Beyond the data

Authors

In brief

Communities most affected by inequality are often excluded from, or exploited by, the research that describes them. Community-engaged research puts community members inside the research process throughout, and the authors argue this improves both the process and the products of statistics and data science on questions of social justice. Written by community members, students, community-engagement staff and faculty together, the article gathers all four perspectives on why engagement matters and how to approach it.

“If researchers with statistical training need weeks to make sense of a public dataset, how can community members hope to use it to hold institutions accountable?”

What the article covers

• Five project teams, from water-quality monitoring on the Penobscot River to the analysis of police complaint data in Minneapolis.
• Lived experience as context: why an analysis suggesting that more rainfall meant less flooding was an artefact of who reports floods, and when.
• The practical value to partner organisations, whose data often sit unused on paper while staff focus on daily services.
• Advice for researchers: start planning early, allow community priorities to shift mid-project, and lean towards simpler solutions partners can maintain.

How to cite

Claire Kelling and 14 others. “Beyond the data.” vISIon: The ISI Magazine Vol. 1 No. 2, June 2026, pp. 9–13.