Chicago Appleseed Center for Fair Courts is a community-driven advocacy organization using mixed-methods research approaches to interrupt cycles of poverty, mass incarceration, and racial injustice inherent to the legal system.
In order to reduce the harms created by a legal system that is inequitable, inaccessible, unfair, and inefficient, we conduct collaborative, community-informed research to identify evidence-based solutions to court-based injustices and advocate for their implementation.
The information included here outlines our conceptual and theoretical approach to research, the research ethics and best practices we adhere to, and our process of accountability.
DEFINING RESEARCH
We define research as a systematic process of fact-finding that requires a methodical procedure and plan to answer a well-defined question or set of questions. By our definition, research necessitates independent data collection. It is grounded in theory and involves a robust analysis of data.
Research does not constitute:
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- Information gathering that will not be utilized or reproduced in another public-facing document.
- Advocacy activities such as coalition building, advocating for specific legislation or policies, and/or creating a fact sheet that cites existing sources.
GUIDING PRINCIPLES & VALUES
Chicago Appleseed values centering community voice.
People impacted by the civil and criminal legal systems often have the most insight to share about how these systems can be improved and/or transformed, yet they are rarely regarded as experts. Chicago Appleseed respects community voices, especially those of community members who have been impacted by the criminal legal system, as central to understanding the impacts of and designing interventions for the criminal and civil legal systems.
Chicago Appleseed values non-exploitation.
We are careful to ensure that our research does not take advantage of, stigmatize, tokenize, or otherwise worsen the lives of participants. We avoid “damage-centered” research which allows for oppression to define marginalized communities.
Chicago Appleseed values clear and systematic research processes.
Chicago Appleseed adheres to systematic, standardized research practices in our data collection, processing, and analysis. While our research framework allows us to maintain a level of flexibility in order to adjust to the needs of a project, our research practices are standardized to align with best practices and prevent biased analysis.
Chicago Appleseed engages in “action research.”
Our research is intended to spur greater understanding of the experiences of people within the criminal and civil legal systems and inspire change for those systems to be more equitable. We understand the utility of data in social advocacy and contribute our research to ongoing movements toward transformation.
Chicago Appleseed’s research is data-driven.
Accurate and honest data collection, analysis, and presentation is critical to our research process. Our goal is to present accurate depictions of research topics; by combining qualitative and quantitative research methods we are able to present full depictions of court-related issues.
Chicago Appleseed’s research centers accountability.
Through our research, Chicago Appleseed Center for Fair Courts works to bridge the gap between the legal system, legislators, lawyers, and community members so that the public has the resources necessary to effectively advocate for accessibility, accountability, transparency, and equity in the courts. We are accountable to the public, especially those that are most impacted by the criminal and civil legal system. Our practice of accountability centers truth-telling and accuracy as a central way of honoring the lived experiences of community members.
Chicago Appleseed values accessibility.
We ensure that all of our research is available for the public, not restricted to industry or academic professionals. We actively share our research with community members and local organizations to inform and support their advocacy efforts. We strive to make our research accessible and understandable to the general public through community presentations, integration of art, and other creative forms of communication.
APPROACH TO WORK
Chicago Appleseed does advocacy-based (or action) research meaning that our research practice is centered around making change.
As researchers, it is critical that Chicago Appleseed staff, fellows, interns, and affiliates have an understanding of their positionality (perceived social identities including gender, race, class, ethnicity, ability, geography, etc.) and how that impacts their work. We do not seek to remove the influence of the researcher on the research they conduct but rather require team members to engage in a practice of reflexivity to consider how their social position and life experiences impact their research practice.
Because Chicago Appleseed often researches topics that have limited background research, we largely practice grounded theory approaches. In other words, we use data we collect as the basis for developing theories to understand the systems we are analyzing.
Consideration of historical and social context is integral to Chicago Appleseed’s research practice. Our work must consider the historical and ongoing biases that shape the current functioning of the civil and criminal legal systems and the people that find themselves involved within it. Our work centers questions of race, ethnicity, gender, ability, sexuality, language and other aspects of identity and experience that cause people to be marginalized within U.S. society and Chicago’s criminal and civil legal system.
RESEARCH ETHICS & BEST PRACTICES
We understand the risks that may follow from disclosure of participation in a study, especially for people personally impacted by legal systems. Therefore, we take measures to minimize the risk of such disclosure.
Personally identifiable information (e.g., name) is replaced by a key in all appearances except for the key document. We generate a unique key for each participant in each project which includes the year the project began, a 2-to-4-letter code for the project, and a number for each participant. For example, the fifth participant in a 2023 project on electronic monitoring would have the key 23EM05. They are referred to with this key in all documents.
Sensitive but not personally identifiable information (e.g., job title) only appears on documents restricted to active team members. In all outward facing documents, sensitive information is removed or broadened (e.g., “[court actor]” instead of “judge”). What information qualifies as sensitive depends on the project and its expectations and risks.
Chicago Appleseed values the perspectives of people who have been personally impacted by the criminal and civil legal systems. In order to prevent harm or negative impacts to people we engage with in our research processes, we do not engage with people that are currently involved in the criminal legal system (e.g., pending court case, enrolled in diversion program, incarcerated). However, we do engage with people that have previously been involved in the criminal or civil legal system.
We offer financial compensation to all research participants who are community members and/or personally impacted people who participate in interviews, surveys, or focus groups. If they accept, they may choose to receive a gift card or cash to compensate them for their time. We do not offer compensation to participants who professionally work in and around the criminal legal system (e.g., lawyers, public servants, and community organization representatives).
All research projects go through an ethics review process. Our ethics checklist has a list of questions for researchers to consider to ensure that we have a rigorous research design and will engage with research participants in a manner that avoids risk of harm and maintains their privacy. The ethics checklist must be completed and reviewed and approved by the Research Committee of the Chicago Appleseed board before any work on a project begins.
A copy of our ethics checklist is available upon request. Contact faircourts@chicagoappleseed.org to obtain a copy.