Best practices: CER with vulnerable populations in contentious political environments

Abstract

ABSTRACT This article outlines best practices for political scientists to consider when conducting civically engaged research (CER) with vulnerable populations during politically contentious times. Best practices are drawn from several studies or the authors’ experiences with student-led CER, and these best practices are demonstrated in a case illustrating an author’s own CER project with individuals who are incarcerated. However, all of the practices encompass the core tenets of CER (Dobbs, Kirstie Lynn, Douglas R. Hess, Graham Bullock, and Adriano Udani. [2021. “Introduction to the Symposium: Civically Engaged Research and Political Science.” PS: Political Science & Politics 54 (4): 711–715].), underscoring the importance of utilizing this approach so researchers can adapt to and deal with ethical and administrative issues as these are compounded in contentious political environments. We ultimately recommend that researchers who are interested in CER and working with vulnerable populations during these times need to develop strategies to educate collaborators about stereotypes of historically marginalized groups, provide opportunities for and document written consent from research participants, utilize convenience samples but expand recruitment techniques to prevent research fatigue, and adjust institutional practices to adapt to the political environments in which the researcher and research participants are embedded.