Getting information for your campaign

Adél Schofield

Social Policy Researcher 24 February 2010

The aim of this session

How to get information to help persuade people to support your campaign We will briefly look at:

• Why it is important to gather evidence • What makes it credible • Possible methods • Some dos and don’ts • Practical examples of questions that apply for your particular scenarios

Why gather evidence?

Any suggestions?

New perspective s Biggest impact for the largest amount of people Creative solution s Demonstrate unmet needs Building reputation

What makes it credible?

• Presenting a balanced view: – This means gathering good and bad evidence – Talking to a wide selection of people – Asking unbiased questions • Reliable findings • Being upfront about limitations of the research e.g. qualitative research • Not making links where there aren’t any • Not drawing conclusions which aren’t supported by the data e.g. pregnancy rates in Orkney

BBC Online 2010 http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/8486221.stm

The key steps to survey design

What

do you want to find out?

Who

will you interview?

How

will you gather the data?

What

will you ask?

Testing

the questions

How will you gather the data?

• Quantitative or qualitative?

• Goes back to what you want to find out? Numbers or more in-depth data?

• Quantitative: postal or online • Qualitative: One to one interviews or discussion groups

Quant methodologies: pros and cons

Postal

- Cheaper option if all you have are names and addresses (and is cheaper than tel, if you do) - People can consider their answers/look up info - Can show pictures - Takes a long time - Is not interviewer administered - Those with literacy problems are unlikely to respond

Online

-Cheapest and quickest Can include ‘media’ - Easiest to make adjustments for accessibility/attractive formatting - People more likely to give honest answers to sensitive questions - Need to have email addresses - Excludes those without internet access thus issues around representativeness - More difficult to control who replies

One-on-one interviews

- sensitive issues - geographically dispersed - immobile respondents - respondents with unique experiences/views - depth needed rather than breadth

Group discussions

- issues are interactive, social, dynamic - interested in breadth rather than depth - interested in how views are created - interested in how people explain/ justify views

Some dos and don’ts

• • • • • • • • • Think about what you want to know Think about who you will interview & tailor appropriately Be specific about what you want to find out Consider most suitable method Test your questions Allow people to say ‘don’t know’ or ‘not applicable’ – your data will be more complete Remain balanced Consider good and bad practice Provide confidentiality to encourage honesty • • • • • Ask questions where the data will not be useful – the shorter the better!

Use too many fonts, colours and bolding or italics Ask more than one question at a time Don’t forget to think about the background knowledge people have Make links where the data does not support it – may need more research

Examples of

bad

questions

• • • • • • • Do not ask more than one question at once e.g. When and why did you last use this service?

Do not lead the respondent to a particular answer e.g. Do you agree that this is the right thing to do?

Include all relevant alternatives: e.g. When do you go to the supermarket? Monday, Wednesday or Friday?

Avoid any emotionally charged language e.g. What do you think of the Labour Government’s proposal to…?

Avoid acronyms and jargon – consider the respondent’s background and prior knowledge. If you must use it, write them out in full the first time Avoid spurious time-scales e.g. How many times did you visit your GP in the last 6 weeks? If you want only one answer, make sure the options provided are truly mutually exclusive e.g. What is your household’s average monthly income? – Less than £10,000 – £10,000 - £20,000 – £20,000 - £30,000 etc