ABSTRACT
In some research settings it is easy to gain entry and find key informants. There are research settings in which the study population is receptive to outsiders, including researchers. The social science researchers at the university have mainly been interested in community health research, which was also a felt need among the Puerto Rican individuals they met with when the Hispanic Health Council was established. Social scientists and community people have worked together to develop research proposals to explore health issues in the Hartford urban area. Many university-based social science departments have developed collaborative relationships with community organizations and 'study populations' as field sites are established, including research bases in other countries. Some decades earlier, the Vicos Project area in highland Peru was a research base for Cornell University social scientists and their guests. Such collaborative relationships between researchers and study communities can significantly reduce the problems of 'gaining access and getting cooperation' for individual research projects.
