In ‘Using research to build power: the Pittsburgh Wage study’ Jeffrey Shook, Sara Goodkind, Kess Ballentine, Jihee Woo, Ray Engel, Holley Tillman, and Tess Schleitwiler highlight the critical importance in social work research of: building relationships; centering the questions and concerns of community partners; disseminating research findings via a diverse range of platforms; and using research insights to build political power. Using the Pittsburgh Wage Study as a case study, the authors of this paper ask social work researchers to move beyond the realm of entrenched academic structures to build community power for societal impact.
Key Insights:
- Building relationships requires understanding a community’s struggle, engaging in the struggle, and showing a commitment to work alongside the community.
- Formulating a research question must be centered on the needs of community partners and on broader strategic goals.
- Policy is ‘downstream power’; social work researchers have a unique responsibility to think intentionally about how research can be used to challenge oppression and marginalization and employ political means when appropriate.