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Constructing a Tree for Community Leaders: Contexts and Processes in Collaborative Inquiry
Author(s) -
Tandon S. Darius,
Azelton L. Sean,
Kelly James G.,
Strickland Debra A.
Publication year - 1998
Publication title -
american journal of community psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.113
H-Index - 112
eISSN - 1573-2770
pISSN - 0091-0562
DOI - 10.1023/a:1022149123739
Subject(s) - grassroots , salience (neuroscience) , qualitative research , public relations , sociology , community organization , shared leadership , community psychology , sense of community , transactional leadership , psychology , social psychology , political science , social science , politics , law , cognitive psychology
Abstract This paper presents collaborative research between a university‐based team and a grass roots community organization on the south side of Chicago. The purpose of the work is to document the nature of community leadership as expressed by members of the host organization. Using a semistructured interview, 77 community members nominated by the host organization were asked about various aspects of their community work. Qualitative analyses of interview text generated a set of 56 codes concerning different aspects of community leadership as reported by grassroots leaders. These codes were subsequently grouped together into five conceptually linked dimensions of community leadership. A“ leadership tree” that simultaneously analyzes and visually displays each of these five dimensions of community leadership was created. Implications of the methodology used to create the leadership tree are discussed for the salience of qualitative methods in community research.