Our Praxis
At ICI we are guided by the principles of Intergenerational Critical Youth Participatory Action Research (ICYPAR). ICYPAR isn't a research method but rather an approach to research that:
Centers those most impacted by the issues we are tackling,
namely young people, at all stages of our research process from selecting the research questions, collecting data, conducting analysis and developing products that share findings with various audiences.
Is grounded in a commitment to social justice.
This means we remain responsive to the needs and desires of the communities with whom we work. We work hard to ensure that our data is being used to guide large scale policy change but equally as important to us is that it be used to drive collective action on the local level.
Uses youth-adult partnerships to drive our work.
While youth may lead or come up with the directions for ICI’s research, our spaces are deeply intergenerational. Youth and adults co-facilitate, share power, jointly contribute expertise, skills, and social capital to support our collective change efforts.
Uses creative methods.
While we use traditional methods like surveys, focus groups and interviews, we also incorporate creative methods developed by our team drawing upon the wisdom of people inside and outside of the academy, like community organizers, educators, and everyday people.
Our Research
Data Collection
ICI uses both qualitative, quantitative, traditional and creative methods in our research. While the YAY Census is live for six months annually, we use our ICI Summer Institute to design an annual qualitative study which may include focus groups, street interviews, or forum theater to name a few of the many methods employed in these qualitative deep dives.
Amplify & the YAY survey
In 2016, The Intergenerational Change Initiative (ICI) partnered with the Young Hackers (a group of high school technologists) to engage in a multi-year, human-centered design process with over 300 NYC youth ages 13-24. Working in partnership with MIT Media Lab, young people created the technical specs for Amplify, the gamefied youth-based web-app that hosts our annual survey and survey results. Since the first launch of the YAY in 2020, young people visit Amplify annually to take the YAY survey, earn points, and win prizes.
Learn more about the YAY’s origin story >
Youth Ask Youth Survey
Since the launch of the 2020 YAY, NYC youth have weighed in on survey topics related to learning, economics, community, health and relationships in addition to targeted questions about climate change, mental health, policing, and food access, etc. The survey provides an annual temperature check on youth experiences as well as suggestions, concerns, and visions for improving NYC for youth. 2023 is our fourth year of YAY collection and we look to collect at least 10 years of data in NYC.
Check out our Amplify Dashboard and explore survey questions and youth responses from the last 4 years.
Sidewalk Science
Sidewalk Science (Stoudt et. al, 2019) is a critical participatory research method that we employ to share back our findings in community, share resources and collect other data via word walls, brief interviews, interactive art, etc.
