Research
Bedfordshire Voice Workshop
Research is a core part of changes’ work.
We want our work to make sense to people, to reflect their experiences and understandings. We can only do this if we talk to people, test ideas and collect information to design or reinforce an idea, concept or activity.
We research to be inspired, to incorporate and build on ideas and learning, to review and evaluate work. We look at information produced by local groups and organisations, strategies and action plans developed by public agencies, policy documents and guidance developed by national government, national and international journals relating to our fields of interest.
Whenever we can, we work with small groups of people to undertake action research. Often a core part of consultancy projects to develop tools and frameworks, these groups are dynamic – pooling information and experiences from different places, learning from each other and providing opportunities and inspiration for contributions.
On the whole, we think about this aspect of our work in terms of having ‘a strategy for research’ rather than being about methods: planning to be participative, reflective, about change, practical and applied – research with an aim, integrating research and action. Involving a broader spectrum of people in dialogue and action as well as involving the client. We reflect on our own practice in and during the process – emphasising critical reflection and strategic planning.
Examples
The development of echo has been entrenched in research, starting with interviews with public sector officers (many in senior positions), followed by a series of action research sessions to discuss and assess different parts of the framework. Participants took ideas away from each session, thought about them, tried them out, then returned four weeks later to feed in new ideas and learning.
Voice underwent a similar process of interviews and workshops with people involved in community networks. Added to this, we invited 4 colleagues, (community development consultants working in different parts of the country), to come together to hear about, discuss and contribute to its development.
We believe that his type of peer review is crucial to producing resources which make sense to people – and which work. When writing ‘Getting to Grips with Community Empowerment’ for the RIEP, we invited 5 practitioners (and a consultant steeped in local authority experience) to read it, comment and make suggestions to improve it.