Designing Research

Find resources for ensuring that, where possible and appropriate, all potential research partners/collaborators are included in determining your research topic, scope, and design. This might mean having discussions with community members, Elders, or an advisory committee before you begin drafting your ethics application or submitting your proposal to a community for their consideration. Your research design may need to consider:

local/community protocols
appropriate ways to approach potential participants
who to include in research activities
where to hold events
how data will be collected and distributed
how to acknowledge contributions and ensure reciprocity
how to report on research results

Your ethics application will be asking for information (where applicable) about community partner involvement in research design.

Please use the feedback form to get in touch or to recommend additional resources. Please contact the owners of content linked from this site to request their permission to publish or repurpose their materials. For UBC-BREB created materials, please contact us here.

Resource	Description	Resource Owner
A Linguist’s Code of Conduct	These guidelines for engaging in linguistic work with Indigenous Peoples emphasize the importance of focusing on relationships and are applicable to any research endeavour to ensure ethical behaviour.	Anna Belew and Amanda Holmes
Strengths-Based Approaches to Indigenous Research and the Development of Well-Being Indicators	Guide to developing strengths-based research approaches and First Nations wellbeing indicators.	First Nations Information Governance Centre
Applying the ‘CARE Principles for Indigenous Data Governance’ to ecology and biodiversity research	This resource provides practices for applying the CARE Principles for Indigenous Data Governance to research in the context of ecology and biodiversity.	Jennings, L., Anderson, T., Martinez, A. et al.
CARE Principles for Indigenous Data Governance	CARE principles guide data actors to include Indigenous Peoples in data governance to increase their access to, use of and benefit from data.	Global Indigenous Data Alliance
Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit and Western Science	Article outlines examples of research that demonstrate how to uphold Indigenous sovereignty and self-determination in the face of impacts from climate change.	Nowosad, D., Beattie, M., Segal, R., Wilson, K.
Indigenous institutional theory: a new theoretical framework and methodological tool	Paper discusses "Western" and "Indigenous" methodological practices and provides detail of a theoretical framework termed "Indigenous Institutional Theory."	Coates, S.K., Trudgett, M. & Page, S.
Research Methods Books	Selected publications with a focus on research methods for Indigenous research.	UBC Office of Research Ethics
Intellectual Property Issues in Cultural Heritage (IPinCH)	Research initiative that explores the rights, values, and responsibilities of material culture, cultural knowledge and the practice of heritage research.	Simon Fraser University
Data Governance and Management Toolkit for Self-Governing Indigenous Governments Webinars	Webinar provides practical knowledge about data governance and management to support Self-Governing Indigenous Governments in their responsibilities.	Data Governance and Management Toolkit
Indigenous Approaches to Data and Evaluation	Introduces Indigenous approaches to data and its significance for Self-Governing Indigenous Governments.	Data Governance and Management Toolkit

Designing Research

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