Advocacy can address many different community issues. Your goal may be to raise awareness, improve access to services, protect community members from harm, change a policy or institutional practice, strengthen accountability, improve health or education, protect the environment, advance human rights, or improve the social and economic conditions of a community.
Whatever your advocacy effort seeks to accomplish, you will need reliable information.
You may need to know:
- How many people are affected by a problem
- How different populations experience the issue
- What policies or institutions contribute to current conditions
- Whether an existing program is effective
- What a proposed policy is likely to cost
- What evidence supports different possible solutions
- What community members identify as priorities
Research can help answer those questions.
Advocacy research may involve analyzing existing data, reviewing laws or policies, interviewing community members, examining public records, conducting surveys, reviewing academic studies, observing local conditions, or collecting new information through a carefully designed study.
Research should not simply gather evidence that supports a position already chosen.
Good research can confirm your assumptions, complicate them, or show that the problem or solution needs to be understood differently.
What do we mean by conducting research?
Research is a systematic effort to answer a question using appropriate information and methods.
The question may be relatively straightforward:
What percentage of people using a community health center have difficulty obtaining care elsewhere?
Or it may be more complex:
What combination of policies would most effectively improve health-care access for workers who lack adequate insurance coverage?
Different questions require different forms of evidence.
For example:
- If you need an established scientific fact, begin with current authoritative research, professional guidance, or qualified subject-matter expertise.
- If you want to understand whether a program works, review existing evaluations and research before deciding whether new data need to be collected.
- If you want to understand the size or characteristics of a population, government datasets or other reliable statistical sources may be useful.
- If you want to understand how a policy affects everyday life, interviews, listening sessions, surveys, or community-generated data may provide information that administrative data do not capture.
- If you are investigating possible violations of law, policy, or professional standards, public records, regulatory data, audits, documented observations, and qualified legal or technical assistance may be appropriate.
Choose the research method according to the question rather than starting with a preferred method and trying to make it fit.
Why do research?
Research can strengthen advocacy in several ways.
Research helps establish what is happening
Advocacy often begins because community members have observed a problem.
Research can help determine:
- How widespread the issue is
- Who is affected
- Whether conditions are changing over time
- What factors contribute to the problem
- What information is still missing
Research can challenge your assumptions
One of the most important purposes of research is to test what you think you know.
If credible evidence does not support your original explanation or proposed solution, reconsider it.
Advocacy research should increase understanding rather than simply produce material for winning an argument.
Research can help identify effective strategies
Research may show what other communities have tried, what outcomes followed, and under what conditions an approach appears to work.
When reviewing an intervention, ask:
- Who participated?
- Where was the intervention tested?
- What outcomes were measured?
- How strong was the study design?
- Are the findings relevant to your community?
- What limitations did the researchers identify?
Research can support cost and resource analysis
Advocacy decisions often involve costs as well as benefits.
Cost analysis may consider:
- Program costs
- Administrative costs
- Costs of maintaining current conditions
- Costs borne by families or community members
- Possible long-term savings
- Benefits that are difficult to express only in financial terms
Use current and locally relevant data whenever possible.
Avoid presenting a simplified calculation as though it captures every social or economic consequence.
Research can improve credibility
Accurate, transparent research can demonstrate that your organization has taken the time to understand an issue.
Credibility depends not only on having evidence, but also on:
- Explaining where information came from
- Acknowledging limitations
- Correcting mistakes
- Distinguishing facts from interpretation
- Being open about uncertainty
Research can help evaluate competing claims
People who disagree about a policy may rely on different evidence, assumptions, or values.
Research can help determine which factual claims are well supported.
Do not dismiss a claim simply because it comes from an organization that disagrees with you.
Evaluate the quality of the evidence itself.
Research can help your organization become a trusted resource
Your organization may develop substantial expertise through sustained work on an issue.
Avoid presenting yourself as the single authority when community members, researchers, professionals, public agencies, or other organizations also hold relevant knowledge.
Strong advocacy often combines several forms of expertise.
When should you do advocacy research?
Every advocacy effort requires some research, but it is especially important in situations such as the following.
When seeking legislation or policy change
Research can help demonstrate:
- The need for a policy
- Who would be affected
- Evidence supporting possible approaches
- Costs and implementation requirements
- Public or community priorities
- Possible unintended consequences
If you use surveys or polling to describe public support, make sure the sample and methods support the conclusion you are making.
When increasing community understanding of an issue
Local data can help people understand changes in their community.
Examples might include:
- Changes in housing instability
- Rates of students leaving school before graduation
- Access to health services
- Violence involving or affecting young people
- Environmental conditions
- Food or transportation access
Numbers require context.
A statistic can appear different depending on the timeframe, comparison group, denominator, geographic area, or definition used.
Whenever possible, explain:
- What was measured
- Over what period
- How the population was defined
- Whether the change is statistically or practically meaningful
- What the data cannot tell you
If the evidence contradicts your original claim, reconsider the claim.
Do not simply search for another statistic that appears more favorable.
When programs, services, or communities are being mischaracterized
Research can help evaluate claims about public programs or groups of people.
For example, public debates may include claims about:
- Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) participation
- Energy-assistance programs
- Immigration and employment
- Housing assistance
- Public-health services
Avoid responding to stereotypes with different stereotypes.
Use evidence to describe the actual population, program, labor market, or economic conditions involved.
When investigating possible misconduct or misuse of public resources
Research may help identify whether public officials, institutions, businesses, or organizations have violated laws, policies, contracts, or professional standards.
Useful sources may include:
- Audits
- Budgets
- Public records
- Court records
- Regulatory filings
- Inspection reports
- Meeting minutes
- Investigative journalism
Do not assume wrongdoing before the evidence establishes it.
Describe allegations, findings, and confirmed facts accurately.
When public statements may be misleading or unsupported
Governments, businesses, advocacy groups, media organizations, and individuals can all make inaccurate or misleading claims.
Research can help compare those claims with:
- Original data
- Regulatory findings
- Peer-reviewed studies
- Public records
- Independent evaluations
Consider whether a source has financial, political, organizational, or other interests that may affect how it presents evidence.
When trying to prevent harm
Research may identify environmental, health, financial, safety, or other risks before they become more serious.
Depending on the issue, researchers may examine:
- Environmental monitoring data
- Public-health trends
- Inspection records
- Proposed policy impacts
- Consumer or financial risks
- Reports from people directly affected
When determining what the community needs
Advocacy groups sometimes begin research without a predetermined policy solution.
Community health advocates, for example, may first investigate:
- Where people obtain care
- What barriers they experience
- Which services are unavailable
- Which populations experience the greatest barriers
- What residents consider most important
Research can then inform what the advocacy effort should seek.
How do you do research?
No single research method works for every advocacy question.
The following principles apply broadly.
Ask for help
Advocacy research often benefits from collaboration.
Useful partners may include:
- Community organizations already working on the issue
- People with lived experience
- Researchers
- Subject-matter experts
- Librarians
- Data analysts
- Journalists
- Legal professionals
- Government or agency staff
Be clear about what kind of assistance you are requesting and how information may be used.
Protect people who provide sensitive information
Employees, residents, program participants, or others may sometimes have information about unsafe, illegal, unethical, or harmful practices.
Do not encourage people to violate laws, professional obligations, or legitimate confidentiality requirements.
Consider:
- Confidentiality
- Retaliation risk
- Whistleblower protections
- Legal advice
- Secure communication
- Whether identifying information is actually necessary
Find out what research already exists
Before collecting new information, review what is already available.
Existing sources may include:
- Peer-reviewed studies
- Government datasets
- Program evaluations
- Public records
- Community assessments
- Research conducted by advocacy or professional organizations
- Local reports
Existing research can save time and help identify unanswered questions.
Learn enough about the issue to evaluate what you find
Research is difficult to evaluate if you do not understand the basic terminology, laws, science, policy context, or professional standards involved.
If the issue is outside your expertise, seek qualified assistance.
Do not rely on a familiar person simply because they have an opinion on the subject.
Know why you are collecting the information
Before gathering data, identify how it will be used.
Research might be intended to:
- Describe a community problem
- Understand community priorities
- Evaluate a program
- Inform policy recommendations
- Assess public opinion
- Evaluate competing claims
- Identify possible harms
- Investigate possible misconduct
Collect only information that has a clear purpose.
This is especially important when information is sensitive or personally identifiable.
Do not gather evidence only to confirm what you already believe
Advocacy organizations can experience confirmation bias just like anyone else.
Before using a finding, ask:
- Would we consider this source credible if it reached the opposite conclusion?
- Are we giving more weight to evidence simply because it supports us?
- Have we examined credible evidence that challenges our position?
- Are we making a stronger claim than the data support?
Evaluate sources rather than relying on reputation alone
No source is automatically reliable simply because it is well known.
Evaluate:
- Who produced the information
- The original source of the data
- Methodology
- Publication date
- Relevant expertise
- Editorial or review processes
- Funding and conflicts of interest
- Whether other credible sources reach similar conclusions
News articles, search results, social-media posts, organizational summaries, and AI-generated summaries can be useful starting points, but important claims should be traced back to original or authoritative sources whenever possible.
Be persistent, but work ethically
Research can take time.
Public records may be difficult to locate, agencies may have long response times, and important information may be scattered across several sources.
Persistence is valuable, but researchers should still respect laws, privacy, safety, and ethical limits.
Types of research and some suggestions for each
Background and documentary research
This includes information already available through published research, public documents, datasets, archives, and other sources.
Useful sources may include:
- Public and university libraries
- Academic databases
- Government websites and data portals
- Public records
- Legislative and regulatory documents
- Court records
- News archives
- Organizational reports
- Historical archives
Libraries
Libraries remain important research resources.
Librarians can help locate:
- Books
- Journal articles
- Historical newspapers
- Government publications
- Specialized databases
- Local archives
Many resources that once required physical travel or microfilm are now available digitally, although some historical or specialized materials still require in-person access.
Public records
Government records may provide information about budgets, contracts, inspections, permits, enforcement, meetings, correspondence, and other public activities.
Federal Freedom of Information Act requests apply to records held by federal executive-branch agencies, subject to applicable exemptions.
States and local jurisdictions generally have their own public-records laws and procedures.
Before filing a request:
- Identify the agency likely to hold the record
- Determine which public-records law or process applies
- Describe the requested records as specifically as possible
- Check whether the information is already available online
Laws, exemptions, fees, and response procedures vary, so verify current requirements in the relevant jurisdiction.
Government data
Government agencies collect information on population, health, employment, education, housing, transportation, environment, budgets, and many other topics.
When using government data, check:
- Definitions
- Collection methods
- Dates
- Geographic coverage
- Included and excluded populations
- Revisions or updates
Online research
Digital research can provide rapid access to enormous amounts of information.
The main challenge is evaluating quality.
Search engines rank information according to their own systems; high placement does not necessarily indicate reliability.
When using online sources:
- Check the original publisher
- Look for the original report or dataset
- Check the publication or update date
- Review methodology where relevant
- Verify important claims independently
- Be cautious with content that lacks identifiable sourcing
Interviews and conversations
Interviews can help explain experiences, history, institutional practices, relationships, barriers, and community priorities.
Interview participants may include:
- People directly affected by the issue
- Community leaders
- Staff
- Professionals
- Public officials
- Organizational representatives
- Researchers
Referral or snowball sampling – asking participants who else you should speak with – can help identify additional contacts.
Avoid relying only on referrals from one network, which can reproduce existing gaps or exclusions.
Structured interviews
Structured or semi-structured interviews use a planned set of questions so that information can be compared across participants.
When developing interviews:
- Define what you need to learn
- Ask clear questions
- Use open-ended questions when you want detailed responses
- Ask appropriate follow-up questions
- Allow participants to raise issues you did not anticipate
- Avoid unnecessarily intrusive questions
- Explain how the information will be used
- Protect confidentiality when promised
A person's experience is valid evidence of what that person experienced.
Do not assume that one person's experience automatically describes an entire population.
When interviews include factual claims about events, policies, or other people, corroborate those claims when necessary before presenting them as established facts.
Surveys
Surveys can help gather information from larger groups.
They may be conducted through:
- Online forms
- Text messaging
- Telephone
- Paper forms
- In-person outreach
No survey method reaches everyone equally.
Consider:
- Internet access
- Language
- Disability access
- Literacy
- Privacy
- Trust
- How respondents were selected
Keep surveys focused and avoid collecting information you do not need.
Translate surveys when needed and make formats accessible.
Sampling and representativeness
If you want to estimate what an entire population thinks or experiences, sampling matters.
A convenience sample – such as people who respond to an online link or attend one event – may provide useful information without representing the entire community.
Before making population-wide claims, consider:
- How respondents were selected
- Sample size
- Response rate
- Groups that may be underrepresented
- Weighting or statistical adjustments
- Margin of error where applicable
Describe the sample honestly.
Focus groups
Focus groups are facilitated discussions used to explore people's experiences, perceptions, reactions, or ideas.
They can help identify:
- Themes
- Different perspectives
- Reactions to a proposal
- Questions requiring further research
Focus groups are generally not designed to estimate how common an opinion is across an entire population.
Participants should understand the purpose of the discussion and how information will be used.
Do not conceal the true purpose of the research simply to obtain more candid answers.
Studies
A study is a systematic investigation designed to answer a research question.
Studies may be quantitative, qualitative, or use both approaches.
They may examine:
- Program effectiveness
- Community conditions
- Relationships among factors
- Differences among groups
- Possible causes and effects
If your organization plans to conduct a study:
- Define the research question clearly
- Determine whether you have the necessary expertise
- Use appropriate methods
- Protect participant privacy
- Obtain appropriate consent
- Consider whether formal ethics review is required
- Use statistical methods appropriately
- Report limitations
Correlation is not necessarily causation
Two things can occur together without one causing the other.
For example, a study might find that participants in one community program have better outcomes than nonparticipants.
That does not automatically prove that the program caused the difference.
Participants may differ in age, income, health, motivation, access to services, or other characteristics.
Good study design attempts to account for alternative explanations.
Direct observation and investigative research
Sometimes important information can be obtained by observing conditions directly.
For example, advocates studying housing conditions may document publicly observable accessibility barriers, building conditions, or neighborhood infrastructure.
Direct observation should respect:
- Privacy
- Property rights
- Safety
- Consent when entering private spaces
- Restrictions on photography or recording
Do not trespass or put researchers at unnecessary risk.
Environmental sampling should generally be conducted using appropriate scientific methods and, when necessary, qualified personnel.
A casually collected water or soil sample may produce misleading results if collection, storage, chain of custody, or laboratory methods are inadequate.
Use public records and documentation carefully
Investigative advocacy may involve reviewing large amounts of documentation.
Useful materials might include:
- Permits
- Inspection records
- Environmental monitoring reports
- Contracts
- Budgets
- Emails or correspondence obtained through lawful public-records processes
Keep careful records of where evidence came from.
Distinguish what a document proves from what you infer from it.
Using personal stories ethically
Personal stories can help people understand how policies and community conditions affect real lives.
Stories should not be treated merely as persuasive material to make statistics more emotional.
People sharing their experiences should have meaningful control over whether and how their stories are used.
Before using a personal story publicly:
- Obtain informed and voluntary consent
- Explain where the story may appear
- Discuss whether the person's name or identifying details will be included
- Explain possible media or online exposure
- Allow the person to decline without affecting services or relationships
- Avoid unnecessary disclosure of health, immigration, legal, financial, or other sensitive information
- Let the person describe their experience in their own words
Avoid selecting people primarily because their story is dramatic, emotionally powerful, or likely to generate media attention.
One story can illustrate an issue, but it cannot establish how common an experience is across a population.
Community members as research partners
People directly affected by an issue can do more than answer researchers' questions.
They can help:
- Decide which questions are worth asking
- Design surveys or interviews
- Identify communities that may otherwise be overlooked
- Interpret findings
- Identify possible explanations
- Decide how findings should be communicated
- Develop advocacy recommendations
Community participation can improve both the relevance and credibility of the research.
Keep track of your evidence
Advocacy groups should maintain organized records of important sources.
For major claims, record:
- The original source
- Publication date
- Author or organization
- Relevant methodology
- Important limitations
- A link, file location, or citation
This helps prevent outdated figures, broken links, or unsupported claims from remaining in campaign materials.
In Summary
Effective advocacy depends on reliable research.
Research helps communities understand what is happening, who is affected, why the problem exists, what solutions have been tried, and what evidence supports different courses of action.
Research should not simply provide ammunition for a position that has already been chosen.
A strong advocacy organization is willing to change its understanding when credible evidence points in another direction.
Use multiple kinds of evidence. Government data, academic studies, public records, program evaluations, interviews, surveys, community-generated information, direct observation, and lived experience can each contribute different kinds of knowledge.
Evaluate sources according to their evidence, methodology, relevance, date, and limitations rather than relying only on reputation or whether the source agrees with you.
Digital information is abundant, but important claims should be traced to original or authoritative sources whenever possible.
Surveys, interviews, focus groups, and studies should be designed carefully. Be transparent about who participated and what the findings can and cannot support.
Protect privacy and obtain meaningful consent when collecting or publishing personal information.
Personal stories can help explain an issue, but people should not be treated as persuasive examples for a campaign. They should have control over whether and how their experiences are shared.
Investigative research also requires appropriate safety, legal, and technical safeguards. Do not encourage untrained participants to collect scientific samples, enter private property, or take unnecessary personal risks.
Finally, include people directly affected by the issue in deciding what should be researched and how findings should be interpreted.
The strongest advocacy research does more than make an argument stronger. It helps a community understand the issue more accurately and choose better actions because of what it has learned.