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In breve

Whether you’re scouting an action location, doing a power analysis of your political target, or reviewing previous episodes of a TV show you’re going to be on: Do. Your. Research.

Knowledge without action is wastefulness and action without knowledge is foolishness.

— Abu Hamid Al-Ghazali

When faced with a problem, humans often have a bias toward action. This may be particularly true for those of us who claim the label activist. And, for the most part, this bias is good. Without action, nothing will change. However, this bias can blind us to the importance of pausing before we act to do the necessary research. Through research, we make sure our actions are strategic, well-targeted, impactful, and free from avoidable mistakes.

In a traditional organizing cycle, research comes after identifying an issue and before taking action. It can be as simple as an online search for information about a target, or a conversation with experienced organizers already working on your issue. It can also be more structured and time intensive, depending on your goals. It can focus on the practicalities of organizing; on the root causes of social problems; or on dreaming up new and creative solutions. Some research can be done by an individual, but it is often more powerful to engage a group of people with different perspectives and backgrounds.

Here are a few examples of research approaches that activists and organizers engage in.

Power analysis can help you figure out who has the power to make the changes you want, and to identify potential allies and targets (see (see: METHODOLOGY: Power mapping).
“Through research we make sure our actions are strategic, well-targeted, impactful, and free from avoidable mistakes.”
Asset mapping helps you uncover the strengths and assets of impacted communities that can be leveraged to advance change.
Policy analysis is a process of understanding what laws or policies are maintaining the problem you’re addressing, and what policy changes would advance your cause.
Narrative power analysis is a twist on traditional power analysis. It involves analyzing the dominant stories connected to your campaign and determining how you can tell your campaign’s story effectively (see (see: METHODOLOGY: Battle of the story).
Listening tours can help you identify an issue that a community cares about and make sure that you understand the full range of experiences and perspectives on it.
Documenting harm that comes from the issues you are addressing can help bolster your case when you engage the public and decision makers.
Appreciative inquiry is a strengths-based approach to collaborative research that begins with what is working and aims to uncover not just what is, but what could be.

Many of these approaches to research are easy for a group to learn and do on their own. But sometimes it is helpful to bring in a partner with the necessary research skills and resources. A group organizing around environmental justice, for example, may collaborate with a scientist at a local university to document air and water quality differences across neighborhoods. Experienced researchers can also support groups in doing participatory action research. In participatory action research and other similar methods, members of the groups most impacted by injustice use formal research tools to study an issue collaboratively and craft actionable solutions.