Going back to re-study communities: Challenges and opportunities

Community re-studies can inform our understanding of what members of communities want from research and the extent to which they feel that they get it. The history of community research suggests that what is expected of researchers by community members can differ from what it is felt that they actually deliver, especially if the published reports have a critical edge. Challenges relating to this legacy of previous studies can be encountered by researchers returning to fieldwork locations. Re-studies also provide opportunities to rectify matters, but these may be beyond the control of researchers who go back to communities studied previously.