ABSTRACT
The chapter by Small (chap. 12, this volume) describes the Teen Assessment Project (TAP)—a collaborative process that makes citizens, practitioners, and researchers partners in a research effort that attempts to (a) meet the practical concerns of communities, and (b) contribute to the scholarly goals of social science. Small contends that this community-based action-research approach has four positive consequences. Specifically, it can:
increase the likelihood of community action by increasing the community's interest and investment in the research process;
contribute to more enlightened policies and program planning;
provide an opportunity for educating citizens, practitioners, and researchers; and
contribute to broadening our understanding of adolescents and their contexts of development.
