Collaborative inquiry with low-income Latina women

Collaborative inquiry is a form of research in which researchers and participants work collaboratively as partners. The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate the process of collaborative inquiry through an example of a longitudinal, community-based study conducted over a six-year period. The research program focused on HIV education, counseling, and antibody testing with low-income Latina women attending a nutrition program for women, infants, and children (WIC) in Los Angeles. Collaborative, community-based inquiry emerges from the community and uses members of the targeted group to design the program, convey the message, act as advocates, evaluate the outcomes of the program, and disseminate research findings. The goal is empowerment and emancipation of both participants and researchers. Five areas in the conduct of community-based collaborative inquiry are demonstrated here: program design, implementation, evaluation, dissemination of the results of the program, and empowerment and emancipation.