Brooklyn Community Research Collaboration

The Brooklyn Research Community Collaboration was a joint effort that had three goals:

1) to develop local social service research data to inform program development

2) to introduce teenagers to the research process and methodologies of doing social science research

3) to kindle and develop capability within the sponsoring organization so that its teenage members could continue to develop data on social issues in future years.

The partners for this program were the sponsoring organization, Parent Child Relationship Association (PCR) located in Sunset Park, Brooklyn, Dr. Shaobing Su PhD, a social work researcher currently on the faculty at the University of Massachusetts, Chan Medical School and the EastBridge Foundation (EBF).

The program took place over the summer of 2024 and initally focused on learning social science research skills such as sampling, survey design, data analysis and communication/presentation of results. The teen participants then applied the skills to design and conduct two surveys within their communities. One was on awareness and attitudes toward mental illness. The other was on intergenerational and cross cultural attitudes between parents and their children and their impact on teen development. The program was tremendously successful and we look forward to continue developing this core competency for future groups of youth participants within PCR.