Asking the right questions - making the most of research - Stats that matter workshop

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Elizabeth Drakulich Christian Aid

Asking the right questions

What is research

Collecting data in order to answer a question

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Written feedback

Online survey

Focus group

Telephoneinterview

Product review

Results

Activity logs

Directobservations

Market research

In-person interviews

Evaluations

Pre-testing

Quick overview

1. Incorporate in your plans

2. What do you want to know?

3. Identify the best method

4. Undertake your research

5. Analyse results

6. Implement findings

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Methodology

Quantitative- Statistics

- Can ask how many

- Actions

- Surveys

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Qualitative- More in-depth

- Can ask why

- Motivations

- Discussions / provide

open feedback

Focus groups and interviews

Focus groups-Facilitated discussion with a group of people-Pros: Learning about feelings and motivations; testing concepts and exploring how they resonate, discussions, richer results-Cons: Not representative, time intensive, costly

Interviews-Semi / un-structured one-on-one discussions-Pros: Learning about feelings and motivations, testing concepts, can be candid discussion, richer results, can be done remotely-Cons: Not always representative, time intensive, costly

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Surveys

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Questionnaire that people fill

out.

SurveysMethods-In-person-Telephone-Paper – handed out, post-Online – specific website, social media

Pros – can create a representative sample, good for creating a baseline/tracking behaviours and attitudes, anonymity, rolling surveys, can be less expensive, easier to analyse

Cons – need larger number of participants, more prone to bias from self-selection, cannot immediately explore answers in more detail, people may not complete a survey the way you want, may exclude people with more/less interest in technology

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Other types of research

- Diary or activity logs- Responses or actions- Direct observations- Literature reviews / pulling together

previous studies

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Top tips - picking participants

- Typical of intended audience?- Core vs test samples- Demographic information- Think about numbers- Be clear about anonymity- Think about how you recruit

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Top tips - writing questions

- Length of survey- Length of answers- Language appropriate for audience- Readability and layout- Avoid leading questions- Avoid double answers- Rankings – even vs odd- Spontaneous vs prompted- Test your survey

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Analysis and implemetation

- Record your methodology- Put into context- Statistical analysis

- Narrative results / representative quotes“Where there is poverty and injustice, Christian Aid should seek to help end

this. It doesn’t matter if the country is low income, or middle income, if poverty exists then it needs to be tackled.’”

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Any questions?