this stage of the project, you are only doing preliminary research exploring the topic, learning about and testing methods, identifying sources and building a team. You are not collecting names that will be published or putting individuals at risk.
(4) When everything is ready, only then will we have a full review with professors to ensure that formal research can begin. Right now, we expect that to start in Fall 2018.
(I)
(1) Pew Research has strong materials, disaggregated data, on Asian-American populations. Find them here:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1bNxdqJKHWErG502YKqm_Sx-OcUR9Jt6W4600QaKYmY0/edit?usp=sharinghttp://www.pewresearch.org/topics/asian-americans/
(2) I have taken the same data and compiled it in a comparative way:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1bNxdqJKHWErG502YKqm_Sx-OcUR9Jt6W4600QaKYmY0/edit?usp=sharing
(J)
(1) Informing allies and soliciting their support is an important way to keep the team and project moving forward. Obvious groups: Practice and reach out to churches and leaders for short meetings to discuss what you're doing, why it is important, why you hope they will support you and specifics you're asking for. Practice and approach SEAC.
(2) Build your team's skills reaching out beyond your comfort zone. You will need this practice and confidence before going far outside your circle talking to nonprofits, foundations, businesses etc.
