Using Data Walks to Leverage Community Expertise: Examples in Research-Practice Partnerships

Dissemination of research findings needs to not only reach and speak to other scientists; it also must reach and speak to those who can make sense of it and those who can make change with it. In essence, research and action are necessarily interdependent to drive meaningful impacts. Importantly, action often flows from authentic community engagement, which is one of the key tenets of anti-racism research and supported by the core tenets of Critical Race Theory and Participatory Action Research. Data walks are one method of engagement that involves discussing research findings with participants to gain insights and spark action to practical challenges within a community. In this article, we center data walks through three case studies that demonstrate how to plan and implement this method of equitable data dissemination. Two of the case studies present how the method is used in a variety of early childhood education sites in the Educare Network, which is working to implement a research agenda advancing racial equity. The third case study builds on the learning gleaned by working with colleagues who conducted the first two sets and extends the data walk method to a much different field, structural racism in affordable housing and homelessness. This addition serves to illustrate that data walks are discipline agnostic and can be used with a wide variety of data and audiences. We conclude by discussing actions that flowed from the data walks, methods for authentic engagement, and how to respond to power dynamics.