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Table of Contents >
   Part I. Organizing for Effective Advocacy
(Chapters 3... >
      Chapter 31. Conducting Advocacy Research >
         Section 1. How to Conduct Research: An Overview >
             Tools & Checklists - A checklist that summarizes the major points contained in the section. >

How to Conduct Research: An Overview

  

Tools & Checklists

 Contributed by Phil Rabinowitz Edited by Val Renault

Tools

Tool 1: Some more specific research tips
Tool 2: Some sources to use if you have opponents

Checklist

Tools

Tool 1: Some more specific research tips

The first step in research is to find out what sources of information are available. The Internet has vastly increased the amount of information accessible to the average person, and libraries also use the power of computer networks for research. For each area of concern, there are many sources you can use.

1. Laws and regulations. If you think a law is being broken, it's obviously necessary to know exactly what that law is and what its provisions are. There are several possible places to find state and federal laws.

  • Law libraries. Law libraries are generally located in or near county courthouses and in law schools. While many public libraries may have complete copies of the state law code, law librarians are generally more knowledgeable, and can more easily and quickly help you find what you're looking for.
  • Sympathetic lawyers and politicians. You may be able to find an attorney willing to research a particular law or legal question for you because he's interested in the issue. By the same token, a simple call to a politician's office may obtain the same result. Your elected representative may ask an aide to help you find the appropriate material as a form of constituent service.
In either of these cases, you should have a well-defined idea of what you're looking for. You can't expect someone to go through all the state environmental laws, for instance: you have to be able to explain what type of law you think is being violated.
  • The Internet. There are several web sites with listings of or links to state and federal statutes. Most state web sites (most reachable by www., followed by state. [two-letter state abbreviation].us/) will give access to the laws of that state. In addition, there are sites with links to all state law codes. One of the best is http://www.law.cornell.edu/topics/state_statutes.html, the Legal Information Institute of Cornell Law School. It contains all state statutes, searchable by topic, as well as federal laws, at the address http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode. Another site for federal laws is the US General Services Administration, http://www.legal.gsa.gov, searchable in a number of different ways. Pending and recently passed federal legislation can be researched at http://thomas.loc.gov. Federal laws of Canada can be found at http://lois.justice.gc.ca/en/.

2. Information about the past and current activities of government and corporations. Some of the most prominent web sites that track government and corporate documents and activity are http://www.whistleblower.org, the Government Accountability Project, which tries to protect whistleblowers and make sure they're heard; http://www.essential.org/orgs/CAP/CAP.html, the Congressional Accountability Project, concerned with Congressional ethics reform; http://www.corporations.org, the Corporate Accountability Project, keeping watch on multinational corporations, with links to http://www.corporatewatch.org, Corporate Watch, a massive data base on corporate activity worldwide, and its sister organization, http://www.corpwatch.org, Corporate Watch USA. The latter three of these web sites contain links to corporate filings, where you can find corporate annual reports and other documents.

In addition to these and similar web sites, there are also newspaper archives, accessible through newspaper offices and - often - on the web. The New York Times (http://www.nytimes.com), for instance, offers archived articles (at a small cost) going back five or more years. Newsweek (http://www.newsweek.com) also offers a fee-based archive. Many public and academic libraries subscribe to newspaper and magazine archive services, and you may be able to take advantage of that as a library card holder. State university libraries, particularly, many of which offer library membership to any state resident, have a broad range of research services.

3. General information. You may need information ranging from the chemical structure of a particular substance to the details of a five-year-old episode of community history. All the sources referred to above - libraries, the Internet, experts, newspaper archives - are useful for general as well as specific information. Your best sources depend on the information you're seeking. If you're looking for the results of scientific studies or the outcome of a high-profile lawsuit, printed sources may be your best bet. (Once again, libraries are good places to start.) If you're looking for evidence of current wrongdoing, it's probably not going to be in print.

Your most important source may be people. You may want to consult an expert to explain, as we've discussed, the ins and outs of a state law or the ecological implications of the use of a weedkiller. If you're looking for community history, you'll certainly want to talk to those who took part in it - probably to people with a variety of perspectives on what happened.

People as information sources have a huge advantage over libraries, printed material, and the Internet: they can answer questions. You can find out exactly what you want to know, although it's important to remember that you're getting the point of view of the person you're talking to. But even given that restriction, you still have an advantage. With many Internet sites, especially, it's difficult to judge the quality and accuracy of the information you're getting. With people, it's often easier to sort out whose information is most nearly accurate.

Another advantage of people as information sources is that they may come to you. A whistleblower, a witness, a friend of a friend who knows something or someone - any of them might come to you, once they hear you're looking for information.


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Tool # 2: Some sources to use if you have opponents

These sources can provide information about corporations, organizations, groups or individuals.

Corporate registrations - contains information about the place of business, date of incorporation, nature of the business, and names of directors and officers, as well as some financial information. These are public records, and can be found in the records of the state of incorporation. For more information, see the links to corporate sites in Tool #1.

Uniform Commercial Code (UCC) - records whether a company has borrowed against assets other than real estate. This is a great source for learning about creditor relationships. The UCC is federal legislation that is reflected in state laws, and the filings reside with state Secretaries of State. For the code itself, see http://www.law.cornell.edu/ucc/ucc.table.html. From the same source, the Legal Information Institute at Cornell Law School, there are links to the specific state laws that reflect various sections of the UCC at http://www.law.cornell.edu/uniform/ucc.html. You can also find information on the web sites of, or by contacting the offices of, the Secretaries of State of individual states. The Texas Secretary of State's web site includes a reasonably coherent explanation of where and what companies must file at http://www.sos.state.tx.us/ucc/index.shtml.

Real Estate Records - list ownership information, property tax records, and zoning and building information. These records are maintained at the city or county level. From these records, you can find out if your opponent is being undertaxed, or has committed zoning or licensing violations.

Voting records - registration records, which are public documents available in every community through the Town or City Clerk's office, may show a person's address, telephone number, employer, age, citizenship status, party enrollment, and elections in which the person voted. A local town census may also provide similar information.

Court records - cover criminal and civil cases filed by or against individuals, groups, companies, or government organizations. You may be particularly interested in cases involving bankruptcies, complaints about a business by consumers, claims by one business against another, and government prosecutions of an individual or organization for illegal acts or practices. In addition to information about the specific case, you may glean other information from these documents, available through the appropriate court (state or federal district court, county court, probate court, appeals court, etc. Most of these are available on the Internet, and can easily be found through a web search.)

For example, does a certain person own land? What is it worth? Is it mortgaged, and to whom? (These are probate court issues, and may often be found in the Register of Deeds.) Has the person been sued, sued someone else, been arrested, or been the target of legal judgments?

If your opponent is a bank or other type of financial institution, it should be easy to gather information. Various government bodies keep track of these institutions, monitoring their assets and keeping track of whom they lend money to. Here are four U.S. agencies that may have information you can use:

1. The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. This office collects information on nationally chartered banks, foreign banks with U.S. branches, and bank-holding companies. In order to obtain information from them, send a written request to:

Communications Section
Comptroller of the Currency
490 L'Enfant Plaza East, SW
Washington, D.C. 20219

2. The Federal Reserve System. This regulates state banks in the federal reserve system, bank-holding companies, and international subsidiaries of U.S. banks. They can be reached at:

Federal Reserve System
20th and C Streets, NW
Washington, D.C. 20551

3. The Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation. The Community Reinvestment Act requires that banks maintain records on bank lending to low-income and minority borrowers. Check with your local financial institutions.

4. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. The FDIC monitors banks that are not members of the Federal Reserve System. Among other data, they gather information on the bank's condition and income. They may be contacted at:

Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
Data Request Section
550 17th Street, NW
Washington, D.C. 20429


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Checklist

Here you will find a checklist outlining the important points of the section.


What do we mean by conducting research?

__ You conduct your research by working, in whatever way necessary, to find the information you need to support or strengthen your advocacy.


Why should you do advocacy research? You do advocacy research because:

__ It gives your advocacy substance.

__ It gives you new information to help make your case.

__ It can show you what's most likely to address your issue successfully.

__ It can provide you with anecdotes and examples to use.

__ It can confirm what you were already sure of.

__ It allows you to make cost-benefit arguments.

__ It gives you credibility.

__ It can short-circuit the opposition.

__ It sets you up as the expert on the issue.


When should you do advocacy research? You do advocacy research:

__When you're trying to get legislation passed.

__ To help you make the community concerned about an issue that needs attention.

__ When programs, services, or groups of people are under attack.

__ When you want to expose corrupt officials.

__ When government or some other entity is lying to the public.

__ When it's necessary to prevent harm to individuals or the public.

__ To further the public interest.


How do you conduct research? You follow the general guidelines for doing research:

__ You ask for help.

__ You check to see if someone has already gathered the information you need.

__ You learn all the necessary basics about your issue, and know them cold.

__ You determine clearly what you'll use the information for.

__ You check all your facts carefully.

__ You're persistent.


You know how to do the different kinds of research and how to choose which is appropriate for your circumstances:

__ You do "academic" research.

__ You gain information from conversations and interviews.

__ You construct and administer surveys.

__ You design and conduct studies.

__ You do detective work.

__ You find people with personal anecdotes and stories to tell.


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