How Do We Find Out What Residents Are Thinking?

The Ipsos MORI Local Government Research Unit is ideally positioned to help you find out what residents are thinking in the most reliable and cost effective ways. No matter what you want to consult your residents about, from the smallest to the largest project, Ipsos MORI is able to help. Our high profile work with central government, other leading agencies and academics (e.g. ODPM, Audit Commission, LGA, IdeA) means that Ipsos MORI is at the forefront of current discussion and debate on issues current in local government. Ipsos MORI brings unrivalled contextual data to help with the interpretation of results, and experience of working with management teams to take action on the data.

Methodologies

What is essential is that you use the most appropriate techniques for your communities and authority. This might be the need to consult specific groups of residents, for example ethnic minorities, or to collect views on a particular service perhaps used by a small group of users.

• Residents' Survey: A properly representative residents' survey is an important basis of any plan to assess and track service performance. These surveys not only answer short-term questions, but collect data which will help your organisation for years to come, coupled with more diagnostic work to fully understand motivation and expectations.
• Citizens' Panels: Ipsos MORI manages Citizens' Panels for over 30 local authorities as well as national panels for central government. The theoretical advantage of establishing a Citizens' Panel is its flexibility, enabling you to consult residents on an ad hoc basic on a range of different topic areas. Panels are adaptable for both quantitative data and qualitative focus groups and workshops. At the same time, over-reliance on panels for qualitative data, and real problems of attrition, mean their use has to be considered carefully.
• Qualitative research: Qualitative research is essential if you want to probe the reasons why residents think and act as they do. This type of research can take the form of focus groups with around half a dozen residents taking part in a group discussion, workshops with a couple of dozen participants or community conferences with over 100. The choice of qualitative approach, and whether it should be developed before or after, or instead of, a quantitative stage, is dependent on your needs. Click here for more information about our approach to qualitative work, through Ipsos MORI's specialist Qual HotHouse.
• Participative research: Local authorities can also use research with residents to arrive at shared solutions and to empower participants. Participative research is no better or worse than traditional research — it is different. It involves deliberative and participative techniques to engage people in a dialogue and to involve participants more fully in the process of research. For more information, please see Ipsos MORI's Participation Unit.
• New Technology: Ipsos MORI is at the forefront of developing new forms of consultation via new technology such as SMS text polling, web-based discussion or internet polling. Our knowledge and experience of producing reliable data is vital in ensuring that new technology produces data which you can trust. Ipsos MORI e-Govt Research.