“We Have a Ways to Go, but I Think You’ve Taken the Steps to Get Us There”: Engaging Community Partners in Qualitative Analysis Using the RADaR Technique

Community-engaged research is an approach that helps foster partnerships between community members and researchers by incorporating community members across multiple stages of the research study. In doing so, researchers can gain a deeper understanding of the insider perspective. One area that has received limited attention is the process of engaging community members in qualitative data analysis. To overcome this limitation, we outline how we implemented and adapted the Rigorous and Accelerated Data Reduction (RADaR) technique to explore learners’ perceptions and experiences of a tailored research best practices training for community health workers and promotoras. We reflect on the strengths and challenges of using the RADaR technique in community-engaged research and provide a list of considerations for researchers engaging in a similar process. We also incorporate the community partner’s perspectives on engaging in qualitative data analysis. This article provides a step-by-step approach for engaging community partners in the qualitative data analysis process, particularly using the RADaR technique, as a strategy for enhancing research quality and mitigating the power imbalance between researchers and communities.