Abstract
In this chapter the co-authors explore the process of conducting social indicator research in California’s Central San Joaquin Valley. The “Central Valley” is notable for the high level of ethnic diversity, deep economic disparity, unemployment and underemployment, and blend of rural and agricultural communities with urban areas experiencing various levels of gentrification and development. The Partnership for the Assessment of Community (PAC) project was created to serve as a model to measure the changes over a 10-year period in the Central Valley. The PAC research team consists of faculty from different universities in the Central Valley and student-researchers. A description of the pilot study of PAC research is discussed in this chapter. The co-authors offer a critical read of the promises and challenges for researchers interested in conducting community-based research with students across multiple sites. We offer a summary of successful ventures as well as valuable lessons of what did not work for the initial study and salient issues for future social indicator research endeavors in the Central Valley.
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Notes
- 1.
The 2010 U.S. Census reports the following demographic information:
Fresno
Kern
Kings
Madera
Merced
San Joaquin
Stanislaus
Tulare
White
515,145
499,766
83,027
94,456
148,381
349,287
337,342
265,618
African American
49,523
48,921
11,014
5,629
9,926
51,744
14,721
7,196
Asian
89,357
34,846
5,620
2,802
18,836
98,472
26,090
15,176
American Indian and Alaska Native
15,649
12,676
2,562
4,136
3,473
7,196
5,902
6,993
Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander
1,405
1,252
271
162
583
3,758
3,401
509
Other
217,085
204,314
42,996
37,380
62,665
131,054
99,210
128,263
Identified by two or more
42,286
37,856
7,492
6,300
11,929
43,795
27,787
18,424
- 2.
Antonio Avalos left the partnership after year one but left us with an excellent model for summarizing economic data. Another interesting dimension to this multi-disciplinary collaboration is that at the time of forming the PAC, all six academic researchers were junior faculty. Since then, three members have received tenure (Hernandez, Mullooly, Sylvester) and the remaining two will be reviewed for tenure in 2012–2013.
Our experience is that there was general institutional support for our involvement in this local/regional project. Of particular value was how the project served as an example of how faculty in the region’s institutions of higher education can collaborate on research to benefit the region.
- 3.
See Epley and Mohan (2008) who also construct an index for community quality-of-life through analysis of cross-sectional indicators.
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Weffer, S.E., Mullooly, J.J., Sylvester, D.E., DeLugan, R.M., Hernandez, M.D. (2013). Partnerships Across Campuses and Throughout Communities: Community Engaged Research in California’s Central San Joaquin Valley. In: Sirgy, M., Phillips, R., Rahtz, D. (eds) Community Quality-of-Life Indicators: Best Cases VI. Community Quality-of-Life Indicators, vol 4. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-6501-6_6
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