OK...here's where I'm at right now. A grant proposal I wrote will give you an idea of where I'm heading, and the Huerto de la Familia website will help familiarize you with the organization I plan to work with. The Israel et al. article discusses participatory action research methods, which I'm thinking of employing, at least in part. I'm still looking for an example of the type of work I'd like to do....if I find it, I'll post it by Friday.

Stuff I'm grappling with:

- What is my question, exactly? I have a bunch, but I need to choose a central question to help me focus. I'd like to map some of this out with you all on Monday.

- Am I doing a project or a thesis? Can it be both? The action component is important to me...

- Is participatory action research too ambitious for my timeframe? Can my research be some sort of hybrid?

Abbors, Alison. "Cultivating Food Security: Improving low-income Latino community members’ access to healthy foods through community gardening in Springfield, Oregon." Center on Diversity and Community (CoDaC) Graduate Summer Research Awards application. 2008.

Abbors.CODAC.2008.pdf

http://huertodelafamilia.org/. 2007. Huerto de la Familia--The Family Garden. Accessed: 1 May 2008.

Israel, Barbara A., Amy J. Schulz, Edith A. Parker, and Adam B. Becker. "REVIEW OF COMMUNITY-BASED RESEARCH: Assessing Partnership Approaches to Improve Public Health." Annual Review of Public Health. 1998. 19:173–202.

Israel et al 1998.pdf

You can skip the intro and start with page 5 (177)