SOCIAL RESEARCH & EVALUATION
''You can’t unring a bell'' – Tom Waits
What is social research?
When research is done well it resonates like a bell and the information that is known is difficult to forget. Social research is about collecting information and thinking about questions, problems or issues in a systematic and methodical way in order to learn something about ourselves. It involves honesty and accuracy in the way information is gathered, tested, used and interpreted, and an open mind.
We specialize in qualitative research to gain in-depth insight into people's attitudes, behaviours, values, motivations and culture, rather than relying solely on statistics. We use formal and informal methods of collecting and analyzing information such as interviews, focus groups, questionnaires, feedback forms, emails, photos, story telling, creative expression and observation.
We bring value to research by being both creative and methodical in our approach.
With both a practical and academic background and success in developing useful frameworks for different sized projects, our research services include:
- Ethical research design, conduct and management
- Research into contemporary social issues,
health, workplace, education, arts, customer and client satisfaction
studies
- Research amongst people of culturally and
linguistically diverse backgrounds
- Literature searches
- Needs studies
- Development of qualitative and action research
methods
- Face-to face, phone and on-line interviews,
focus groups, questionnaires, observation, case studies and other
methodologies
- Analysing data
- Writing clear and comprehensive reports
with practical recommendations
- Oral presentations of findings
- Working in collaboration with multiple project partners
What
is evaluation?
Evaluation is a form of research that is specifically designed to assist people to make decisions about the value of something, such as a program, an organization, a product, an activity, a policy or a role.
