American Indian Social Research Institute

Research Approach

In carrying out its mission in Indian country, AISRI empasizes a social research approach that is both participatory and scientifically-driven.  It is participatory in that it emphasizes community-based participation in the research design process, whether in the development, implementation, and/or evaluation thereof.  (This is important in Indian country, given there have been instances wherein other entitites have conducted research that unwittingly emphasized a controversial Western-based top-down approach, which is not culturally appropriate to Tribes.)  The participatory dimension of AISRI's research approach is representative of qualitative or ethnographic research methods, which include Talking Circles (an Indian form of focus group), one-on-one interviews, and field observations.

The research approach is also scientifically-driven in that it adheres as strictly as possible to central characteristics of the scientific approach, such as being empirical, systematic, searching for causes, provisional, and replicative.  Such contributes to the validity, reliability, and practical usefulness of research results.

AISRI's research approach as such is a key basis from which AISRI provides programmatic services and affiliated products.

Programmatic Services

Tribal Leadership Development Institute(TM):  (Strenthening tribal nations...)  The mission of the Tribal Leadership Development Institute (TLDI) is to develop effective tribal leaders within today's system of governance with traditional values.  Click here to visit the TLDI website.

Tribal Quality of Life Survey: The Tribal Quality of Life Survey (TQLS) is a periodic survey of a sample of members of federally recognized Indian Tribes, from whom data would be collected pertaining to quality of life measures.  Results of the TQLS provides Tribes, Tribal Organizations, and other stakeholders in Indian country with quality of life information so as to develop or enhance effective tribal outreach programs, such as in the areas of workforce development, health, cultural preservation, and criminal justice.

Contractual Services: Besides providing specific programmatic services such as the TQLS and the TLDI, AISRI also provides contractual services in the form of training and technical assistance (T/TA) to Tribes, Tribal organizations, and other stakeholders in Indian country with regard to social and economic development.  T/TA is provided on a negotiable fee basis, depending on the scope of work involved.  Typically, T/TA entails market research and organizational development, which are highlighted as follows:

• Market research (external environment of client organization):
  • Surveys
  • Talking circles or focus groups
  • Archival research
• Organizational development (internal environment of client organization):
  • Program design
    • Formulating a logic model
    • Grantsmanship
  • Program evaluation
    • Formative, baseline evaluation
    • Comprehensive evaluation
  • Training workshops
    • “Train the trainer” in part
    • Effectively utilizing statistics
      • Understanding in concise terms key types of statistical measures and effectively interpreting them in various contexts
    • Minority entrepreneurship
      • Federal procurement and contracting
      • Minority business certification
    • Executive development
      • Critical-thinking at the executive level
    • Cultural competency
      • Increasing awareness among non-Indian service providers about providing services that would be culturally appropriate toward Indians served, so as to minimize provider-client stereotypes and mistrust

In all, such programmatic services occur in various contexts, whether social, economic, or health.  In context of AISRI's mission, they are meant to build capacity of Tribes, Tribal organizations, and other stakeholders, especially in terms of their various programs aimed at promoting social and economic development in Indian Country.