Quantitative or qualitative research? Which one to use?
If you have a research or evaluation question or issue you want to explore, how you do you know whether you need to collect qualitative or quantitative information? Your research or evaluation consultant will be able to advise you but here are some things for you […]
Read moreA delightful unexpected benefit of program evaluation
Program evaluations are conducted for a range of reasons, including exploring the extent to which a program or initiative has met its intended objectives. It may also be necessary to know how efficient and effective a program has been, and whether it has delivered value for money. To explore these areas of enquiry, one or […]
Read more10 tips to improve online survey response rates
Response rates are an important consideration for surveys. The response rate is the percentage of people who respond to your survey. If you contact 100 people and 40 respond, your response rate is 40%. A survey that collects very little data may not contain substantial information to make it worthwhile reporting on your findings. In […]
Read moreTop tips and thoughts from 2013 – 7 blog highlights
My weekly blogs are designed to provide tips, insights and ideas for my clients and colleagues working in the arts and cultural sectors, evaluation and market research research, government policy planning and the human services sectors – in metropolitan and regional Australia. To round off the year, here is a summary of my most popular […]
Read more5 tips for good survey design
These days, there are a number of free survey software platforms available to enable anyone to design and run a survey free of charge. If you are taking advantage of this and designing your own survey without the help of an expert, here are some tips to help you avoid some common mistakes. Tip #1: […]
Read moreBellingen Arts Week – 3 key success factors
About a year ago, the Bellingen Arts and Cultural Committee – comprising a team of enthusiastic local volunteers – thought it would be a good idea to have a week dedicated to the arts in Bellingen. But Bellingen is already a creative place; why the need for an arts week? The aim was to help […]
Read moreSurvey sample size – how big is big enough?
When designing and running surveys, the question often arises, ‘How large should the survey sample be?’ It is easy to be seduced into thinking bigger is better. If time and budget were limitless, we would interview everyone in a population to guarantee reliability and accuracy. But that is never possible. There comes a point of […]
Read moreRockhampton Regional Arts Rundown
For three days last week a few hundred delegates descended on Rockhampton for Articulate: Queensland Regional Arts and Culture Conference. It was no coincidence the conference was held in Rockhampton; this region is experiencing a burst of creative activity and energy, with the Creative Capricorn initiative in full swing. The presentation topics were interesting and […]
Read moreFour market research techniques that will become obsolete before we can imagine
Do you have gadgets that are being superseded before you even get a chance to use them? I certainly do. Some online tools I am using for evaluation projects are being superseded within the course of the project timeline. But it is not just the evolution of technology that seems to be driving trends in […]
Read moreHow do you know what you need to know?
So, you have a research or evaluation project ready to put out to tender. How do you know what information you need to know? How do you know what approach to take in order to address your questions? A capable and skilled consultant can work through this for you or with you, but in the […]
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