Structural Design for a University–Agency Research Collaboration: Bridging an Historical Distance

In: Families in society: the journal of contemporary human services, Volume 90, Issue 4, p. 419-424

Abstract

Social service agencies need the knowledge that can be gained through research, and universities are equipped to conduct research. It seems like a natural partnership. Yet, university research conducted in agencies often fails to satisfy the interests of either party. In seeking successful frameworks for meaningful applied research in community settings, universities and agencies must form an intentional relationship that integrates the capacities of the differently oriented partners. This article describes a partnership framework in which both community agency staff and university researchers discarded the usual disunified approach to addressing service questions and committed to an embedded, interactive, investigative model in which all participants merged their specific skills to gain mutually fulfilling outcomes.