1.
Conducting research
with vulnerable
communities
Sarah Fathallah

2.
Before we start...
What do we mean by
vulnerable communities?

3.
4
Vulnerability
noun
“The diminished capacity of an individual or group to anticipate, cope with,
resist and recover from the impact of a natural or man-made hazard.
—International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies

4.
8
The different stages
of design research
Developing research tools and methodology
Recruiting participants
Conducting research
Managing research data
(for dummies)

5.
Developing research
tools and methodology
1

6.
WHAT KEEPS ME UP AT NIGHT, PT. 1
What are the most respectful and
culturally appropriate research
methods for the topic at hand, for
the audience, and for the context?

7.
RECRUITING
PARTICIPANTS
2

8.
WHAT KEEPS ME UP AT NIGHT, PT. 2
How to fairly engage
and compensate community
members as research participants?

9.
CONDUCTING
RESEARCH
3

10.
WHAT KEEPS ME UP AT NIGHT, PT. 3
How to gather data in a respectful,
responsible, transparent, and
trauma-informed way?

11.
MANAGING
RESEARCH DATA
4

12.
WHAT KEEPS ME UP AT NIGHT, PT. 4
How to manage participant data by
ensuring their identifiable
information is not traceable
and/or doesn’t put them at risk?

13.
WHAT KEEPS ME UP AT NIGHT, PT. 5 to ∞
How to translate research findings in a truthful and authentic way
that does not feel subtractive to the community?
How to avoid “research fatigue” and lessen the burden on
communities to keep engaging in research activities?
How to recognize systemic oppression and/or privilege
affecting this community, and how it can relate to this project?
And more...

14.
Thanks!
sarahfathallah.com
@SFath
Illustrations: unDraw