Chapter 16: Educational Research: Using a Health-Based Model

Tribal groups work tirelessly to maintain sovereignty rights, preserving and upholding tribal authority and protection over their land, people, businesses, cultures, and services, such as healthcare and education. Research conducted by individuals or groups without tribal oversight has produced unethical or misguided findings that have the potential for negative impact in Indian country. In California, the efforts of a tribally based institutional review board (IRB), particularly in the field of health sciences, has had a dramatic effect on the research agenda, building capacity for new research collaborations, methodologies, application of beneficial results, and protection of tribal communities in the world of peer-reviewed published papers and their dissemination.