Research

Research – we undertake primary and secondary research to find out:

• How people feel about their lives, experiences of work, family and community life, opportunities to learn and contribute in different ways, and importantly whether the services and support work for them;
• How services respond to the needs and aspirations of local communities and individuals who use them;
• Whether strategies and policies reflect the things that work at an individual and community/population level.

Sometimes the research we do is in response to a local issue or concern, or to assist the development of a new service (e.g. to find out what’s missing and what may help to fill these gaps). We use tried and tested research methods e.g. surveys, interviews, documentation/data analysis, focus groups, observations (etc.) and engage all stakeholders at every stage of this work to ensure our methods are robust, ethically sound and effective.