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How do you find out from minority ethnic communities what they really think? (07 Oct 07)
Your colleagues probably know better than anyone – and here are some invaluable tips
If you’ve attended any of our events you’ll have learned one thing.
No matter how much you pick up from the experts, it’s the people working in the community – people like you – who often have the most practical ideas because, like you, they live and work with the challenges every day.
Here are some examples from when we ran How to research the views of black and minority ethnic communities in Manchester. It was a great day and delegates came up with loads of additional thoughts that I thought I’d pass on to you.
- Try to get to know people in the community – your own network - who can give you the inside info on what people think. They needn’t be community workers or “leaders” – try shopkeepers or business owners.
- When it comes to sensitive things like sexual health or drug misuse, consider conducting peer-led approaches. This means, for example, getting young people to interview each other, rather than sending in outside researchers
- Remember, for taboo topics, young people from Asian communities may prefer to speak to someone from outside.
- If you want to find out about a new community in your area, formal research approaches might not work best. You might find it’s easier, quicker, and more effective to go to the area where the people live, look at the shops, cafes, markets, and just talk to a few shopkeepers and local people.
- You could take some pictures or video your trip, so you can communicate what you discovered to your colleagues.
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