ABSTRACT
This chapter examines how community partners and research themes are to be identified and explored. A pertinent discussion is also held about the degree to which a member of service user communities should have distance from their issues before becoming a researcher or whether it is legitimate to use being a researcher as part of a therapeutic approach. A concurrent discussion is had on looking at the skills a team needs overall and not underestimating the transferability of skills many communities have developed in roles not always associated as skills based, including by community members themselves. The chapter also examines criteria for identifying research themes, and seeks to combine elements of critical pedagogy, participatory research and community organizing in doing this. Even in organizations where levels of cynicism and negative constructions of community members and their motives are high, there are normally individual workers who do not buy into them, and these are the ones to approach.
