Research that involves professional and community researchers working together on aspects of research design and process is becoming increasingly popular. In higher education, a growing value is placed on research that makes an impact on policy and practice, and on the engagement of academics and students with people and groups outside the university. This means that what is called in this book ‘community research’ has more recognition and support than previously. This collection is, therefore, particularly timely. It is also valuable in that it brings together research from a range of countries (from Botswana to Finland), on a variety of topics, undertaken by different types of community researchers, with a focus on the advantages and limitations of taking a ‘community research’ approach.

The editors define ‘community research’ as ‘the practice of engaging community members as co-researchers to research issues within their own community with a view to accessing community specific knowledge’ (p. 4). ‘Community researchers’ may be residents of a geographical community, or members of communities of interest or identity. Examples of community researchers involved in the projects described in the book include young people, older people, indigenous and Roma people, residents of neighbourhoods and mental health service users. Some of the many advantages of community research include the ability of community researchers to gain access to their peers, and the contribution of their lived experiences in the framing of relevant research questions and the interpretation and use of research findings. Yet there are also limitations, which vary according to the types and purposes of the research, including: the time needed for supporting and training community researchers; the validity and credibility of research done by ‘insiders’; ethical issues about power, privacy and confidentiality; and difficulties in maintaining boundaries between being a researcher and a neighbour or community activist, for example.

What is particularly valuable about the chapters in this book is their honesty in describing the complexities and difficulties of community research. Accounts of community research in journal articles and reports very often focus on the substantive topic of the research and pay less attention to methodology, particularly the limitations and challenges. Whilst each chapter describes a particular research project on a substantive topic (for example, mental health, food security, age discrimination, HIV issues), the focus is on the approach and methods, and in particular the advantages and limitations of co-produced research with community researchers.

For anyone new to community research, who is interested in using this approach, or for more experienced researchers wanting to reflect on their own experiences in the light of those of others, there are many lessons to be learned. For example, Chapter 18 on participatory research involving young people in Northern Ireland discusses the potential to exploit young people under the guise of empowerment; the use of a contract with the young researchers, two of whom had their contracts terminated; the poor quality of data and lack of probity in some interviews; peer researchers confusing their own experiences with those of the people they were investigating; and the dangers of ‘going native’. In Chapter 9 on power and participation in community profiling in Italy, there is a very thoughtful discussion of the ways group dynamics may affect the design and conduct of the research through group polarisation and false agreement amongst community members. Other issues raised include: difficulties in maintaining boundaries between research and intervention (Chapter 8 on HIV research in South Africa); challenges of engaging community researchers in data analysis (Chapter 7 on research on housing estates in Bradford, UK); and issues with older people as researchers assuming a positivist methodology and not seeing age discrimination (Chapter 3 on authenticity and validity in research about age discrimination and urban social interactions in the UK).

The variety of topics, countries and approaches covered by the chapters is both a strength and a weakness of the book. There is a danger of being overwhelmed by the detail of each research project. To help bring some order to the particularities of the twenty chapters, each one (apart from the first chapter which serves as an editorial introduction to the whole book) includes a section on the chapter's aims and ends, with an overview of key learning, a summary (including the advantages and limitations of the approach used) and discussion questions. Although there are some common themes that appear in the learning and summaries, the chapters do not cross refer to each other and the editors only offer a relatively brief overview in Chapter 1, which includes a table summarising the advantages and disadvantages of community research. Based on the rich insights of the chapters in this book, further synthesis by the editors might have been helpful, including editorial introductions to each of the three parts (theoretical and methodological issues; ethics, power and emotion; and managing the research process).

The book also raises the perennial problem of defining and describing research that involves collaboration between professional and community researchers. The editors distinguish ‘community research’ (involving communities in the production of knowledge, which may or may not be empowering) from research that explicitly aims to empower community members. In their view, ‘community research’ is to be distinguished from community-based participatory research (CBPR) and community-based research (CBR), which they say entails an equal partnership, with community members involved in all aspects of research; and from participatory action research (PAR) and action research (AR) which are concerned with improvements to the community. Given the range of contributions in the book, this definition of community research is probably rather narrow. And given the confusing range of different and overlapping definitions of CBPR, CBR, PAR and AR in the literature, it may be unwise to imply that there are definitive distinctions between what is often referred to as a ‘family’ of approaches.

Whatever connotations the term ‘community research’ may have for readers, it is important to note that the book is not about community-led research, in which community researchers are in control and professional researchers may not be involved at all. Potential readers should also note that the focus is on social scientific research (rather than research in the natural sciences or arts and humanities) and that most of the chapters relate to qualitative research, frequently involving community researchers as interviewers. In this respect, the book reflects the focus of the majority of ‘community research’ reported in the literature. However, it does raise the question as to whether what is often called ‘citizen science’ (that involves ‘community members’ co-designing research projects and/or collecting data via quantitative surveys or scientific experiments) and arts-based projects (for example, researching an issue via co-designed exhibitions or community philosophy) count as ‘community research’ and if not, why not?

The book raises many issues and questions relating to a developing and contested approach to research. It will be of great value to people undertaking community research and in teaching and training about community-based, collaborative research methods. It is particularly strong in giving accounts of ethical and political challenges in this type of research.