Negotiating research stance: an ecology of tensions in the design and practice of community-engaged research

Abstract

This article investigates tensions and challenges with enacting community-engaged research (CER) in the fields of communication design, technical communication, and community literacy. Drawing from interviews with 13 participants, we constructed a heuristic that identifies six tensions community-engaged researchers (CERs) often negotiate through their research stance: (1) embodiment and identity, (2) access and relationships, (3) interventions and actions, (4) institutions and disciplinarity, (5) intentions and outcomes, and (6) disclosure and write-up. CERs described the tensions as concurrent, noting that shifting commitments, liminality, and time were factors that span categories. These findings underscore the necessity of opening spaces in disciplinary and institutional contexts to value and recognize intellectual work associated with CER such as trust building, boundary negotiation, methodological construction, and relationship maintenance.