NWT RESEARCH DATABASE

Regions: Inuvialuit Settlement Region, Gwich'in Settlement Area

Tags: social sciences, policy, decision making, science policy

Objective(s): To understand the ways in which decisions are made about research in the Canadian North, how the practice of research aligns with northern and Indigenous research priorities and principles, and how research is impacting decision-making in northern and Indigenous governments and organizations.

Project Description: This licence has been issued for the scientific research application No.4579. The goal of this research is to understand the ways in which decisions are made about research in the Canadian North, how the practice of research aligns with northern and Indigenous research priorities and principles, and how research is impacting decision-making in northern and Indigenous governments and organizations. Through an examination of current and past research experiences, the Principal Investigator (PI) will investigate how the policies that guide research in the North support or limit northern leadership of research and the alignment of research practice with northern priorities and knowledge needs. This research approach includes: 1. An analysis and regional comparison of northern research policy and guidance documents; 2. An analysis and regional comparison of research trends based on the licensing databases from the Northwest Territories, Nunavut, and Yukon using qualitative methods (content analysis) and quantitative methods (descriptive statistics); and, 3. Interviews with northern community researchers and academic researchers working in the Northwest Territories, Nunavut, and Yukon. The PI has met with a variety of NWT stakeholders in developing this project. Once data collection has begun for this research the PI will be reporting back to those stakeholders with a project update. The PI will initiate a northern advisory committee with representatives from all three territories to provide advice throughout the project including on participants, research tools, and communications. Results validation will be complete through communicating with participants to review transcripts, quotes, a summary, and any audio-visual materials before publishing results. Final results will be shared in a PhD thesis, journal articles, conference presentations, a summary report, an NWT-specific report for NWT stakeholders, research highlights for NWT communities (e.g. posters, pamphlets), and possible public products include podcasts, web-based videos, and a book. The fieldwork for this study will be conducted from February 5, 2020 to December 31, 2020.