1. Copyright  2000, Robert E. Fullilove, III Assumptions in Community Based Research and Assessments Robert E. Fullilove, III, Ed.D. Associate Professor and Associate Dean of Community and Minority Affairs The Joseph L. Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University

2. Copyright  2000, Robert E. Fullilove, III Assumption One: –Communities are complex, layered entities whose ostensible homogeneity is actually a system of interconnecting family and social relationships

3. Copyright  2000, Robert E. Fullilove, III Assumption Two: These relationships are typically, but not always, configured by community geography. Even those “communities” that appear to occupy “no place” [e.g. internet chat groups, gay men in a rural county, and so on] are still influenced in some significant way by geography

4. Copyright  2000, Robert E. Fullilove, III Assumption Three: Communities are also dependent on the channels of communication that link individual members to each other. Language and all of its uses by community members becomes an essential feature of community life.

5. Copyright  2000, Robert E. Fullilove, III There are multiple “communities” in a given place, forming the nexus of community life Church goers Drug users Youth gangs Social club members Sewing circles

6. Copyright  2000, Robert E. Fullilove, III The community researcher must determine to which degree subgroups are: connected interacting in conflict unconnected to each other

7. Copyright  2000, Robert E. Fullilove, III Many of our public health initiatives, information campaigns, and interventions depend on our ability: to identify the various social networks that create a community to locate the places that they frequent, to identify the activities/events that typically bring them together

8. Copyright  2000, Robert E. Fullilove, III Many of our public health initiatives, information campaigns, and interventions depend on our ability: to understand the language and the discourse that they have with each other to identify the issues and problems that have the potential to spur them to action

9. Copyright  2000, Robert E. Fullilove, III Within a social network, it becomes essential to determine: how closely knit are they? what is the frequency with which members interact with each other? what actions might they take (if any) in support of others in the network?

10. Copyright  2000, Robert E. Fullilove, III Opinion leaders and shapers: Is there an individual (or a group) that plays a key role in how attitudes and opinions about people or events are shaped? [Note that these are not always the folks whom we would identify as 'community leaders' in the traditional sense]

11. Copyright  2000, Robert E. Fullilove, III Opinion shapers are often the folks named in answer to these questions: Who would you ask... if you wanted to get your child into a good school? if you wanted to get on the list at the Housing Office for a better apartment? if you needed to find “a good case worker” for the management of your complex interactions with social services [or the Child Welfare Agency, and so on]?

12. Copyright  2000, Robert E. Fullilove, III Channels of communication: How do people get “the word” out about “this, that, and the other thing?” What are the preferred information sources, that is, whom do people trust when they want to know what's happening?

13. Copyright  2000, Robert E. Fullilove, III What are the agendas of the various groups within the community? What do they value as worth working and/or fighting for? To what degree is their agenda our own?

14. Copyright  2000, Robert E. Fullilove, III How well we are heard depends on what else people value as deserving of their time, their attention, and their concern. Often our success as researchers and as interventionists depends our having found the route that leads to common ground.

15. Copyright  2000, Robert E. Fullilove, III References Fullilove RE and Fullilove MT. Conducting research in ethnic minority communities: Considerations and challenges. In Drug Abuse Prevention with Multiethnic Youth. Botvin GJ, Schinke S and Orlandi MA [eds]. 1995. Sage Publications, Thousand Oaks, CA. Fullilove MT. Psychiatric implications of displacement: contributions from the psychology of place. American Journal of Psychiatry 1996;153:1516-1523. Fullilove RE, Fullilove MT, Northridge ME, et al. Risk factors for excess mortality in Harlem: Findings from the Harlem Household Survey. American Journal of Preventive Medicine 1999;16(3S):22-28. Fullilove MT, Green L, Fullilove RE. Builing momentum: An ethnographic study of inner-city redevelopment. American Journal of Public Health 1999; 89:840-844.