The Spirit of Ecological Inquiry and Intervention Research Reports: A Heuristic Elaboration

Abstract

One distinctive approach to community psychology intervention research involves finding ways to contribute to the development of communities. Ecological inquiry is a primary theoretical framework for this work. The purpose of this paper is to explore how the spirit of ecological inquiry may be expressed in the descriptions of how we design, conduct, and evaluate community interventions. We first elaborate a set of criteria as a heuristic framework for carrying out and documenting community intervention writing, theory, and action. We then pilot the application of these criteria to explore the presence of an ecological emphasis within intervention studies published in the AJCP between 1994 and 2002. This exercise helped illuminate the extent to which an ecological perspective is reflected in intervention accounts, and select intervention accounts that reflect a substantial ecological emphasis are described. Further, this review highlights the areas of our written work which contain fewer makers of ecological inquiry, as with the relevant exclusion of citizens in formative intervention roles. We conclude with a series of reflections about constraints on published intervention accounts and recommendations for those interested in furthering the spirit of ecological inquiry through their research and action commitments to community development.

Introduction to Ecological Description of a Community Intervention: Building Prevention Through Collaborative Field Based Research

“…Additionally, Espino and Trickett (2008) provide a critical review and examination from the perspective of ecological theory on how the field of community intervention science reports its work. They identify the following significant gaps and omissions in the conventions of this literature:

Limited attention to the process of entry into the community as a relational process (Trimble & Mohatt, 2006; Trimble, Scharron-del Rio, & Bernal, 2010) as well as an ecological assessment process, through which increasing awareness of the community ecosystem is part of a more broad development of an eco-identity (Kelly, 1971), defined through a commitment to and immersion in the relational context.

Focus on a single level of intervention and analysis, usually at the individual level, to the neglect of other ecological levels in reporting.

A ‘notable silence’ on responsiveness of the intervention to community context; this can include description on how the intervention responded to local community resident needs, was guided in its development by community members, and its feedback activities, including analysis and dissemination of intervention results.

Scant evidence of community involvement in joint conceptualization of the intervention, the nature of the data gathered, or how the intervention and the research process could be used for local community benefit, and community involvement in the process of interpretation and meaning making from the data.

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“…In the following articles, we hope to provide an example of how a new approach to community intervention research reporting can address these gaps by more truly fulfilling the spirit (Espino & Trickett, 2008) as well as goals of ecological inquiry. The story unfolds in the following manner.…”

“…In doing so, it defined a new relationship between researcher and community. Our goal for this special issue is description through the lens of a deep, contextual, ecological inquiry (Espino & Trickett, 2008; Trickett & Espino, 2004) of more recent developments in our evolving collaboration. During this time, we were focused on the design and implementation of a community intervention developed within a CBPR perspective.…”

Community-based participatory research: a collaborative study to measure capabilities towards recovery in mental health community organizations

“…The author has highlighted that in logical empiricism, the research context, the points of views of the participants involved in the research, and the multifaceted research process implementation, are always described minimally as an expression of relative value to the paradigm. Therefore, ecological approach it is crucial to gather knowledge using pluralistic methods of empirical observation (Ryerson Espino & Trickett, 2008;Tebes, 2005). This is considered the most appropriate way for characterizing knowledge about community systems (Kelly, 2006).…”

“…We will focus on the collaborative style. Kelly (2003) and Ryerson Espino and Trickett (2008) consider that the proposed relationship between scholars and citizens must rely on two core values: commitment and reciprocity. Kelly (2006, p. 176) says: "the assumed benefit of the collaborative style is that the discovery of information about structures, roles, and norms expressed in context will enhance the authenticity, the validity, and, therefore, the usefulness of the research", and Tebes (2005, p. 222) reinforces, that situated knowing "provides encouragement for opening up alternative ways to scientific inquiry, such as narrative, case study, and participatory action research (…)…”