All of these issues affect the quality of the data, and you, the reader will have to be the judge of the effect they have had on the research. I can say that conducting this research has been very exciting for me and I agree with BC practitioner Paula Davies that,

Engaging in practitioner research has brought an amazing new dimension to my classroom practice. In fact, I would say that practitioner research is one of the most productive professional development activities that an instructor can engage in! (Davies, 2006: 4)

Data Analysis

I analyzed the data using the qualitative data analysis software, Atlas ti. I then wrote up the first draft of the report. Diana looked through the rough data and compared it with the draft report, making suggestions about which aspects I had missed or needed more emphasis.

When I tried to make sense of the data, I went back to the literature. In particular, I used the “3 Stages of Foundation-building” described in Engaging Users, Reducing Harm (Murray & Ferguson, 2003) — crisis management, foundation building and engaging — to frame the findings for Research Question #1.

Research Findings

1. What is Harm Reduction and how does it affect Downtown Eastside residents who engage in high-risk behaviours?

Defining Harm Reduction

I started each focus group by asking one or two participants to read the definition of Harm Reduction copied below, which had been adapted from definitions in the literature. I wanted to make it brief and clear, and also to encompass the different kinds of risk-taking (often not included in drug-related harm reduction definitions). Then I asked for reactions from the group.(See Focus Group questions, Attachment A)

Focus group members were mixed in their responses. Some liked the definition because it was “straight up, to the point” but one member felt it was incomplete, and would be better if more aspects were itemized and more specific to the Downtown Eastside.

All participants had a lot to say about what harm reduction meant to them, and the strategies they used to reduce harm in their lives. They discussed safer drug use, safety on the streets, safer sex, health and mutual cooperation. For a complete list of harm reduction strategies discussed by participants, see Attachment B.