LP1 Learner Guide

Module 2

Example:
Imagine that you are a manager deciding whether to install new manufacturing
equipment in your factory. You might draw up a force field analysis diagram like the
one in below:

Once you have carried out an analysis, you can decide whether your project is viable.
In the example above, you might initially question whether it is worth going ahead with
the plan.
Where you have already decided to carry out a project, Force Field Analysis can help
you to work out how to improve its probability of success. Here you have two choices:

• To reduce the strength of the forces opposing a project.
• To increase the forces pushing a project.
Often the most elegant solution is the first: just trying to force change through may
cause its own problems. People can be uncooperative if change is forced on them.
If you had to implement the project in the example above, the analysis might suggest
a number of changes to the initial plan:
• By training staff (increase cost by 1) you could eliminate fear of technology

(reduce fear by 2)
• It would be useful to show staff that change is necessary for business survival

(new force in favour, +2)
• Staff could be shown that new machines would introduce variety and interest

to their jobs (new force, +1)
• You could raise wages to reflect new productivity (cost +1, loss of overtime -2)
• Slightly different machines with filters to eliminate pollution could be installed

(environmental impact -1)

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These changes would swing the balance from 11:10 (against the plan), to 8:13 (in
favour of the plan).
Force Field Analysis is a useful technique for looking at all the forces for and against a
plan. It helps you to weigh the importance of these factors and decide whether a plan
is worth implementing.
Where you have decided to carry out a plan, Force Field Analysis helps you identify
changes that you could make to improve it.

Using a diagnostic checklist (table) for analysis

For a different perspective on current HR processes, you can conduct an internal audit
using a diagnostic checklist of best practice features and criteria for evaluation.

You can use this checklist to evaluate the processes that your organisation has in place
and the results will point you to any changes that need to be made.

The features in the following table test the strength of different parts of the
organisation’s current HR practices. This list is not complete, but it covers many of the
points necessary to assess the value of your processes and develop better ones.

Best practice Criteria Result
feature
Acceptance Are users aware of the existence of this process/tool, and do they use
testing it? (This is formal testing conducted to determine whether or not a HR
system satisfies its users.)
Accessibility
Can your users find this process/tool when they want it? Do they
Accuracy avoid it if they can? (Measure the degree to which the document
Adaptability helps the users.)

Auditable Are many mistakes are made with the use of this process/tool?
Clarity (Measure size or frequency of errors caused.)
Confidentiality
Dependability Is this process/tool versatile? Can your users apply it to more than
Error handling one event or situation?
Latency
Maintainability Can you record information concerning transactions performed using
Openness the process/tool? Can a trail be followed - if anything changes, will the
Robustness decision-making process be recorded?
Safety
Is the tool written in plain English?
Scalability
Does the process/tool prevent unauthorised disclosure of
information?

Can you rely on the service this process/tool delivers?

Is this process/tool checked for errors? Can mistakes be corrected
and the system returned to normal operations?

Is this process/tool designed to help the user manage the timing of
events effectively?

Can the process/tool be modified to correct faults, improve
performance or other attributes, or adapt to a changing environment?

Does this process/tool comply with overall quality assurance
standards?

Is this a strong process/tool? To what degree can it function correctly
in the presence of invalid inputs or stressful conditions?

Have the outcomes of this process/tool been widely discussed with
stakeholders? Does it help to minimise risk?

Can the process/tool be modified to deal with different sized problems
with ease - be it a large scale downscaling of staff, or termination of
an individual worker?

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Best practice Criteria Result
feature
Security Does the process/tool allow sensitive information to be managed,
Simplicity protected and distributed well?
Tone
Is the process/tool easy to use? Does it have a straightforward, easy-
Traceability to-understand design and implementation process?

Training Does the language of the document show consideration for the users
of the form, and encourage them to display courtesy in any replies?
Vulnerability
Can a relationship be established between this and other tools, or
between different parts of the same tool, where there is a cause and
effect relationship?

Are provisions in place for users to learn how to develop, maintain or
use the process/tool?

Is the tool open to unauthorised access, change, or disclosure of
information and therefore susceptible to disrupting the organisation’s
services?

Using charts and graphs for analysis

There are various charts that you can use to analyse the data that you have collected.

Example:

The position profile analysis diagram below shows the profile for a non-supervisory
computer programmer using the six knowledge / skill constructs.

The person who fills the position will need
• oral and written communication skills,
• knowledge of the industry,
• knowledge of accounting systems,
• knowledge of and experience using Cobol programming language,
• knowledge of the computers operating system, and
• skills in data base management.

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Once the list of knowledge / skill constructs has been prepared, the next step is to
determine the level of knowledge / skill required for each factor. To do this, envision
each factor on a continuum ranging from zero to some theoretical maximum, with 0
representing no knowledge / skill required and 10 the theoretical maximum.

Another example:
The following is an example of a graph used to showing a Leadership Gap Profile15 of
the management team in the organisation:

• This graph overlays current strengths with the competencies that are
considered important in the future.

• Competencies in the lower right corner quadrant may be "red flags" because
they represent leadership skills that are important for the future but are lacking
strength.

15 From: Center for Creative Leadership

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The following shows a key to interpreting the graph:

Using the analysed data
As we saw previously in the SWOT analysis, you can review the SWOT matrix to create
an action plan that will address each of the four quadrants:

• Strengths need to be maintained, built upon, or leveraged.
• Weaknesses need to be remedied or stopped.
• Opportunities need to be prioritised and optimised.
• Threats need to be countered or minimised.

Identify the gap between the current situation and the short and long term objectives,
based on the data in the SWOT analysis, e.g.:

• Problems or deficits. Are there problems in the organisation which might be
solved by training or other HR activities?

• Impending change. Are there problems which do not currently exist but are
foreseen due to changes, such as new processes and equipment, outside
competition, and/or changes in staffing?

• Opportunities. Could we gain a competitive edge by taking advantage of new
technologies, training programs, consultants or suppliers?

• Strengths. How can we take advantage of our organisational strengths, as
opposed to reacting to our weaknesses? Are there opportunities to apply HR
to these areas?

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• New directions. Could we take a proactive approach, applying HR to move our
organisations to new levels of performance? For example, could team building
and related activities help improve our productivity?

• Mandated training. Are there internal or external forces dictating that training
and/or organisation development will take place? Are there policies or
management decisions which might dictate the implementation of some
program? Are there governmental mandates to which we must comply, e.g.
OHS training?

Remember:

When identifying the gap, you need to ensure that:

• the definition of the gap is consistent with the analysis of the current situation
and objectives. Highlight all objectives found to be un-addressed and describe
them in terms of a need

• the definition of the gap addresses the scope and purpose of the analysis, and
facilitates further planning and decision-making

2.2.4 Identify methods and scenarios for closing the gaps

The previous task should have produced a large list of needs for training and
development, career development, organisation development, and/or other
interventions. Now we must examine these in view of their importance to our
organisational goals, realities, and constraints. We must determine if the identified
needs are real, if they are worth addressing, and specify their importance and urgency
in view of our organisational needs and requirements, e.g.16:

• Cost-effectiveness. How does the cost of the problem compare to the cost of
implementing a solution? In other words, we perform a cost-benefit analysis.

• Legal mandates. Are there laws requiring a solution? (For example, safety or
regulatory compliance.)

• Executive pressure. Does top management expect a solution?

• Population. Are many people or key people involved?

• Customers. What influence is generated by customer specifications and
expectations?

If some of our needs are of relatively low importance, we would do better to devote our
energies to addressing other human performance problems with greater impact and
greater value.

Now that we have prioritised and focused on critical organisational and personal
needs, we will next identify specific problem areas and opportunities in the
organisation. We must know what the performance requirements are, if appropriate
solutions are to be applied. We should ask two questions for every identified need17:

• Are our people doing their jobs effectively?

• Do they know how to do their jobs?

This will require a detailed investigation and analysis of the people, their jobs, and the
organisation - both for the current situation and in preparation for the future.

16 Source: Zemke, Ron and Thomas Kramlinger. Figuring Things Out: A Trainer's Guide to Needs and Task Analysis
17 Source: Margolis, F.H., and Bell, C.R., Understanding Training: Perspectives & Practices

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If people are doing their jobs effectively, then no immediate intervention is needed ("If
it ain't broke, don't fix it"). However, some training and/or other interventions might be
called for if sufficient importance is attached to moving our people and their
performance into new directions.
But if the people ARE NOT doing their jobs effectively:

• Training may be the solution, IF there is a knowledge problem.
• Organisation development activities may provide solutions when the problem

is not based on a lack of knowledge and is primarily associated with systematic
change. These interventions might include strategic planning, organisation
restructuring, performance management and/or effective team building.

Remember:
Use your collected data in proposing HR solutions:

• Use your data to make your points. This avoids confronting management since
your conclusions will follow from your Needs Assessment activities.

• Everybody should share the data collected. It is important to provide feedback
to everyone who was solicited for information. This is necessary if everyone is
to "buy into" any proposed training or organisation development plan.

Developing conclusions
The main findings of your research should be clearly and concisely communicated in
any of the conclusions you draw. Your conclusions must be based on the information
and evidence you have collected. You also need to substantiate any conclusions you
make.
Consider the following example:

A staff questionnaire has identified that 70% of the existing multimedia staff
favour the idea of locating the new ABC Co’s multimedia operations in Cape
Town. One of the staff helping with the research has come to the conclusion
that the survey results show that many of the staff would be prepared to
move to Cape Town to work in the new office.

Is this a valid conclusion?

No = Based on the evidence collected, you cannot automatically assume
that the existing staff would be prepared to move to Cape Town

Developing recommendations
Recommendations are formal suggestions for further action resulting from your
findings. These are not found in all reports, as they are not always appropriate or
needed.
Recommendations should not aim to persuade or convince. Any such discussion you
have will be in the body and conclusion parts of your report. Recommendations should
therefore be easily identified in the report, and be clear and unambiguous in their intent.
Well-written recommendations should:

• relate to the conclusions and evidence in the report
• be directed to a specific person or committee

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• be realistic and achievable

• be time-related, where relevant

• be provided as one task per recommendation

• contribute to the achievement of your workplace objectives

• take into account other contingencies and constraints, such as budget,
industrial matters, confidentiality and privacy issues.

2.2.4.1 Verify recommendations as reasonable, effective and comprehensive
Before you finalise your needs analysis, you need to verify that the recommendations
that you have identified based on the analysis, are:

• Reasonable – Reasonable means the recommendations are within the
resources or reach of the organisation

• Effective – Effective means the recommendations have a basis for proposing
them in that they are supported by precedents, research results or motivations

• Comprehensive - Comprehensive means the recommendations are sufficient
to address all defined needs, as identified in the gap definition.

2.3 Check sources of data for reliability and credibility
Information is considered one of the most valuable commodities of the modern world.
Information is the basis used to improve, create and manage business. You only need
to type your topic or specific question into a search engine on line and receive
thousands of links to the data you are researching. Too easy? Yes, but is it meaningful
information? For starters, you need to filter out advertising, opinion and unrelated
data18. Even after doing that you will still be left with thousands of options. How do you
identify quality and credibility in what you are using as research material?

• Make use of published material. It is incumbent on publishing companies or
intellectual bodies to verify that the information published is vetted against
multiple sources and is correct at the time of publication. This normally takes
the form of printed books or articles. Often a visit to a library may be faster at
understanding a topic than searching online. However, this may be impacted
by the speed at which the publications are being updated and the quality of the
library.

• Check the credentials or history of individuals who publish or write articles. In
an age where opinion is often veiled as fact these individuals are quickly
identified and their work exposed as being incorrect or not verified.

• Understand the rate of publication; certain subjects can evolve at a fast pace,
especially where they refer to new technology and concepts. Always check
release dates and ensure that you are not following an obsolete chain of data.

• Cross reference findings between sources. Checking the same data across
multiple publications or sources will confirm uniformity of information.

• Avoid opinion where quantitative research is required. Rely on facts and cross
check or calculate to verify values, quantities or processes.

18 From: http://library.ucsc.edu/help/research/evaluate-the-quality-and-credibility-of-your-sources

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• Build a database of relevant industry sources, subject matter specialists and
publications. Keep the database updated and add or remove as new data is
identified. Rate the sources in terms of relevance, quality and content volume.

Industry/ Source Rating (1 to 10)
functional topic
Product Internal policies and work Quality Content Relevance
manufacturing instructions in company QMS
system 7 8 10
Labour resources
Nut and bolts magazine 8 59
Marketing 9 98
Production staff 3 89
9 78
Local law and regulations 10 46
sites (Act.ortg/labour) 8 49
8 58
Internal Legal department 9 10 10

Knowyourlabourlaw .com 9 38
website

Internal marketing staff

Competitor websites

Internal QMS policies and
procedure

External affiliated ad agencies
(greenonion.com)

• Retain all research results, conclusions and recommendations for future
reference in like or similar investigations. Make use of the actions and practices
that were initiated as a result of the investigations to better resolve future
research and resolutions.

• Build an index and cross reference catalogue using topics and methodology to
enable fast and reliable access to historical research results and conclusions.

2.4 Record the analysis actions, processes and procedures

Most researchers and analysts would suggest that you record all the actions,
processes and procedures that you used during the gathering and analysis of data, to
facilitate further interpretation and validation of the analysis later on. This also provides
credibility to your needs assessment.

Developing a research action plan

An action plan will help you organise what has to be done, by whom and when. This is
a worthwhile exercise, whether you are working with others or alone, as it will outline
how you intend to proceed with the project.

Usually you take the framework, decide on the tasks that need to be done, add the
names of people who will perform those tasks and work out the timeframe. Tasks may
include:

• identifying research options

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• collecting information
• analysing the information
• listing the findings
• drafting recommendations
• drafting the report
• finalising the report
• presenting the report

Consider the timelines
When addressing the timelines, it's a good idea to start with the date the report is due
and work backwards. You need to be realistic about how long it will take to get things
done. If it is clear that you cannot achieve the job in the time allocated, it is best to
negotiate a new time at this early stage rather than wait until later. If the timeline cannot
be changed, you may have to modify or delete some tasks or stages within the action
plan.
Some of the things that might get in your way that you need to plan around are:

• public holidays and end-of-year breaks
• people being on leave or away from the office for other reasons
• the time it takes to obtain information
• the time it takes to receive permission to use others' material / information
• time for designing and printing your report
• fitting your drafts around set meetings, for example, you may need a draft

approved by a committee that only meets once a month
Consider the research tools
One of the most valuable skills you can bring to the workplace is the ability to find
information. It’s important to remember that you do not always need to know or
remember everything.
There are many tools or strategies you can use to find information.
Think about the different ways you find out about things. These may include:

• asking someone
• going to a library
• searching the internet
• looking through past records.

Consider the constraints
When you are about to embark upon a research project, you need to keep in mind that
you don’t have unlimited resources available. You need to be aware of:

• How much time you have available?
• How much time is warranted for the research project?
• Your level of knowledge and skills

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• The systems and equipment available

• Other priorities

• Budgetary constraints

No matter what work you do, you will always have to deal with conflicting priorities,
which means that you have to plan and manage your resources carefully. You will be
used to meeting deadlines and working within tight schedules.

You’ll also know how stressful it is not to meet deadlines.

There are a lot of issues that can affect getting a job done on time and within budget.
These may include:

• other people not providing you with information on time

• computer breakdown

• fitting around other work priorities

When you are working to deadlines and have limited resources, it is useful to develop
an action plan. An action plan will determine what has to be done and by whom, and
when it needs to be done.

An action plan should specify:

• the research requirements, including sources of information, time, staff, space
and equipment

• details of how the research will be conducted

• specific tasks required, who will do them and when they should be done by.

Tasks to be done By whom Date to be done

2.5 Formulate an argument and define the objectives for a selected
research topic

As mentioned in the introduction we must start with understanding the nature of the
research. Firstly. are you doing a pre-emptive investigation into the profitability or
productivity of your business; i.e. you are looking at identifying or researching an
already identified topic that would improve the turnover or delivery of you company’s
core competencies? Or are you researching or investigating a specific incident,
occurrence or issue that is impacting or reducing your company’s ability to perform; i.e.
you are looking at a short-term fix to correct an issue within the business and also
possibly investigating how best to avoid future recurrence of the situation? Both
scenarios would require different approaches and objectives. When defining
objectives, the following points should be understood and used to define the research
approach: 19

• Objective of the research topic - Current issue or situation vs. future business
strategy? This greatly affects the timing of the research or investigation, where
immediate solutions are needed to prevent loss of income or productivity the

19 From: https://www.business.qld.gov.au/starting-business/planning/market-customer-research/basics/process

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research must be around the available resources and activities needed to
resolve the issue immediately. Future or planned strategic plans would include
possible external resource investigation and analysis with more time to refine
and discuss the solutions. Faulty machinery used in a production line would
need to be repaired or replaced immediately to continue productivity and
income. The solution would be to use existing staff and suppliers to resolve the
issue as fast and cost effectively as possible. This differs in terms of urgency
and resources if a company is to investigate alternative machinery or
production line setup for future productivity improvements. Whilst both
instances would impact the production line one is an immediate solution within
ridged guidelines relating to resources and the other a far wider scope of
guidelines and timings.

• Value add - What is the ultimate impact of the research to the business, does
it save costs, improve turnover, create new income streams or improve
productivity? While research itself may not cost a company money the results
if ending in an implementation of new equipment, resources or procedures
could require capital expenditure. Before and during the research activity the
impact must always be considered of whether the solution being investigated
will never cost more in implementation than the value it will give back to the
business. This factor must be constantly addressed and the research
immediately stopped if the solution does or will not add vale above the expected
implementation costs.

The below questionnaire can be used to define the topics, comparisons and measures
needed prior to embarking on a research project.

Research expectations questionnaire

Question being asked? Expected time of results delivery 25/06/20X7

How can the company leverage off of social media and the internet to improve sales and

market share

Topics to include Assumptions
Social media sites
Sites must be aligned to company
Online sales profile
Catalogue management Web development costs and needs
Product storage and distribution
Company and product exposure

Specific measures or parameters to consider
Market share or number of people
Sales value per month
Advertising penetration as a percentage of exposure
Cost of capital and maintenance for implementation
Potential comparison methods or criteria
Industry and competitor adoption
Marketing and sales methods using web sites
Social media exposure and site types

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As part of understanding the topic it is also imperative that you understand record the
key measures that the business uses to define its performance. Companies rely on
various business models and as such they rate their performance in various ways
based on their chosen industry or commodity, this could include, Profit after tax,
margins, stock turns, turnover etc. Understanding what drives strategic decisions will
also assist you in focusing your research on specific measures that the business can
relate to. Hand in hand with understanding the key performance indicators for a
business we also must understand the demographic and social goals of the company
again to better focus our research range to deliver relevant information. This key
information should be evident in your research questionnaire under the topic and
measures fields.

2.5.1 Record and verify the objectives with stakeholders
Objectives are set by the organisation in order to achieve its vision and/or mission. It
is therefore important to understand the short and long term organisational objectives,
to ensure that you correctly identify the “gap” in the following step, where the gap is
the difference between the current and the necessary situations will identify our needs,
purposes, and objectives.
The identified objectives need to be recorded so that it can be verified with the
stakeholders as being valid, current and complete. If the identified objectives are
recorded it would then facilitate further interpretation by the stakeholders.
It is suggested that you include key decision-makers and strategists in this verification
process.

Class Activity 3: Investigate a business issue
Please follow the instructions from the facilitator to complete the
formative activity in your Learner Workbook

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Module 3
Analyse data to investigate a business issue

After completing this module, the learner will be able to analyse data to investigate a
business issue, by successfully completing the following:
• Compare data and make key assumptions about any anomalies in the data
• Identify key insights to aid interpretation by grouping data into logical categories
• Summarise key insights in relation to the objectives of the research
• Formulate conclusions and recommendations based on the findings of the

research

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Analyse data to investigate a business issue

Collecting data is meaningless unless the data can be used
to determine actions that improve or resolve the issue at
hand. Often facts can get lost under mountains of irrelevant
data. However, if the approach and topic understanding
were correct and often checked for relevance, it should be
easy to now move to the next step:

• Making sense and distilling the data into meaningful
information that can be used to make decisions
effectively to resolve or implement situations
impacting a business.

• Summarising the facts into meaningful categories to show the current situation,
expected situation and actions needed to move between the two.

Always keep the topic focused on the following points:

• A clear description of what was investigated, how it was investigated and
why it was investigated - Include the reason the investigation was initiated as
well as the activity or source that prompted the investigation. What was the
measure that highlighted the need for intervention? This normally would include
a reduction or spike in productivity, customer feedback or values either
monetary or time. Where an investigation is prompted by the need for growth
or industry trends and not by an issue or situation, it must be clearly explained
what the perceived benefit would be as well as a clear breakdown of the initial
request parameters.

• Tangible findings or results - These must clearly reflect the values, timings
or quantities identified and verified as a result of the investigation. Proof must
exist to verify the data presented, either in the form of records or testimonials
within the area being researched. When investigating industry trends or
technology use case studies as a reference to actual performance.

• Focus on exceptions - An investigation should be geared to explain and
correct issues that are out of alignment or highlighted within a specific area or
industry. Where possible focus on these exceptions but use correct or normal
examples to highlight the disparity between them.

• External impacts must be shown and explained - If an external body, agency
or situation has had a negative impact on the business then it must be clearly
understood. In many cases such as labour unrest or legislation it is impossible
to change the impact and the solution would be to alter an internal activity to
mitigate the situation. Other external impacts can be reduced or eliminated,
such as changing suppliers or initiating legal or regulatory action against the
external impact source.

• Timing of incident or issue - Placing the issue under investigation into a time
context can go a long way in determining the results. Comparison of
performance against other times or periods that the same activity was carried
out or where similar issues occurred can be effective in explaining why issues
arise. Comparing sales performance for example between December and
February would not be accurate as December is normally far more profitable in
sales.

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3.1 Compare data and make key assumptions about any anomalies in the
data
Comparison of data implies that the data being compared is of the same type and
composition but of varying times, locations or situations. Based on the volume of data
it is often necessary to use electronic solutions such as spreadsheets or databases to
correctly compare and highlight variances. Averaging or normalising data also assists
in making correct comparisons. Comparing product sales performance using sales
value may be inconclusive when comparing between two dates. However, when
calculating the sales as a contribution percentage to the whole business or its sales
margin may be more effective in highlighting any exceptions.
The use of technologies such as databases and spreadsheets and their ability to
manipulate large volumes of information in a fast and effective manner is critical when
researching and comparing information. The use of formulas and calculations will
enable the researcher to correctly define and compare data and translate this into
meaningful information. In most business the data is generated in an electronic format
and transferred to a central location for analysis and storage. The methods used for
storage and the technology available to house this data are of primary importance
when retrieving and analysing the performance of a business. When developing or
designing a storage method it must be taken into consideration that data can be
defined into two categories

• Factual information - data that is generated from actual transactions such as
sales, movements or production. This would include any value or quantity that
is recorded in the day to day transactions of a business.

• Dimensional information - this represents the characteristics of factual
information and is normally of a static or unchanging nature. If sales value is
factual data it has a number of characteristics that define its position or location
such as date, time, branch, tax rate, product description and stock code. Any
one of these characteristics can be used to categorise a set of factual values
for specific analysis.

Keeping factual or transactional data limited to a value, product or action code, location
code and a date will allow for easy movement of data between sources and to a central
location. Once the transactional data is centralised it can be married to the dimensional
data to obtain further analytical and comparative information.

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The diagram below shows how four pieces of information can be used for comparison
or categorisation at a central point by using dimensional data linked on dates and
codes. Just using the location code we can bring in all transactions and do a
comparison by town, province or country on the quantities sold and further improve the
comparative value by the use of dates across specific financial months or seasons.

Transact data at a Transact data at a Code
store or branch central data store Store Name
Town
Qty Qty Province
Location Code Location Code Country
Product Code Product Code
Date Date Arial
Supplier
Date Price
Day name Department
Fin Month Season
Fin Year
Quarter
Season

Once we have the data needed to analyse we must make use of additional calculations
and formulas to correctly make decisions based on our results. Using calculations or
formulas we can further normalise the data into meaningful and comparable data sets.

The use of contribution calculations can normally assist in determining the impact or
validity of a value in context with what it means to a business. Many of the key

performance values that companies use are not specifically transactional data but are
values that have been transformed or calculated into a meaningful indicator of a
business’s value.

Many companies use a calculated sales value to determine performance such as
return on inventory investment (ROII). This is a calculated value (investment revenue

- investment cost)/ investment cost. The result will give a percentage return on a
company’s investment and expenditure.

In the table below we see the difference in value, contribution and margin. The sales
of product X do fluctuate significantly, however the impact on contribution and margin
is marginal. Only using a part of the below information would not effectively highlight
any variances.

Nov-X6 Dec-X6 Jan-X7 Feb-X7 Mar-X7

Product X Sales 5 400.00 6 300.00 4 200.00 4 900.00 3 400.00

Product X Sales 2.3% 2.5% 2.1% 2.6% 2.0%
contribution to
Total Sales

Total Sales 234 534 256 723 197 654 187 546 170 972

Product X 32% 31% 34% 32% 32%
Margin

Total Margin 33% 33% 33% 33% 33%

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Let’s take the performance of product X and add more comparable data to define its
performance. By adding the previous year’s information as well as the number of stores
we have increased or comparison and at the same time the value of our information.

Note that once again even though sales value for X fluctuates its relevance and
performance when compared to a previous period and month on month is not
significant.

X Sales current FY 20X7 November December January February March
X Sales current FY 20X6 5 400.00 6 300.00 4 200.00 4 900.00 3 400.00
X contribution FY 20X6 4 200.00 5 320.00 2 800.00 3 100.00 2 900.00
X contribution FY 20X6 2.3% 2.5%
Total Sales FY 20X7 2.2% 2.5% 2.1% 2.6% 2.0%
Total Sales FY 20X6 234 534 256 723 1.8% 2.3% 2.3%
Product X Margin FY 20X7 192 365 215 641 197 654 187 546 170 972
Product X Margin FY 20X6 32% 31% 152 341 132 541 125 419
Total Margin FY 20X7 35% 36% 34% 32% 32%
Total Margin 33% 33% 35% 34% 34%
Number of stores FY 20X7 32% 32% 33% 33% 33%
Number of stores FY 20X6 12 12 32% 32% 32%
8 8
13 13 14
8 9 10

By using broad parameters of the same data and applying calculations we can highlight
or down play perceived issues. An added advantage of comparison is that additional
analysis often exposes other issues unknown before. Let’s say that the above table
shows the results for a question relating to the sales fluctuation of product X. The
answer is that there is a fluctuation in turnover.

However in business terms product X is performing as well as always without any
significant drop in contribution or margin. By taking the above table one step further
we can identify another issue impacting performance. By calculating the average sales

per number of stores we see that although the number of stores has increased by
between 40 and 62 percent the sales per store has reduced. This implies that effective

use of store space or sales area is deficient year on year. This then highlights that
sales should have increased due to exposure but did not.

Number of stores FY November December January February March
20X7 12 12 13 13 14
Number of stores FY
20X6 88 89 10
Percentage increase in
stores 50.00% 50.00% 62.50% 44.44% 40.00%
19 544.50 21 393.58 15 204.15 14 426.62 12 212.29
Avg return per store 20X7 24 045.63 26 955.13 19 042.63 14 726.78 12 541.90

Avg return per store 20X6 -18.72% -20.63% -20.16% -2.04% -2.63%
Variance on return total
sales

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3.2 Identify key insights to aid interpretation by grouping data into logical
categories
Categorising data enables one to correctly report on the data in the correct context as
well as reduce the incorrect interpretation of the information being presented or
analysed.
Depending on the data type and the environment or function that it was sourced from,
we need to determine how best to categorise the information we have researched.
Data of a qualitative nature without specific values or quantities will need to be refined
into feedback categories. An example of this would be if a particular product is
presented to a cross section of consumers to determine customer interest in the
product. The research takes the form of a personal survey carried out at multiple
locations across the entire country. Once completed the information is ready to be
categorised. In this instance the categorisation would best fit into a matrix and the
responses distilled into a yes or no result.

69

Using a spread sheet the results can be presented by the applicable ca
as a comparison non-targeted demographic.

Product X customer feedback results

Target Demograp
(Middle income fem

Age 18 to 25 Age 26 to 35

Is the product inspirational? Yes No Yes No
Is the packaging attractive? 241 45 74 145
Is the pricing correct? 265 21
Would you purchase product X with 231 55 205 14
monthly shopping? 190 29
Would you only buy it as a luxury item?
Are the variants enough? 236 50 189 30
224 62 26 193

87 199 102 117

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Module 3

ategories relevant to the products target demographic population as well

(Only completed questionnaires)

phic Target Demographic
male) (Lower income female)

Age 36 Age 18 to 25 Age 26 to 35 Age 36
upwards upwards

Yes No Yes No Yes No Yes No
5 45 321 44 95 52 65 68 76
4 341 34 63 54 95 49
9 334 25 90 105 98 19 29
32 49 115

0 203 163 85 54 23 94 102 42
3 168 198 23 116
7 113 253 62 77 12 105 10 134

58 59 86 58

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Module 3

While this data can be classified as qualitative the results can be measured into yes or
no and these collated into the categories.
Categorising data into like criteria makes comparison and identification easier.
Categories should where possible be defined before the investigation commences to
reduce the chance of research missing the defined scope. When categorising, try to
keep your data type consistent i.e. value, time or quantity. The data should then be
categorised into meaningful groups that best describe attributes of the data-

• Time or period

• Location

• Activities or procedural positions

• People or skills

• Demographics

• Gender

The list can grow based on your product or service and the industry or market in which
it operates. Categories can also depend on the initial request and the questions or
suppositions made by the person requesting the investigation. The faster you can
categorise your information the more effective your research efforts will be.

3.3 Summarise key insights in relation to the objectives of the research
From the very start where objectives are set to investigate a specific issue or situation
we start refining and focusing on key topics, sources and outcomes. Either we are
given specific goals or ideas that must be reported on or through the process of
investigating these objectives become more apparent. As each subject is investigated
we can formulate certain insights into the subject, its importance and its characteristics
that define how or why the topic would be of importance to our net results.
If you are investigating popular opinion to ascertain the relative popularity of a political
party it would become apparent that a number of key characteristics define a political
standpoint and as such the strength or weakness of these characteristics would define
its popularity. No political party can successfully garnish a following without clear
policies relating to the environment within which they operate. They need to define their
stand on humanity, economy, social justice or equality. These standpoints and how well
the party emphasises them will determine their popularity and share of the peoples’
vote. The same can be defined for a product. Pricing, quality and marketing strategies
are all key in determining the product’s saleability. When defining how or why a
particular subject or objective is relative to the questions being asked of it, we must
summaries the key characteristics that define the objective to allow us to better
understand its relevance and position. When using comparison to evaluate
performance or opinion it is these key insights that can be used to measure results
between like objectives. The same key traits for a jar of peanut butter such as taste,
packaging, price and availability can be applied to most other food types and this
means that we can use the same principles in determining their performance relative
to reach other.

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3.4 Formulate conclusions and recommendations based on the findings
of the research

By combining all that we have researched on a particular topic and having identified
the key characteristics that define its efficiencies we can then compare it either to
similar or aligned objectives or against itself in various scenarios. The comparison will
give you a clear indication of whether the objective or subject is aligned in performance
or not. Where these variations are most apparent should be where conclusions are
defined and recommendations formed.

In many instances we can correctly identify deviations based on the comparison of
results between what is confirmed as correct or consistent and the topic or objective
of our investigations. This would be easily identified where specific results within a
business are being queried such as a drop in production or a decline in product sales
and performance. You can use examples of the same data type and compare them
between dates, locations or conditions to find the variance. However, with research of
a broader nature where alternative sources of income or new technology are being
investigated it would require a comparison of current situation against the new or
supposed situation.

Having collected the data at hand and compared it in various scenarios it should now
be apparent as to where the variance is greatest and at which location or activity the
variance occurs. The next step is to do a comparison of the scenario parameters and
identify any variations between them. As an example of this let’s look at the results
from the previous research examples

Product X - the situation called for an understanding of the sales value fluctuations
from month to month on product X. The measure type was sales value. By applying
various scenarios to the sales value based on contribution to total sales and margin,
we were able to normalise or average the values to show that there was in fact no real
fluctuation when comparing sales across sales period or margin. What was however
apparent (and not necessarily part of the original objective), was that sales there should
have been an increase in sales due to the company opening mores stores. In this case,
the conclusion would be that sales are consistent in both contribution and margin but
sales should have increased based on consumer exposure. The issue identified can
be isolated to the physical locations and this creates the opportunity to recommend the
following actions

• Stock levels may need to be increased to give better exposure across stores

• Specific stores may need to be identified for improvement either through
merchandising or stock replenishment activities

Product X customer feedback - this investigation called for an opinion gathering
exercise where female consumers from a cross section of the population were asked
to give yes or no answers to a small range of questions around product X. Based on
the response of the various groups the company can now:

• Focus their marketing activities to cater for the segment most positive about
the product

• Change the product to suite the segment that they deem as their ideal customer
segment

• Work at a variation of both options above to satisfy multiple segments

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Module 3

Class Activity 4: Analyse data to investigate a business issue
Please follow the instructions from the facilitator to complete the
formative activity in your Learner Workbook

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Module 4

Module 4
Present a well-structured argument on a

business issue

After completing this module, the learner will be able to present a well-structured
argument on a business issue, by successfully completing the following:
• Highlight trends and implications from data
• Present recommendations in a well-structured report
• Generate a competitive advantage by mapping new innovative knowledge from the

research
• Create a report

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Module 4

Present a well-structured argument on a business issue

The first and foremost consideration in presenting20 or
arguing a position relating to business is that it be
financially relevant. Because business exists to generate
financial income it is pointless in presenting any
argument unless it can be quantified in terms of profit or
loss.

Even investigations that do not involve financial
measures can in most cases be connected to the
financial wellbeing of a business. Take for example an investigation into increased
conflict within the workplace. Getting angry or upset with other team members cannot
be defined into a monetary value. However, the impact of aggression or depression
can result in poor performance or mistakes that can be measured in loss of income or
damage to property. By adding a value to your results the business will be quicker to
agree and action any recommendations made by your feedback.

Always have objective evidence to support your findings and ensure that any
conclusions or recommendations follow the same parameters as the facts being
presented. If you are presenting a case study for improving market share using social
media or internet based sales, make sure that the case study has relevance to your
own business in terms of its market segment, product type and sales structure.

Be prepared to present or confirm the process of moving from current situation to the
new proposed situation. Include costs and always have the facts that would show that
the benefit of change outweighs the cost of implementation. Of course, this assumes
that what you are presenting is in some way linked to improving a current situation.
There will of course be scenarios where you are presenting an argument to not change
and in this case the facts are just as important.

If the research is of a more qualitative nature try where possible to attach values to
your argument or results. Opinion does not have a value and can be interpreted into
multiple responses. However, if these responses are categorised we can still determine
their value. When preparing for your presentation define the questioning or reactions
into confirmed categories and record your findings along these categories.

Presentation skills

Prepare verbal presentations21 into a fixed flow and control the flow throughout the
presentation by upfront outlining the agenda for the meeting. Ensure that any
supporting information such as figures or results is available, either as handouts or
slides or both. You are presenting fixed results and arguments and must be able to
refer to the values throughout your presentation. Again, focus your reported data on
exceptions or variances that define or explain your findings. Presenting too much data
will create confusion and raise non-relevant questions. A typical agenda should follow
the below path

• Opening - welcome all and thank participants for their time and interest.
Introduce participants if they are not already acquainted and explain the
relevance of the participants if necessary. It is often wise to include individuals
who have participated in the investigation as they are often subject matter
experts and can assist in explaining or defining research topics or conclusions.

20 From: http://www.iptv.org/exploremore/PDFs/PresentanArgument.pdf
21 From: https://www.skillsyouneed.com/present/presentation-tips.html

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• Agenda - explain the agenda, state that there will be time for questions once
you are finished with the presentation and asked that cell phones and laptops
be switched off. If you feel in any way intimidated by the audience seniority ask
a manager to open the presentation and go over the agenda with this person
prior to the presentation. They can then introduce you and give a short
introduction on why you were selected to do the research and presentation
before handing over to you.

• Introduction - explain the topic and background of why the investigation was
launched. Define the expectations and their relevance to the business as well
as the parameters and measurements used in planning the investigation.

• Methodology - describe the approach and methods used in data gathering and
explain briefly how measures were derived from source research topics or
observations. If necessary describe how information was normalised or
categorised and how values were defined (especially when reporting on
qualitative results). Explain time periods and sampling methods as well as the
comparative process used in defining normal or control values versus
researched values or situational values.

• Results - refer to handouts or slides as often as possible here. Focus on
exceptions or anomalies that highlight the findings or research assumptions.
Make use of comparative data to explain exceptions, anomalies or performance
areas. If in the case of a research or development topic explain the industry or
product findings in a relevant and like for like basis against understood
company methodology or products. If costs are applicable ensure that they are
always presented in relation to the benefit of the cost incurred whether positive
or negative. Gauge your audience for understanding and interest throughout
the presentation.

• Conclusions and recommendations of research results - this can often be
incorporated into the presentation of results and can in some cases be left to
the audience to define (dependant on the original brief or intent). Conclusions
presented during the presentation must be supported by handouts of
supporting documents or slides. Steer clear of subjective opinions not
supported by investigation results. Go for interest by presenting
recommendations in the form of scenarios or case studies. Where appropriate
provide costs and timeframes for implementation of recommendations.

• Conclusion and questions - summarise the results in context to the original
brief and give an outline of the recommendations and actions defined either
through audience input or agreed on prior to the presentation. Keep audience
focussed on agenda points throughout the questioning session and do not
allow excessive overrun in time allowed for the presentation.

The above agenda follows a very controlled and specific flow and is often best in
presenting company issues or obstacles. When presenting new opportunities or
business growth investigations you may want to follow a more relaxed informal
approach where people are encouraged to give input and challenge findings.
Whichever method best suits your research topics or company environment keep a
few key points in mind:

• Always present verified and confirmed information and values.

• Only answer questions relating to the topic and results being presented.

• Don’t be scared to not have an answer and rather note the question and
research the answer later. Remember to get back with the answer to the person
that asked the question at the presentation.

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• You are presenting facts and should be confident in the methodology used in
determining those facts. If you are hesitant or unsure as to the facts then you
have not convinced yourself of your research methodology or approach and
should perhaps postpone the presentation.

• Understand your audience and their methods. If this is not possible ensure that
you have support in the form of a subject matter specialist or a senior manager.

• Do not let the presentation be the first time the audience is presented with the
results. Engage individuals with questions or requests for recommendations
throughout the research activity. This way you will have allies within the
audience when presenting findings, conclusions and recommendations.

Best practices to report an organisational needs analysis

The pursuit of best practice is the pursuit of excellence. So how can you tell what
constitutes best practice? To identify best practice within an organisation, you could
seek out a similar organisation with a reputation for excellence and compare your
organisation’s results with theirs.

This is known as benchmarking. It uses a series of measurements to rank the quality
of performance, set targets and place a value on results. After all, what gets measured
can be managed.

Once you have selected a process to benchmark, you will need to:

• decide on the scope of your test

• choose relevant measurements

• study best practices that will boost performance

• judge how appropriate the practices are to your organisation

• identify cultural differences that might result in performance difference between
your organisation and the benchmark organisation

• plan and implement changes

• measure results.

Best practice leads to best performance and the opportunity to gain strategic,
operational and financial advantage. But in benchmarking your processes, be careful
of simply choosing an organisation that has few disputes. This may be the result of
accommodating too many demands that don’t comply with the organisation’s policies
or procedures. Instead, you might look at performance appraisal results, technological
efficiencies, staff turnover, number of individual employment contracts signed or
surplus staff employed.

Additional information, which may be used to compare your procedures to those of
other organisations, can be gathered through published case studies, industry award
ceremonies and general intelligence gathering.

4.1 Highlight trends and implications from data

Having already discussed the importance of comparison and categorisation we need
to understand the use of them in defining trends22 and implications in the data we have
gathered. A trend defines the consistent behaviour of a measure over a period of time.
The longer the period being researched the more stable the trend behaviour will be.

22 From: https://www.business.qld.gov.au/running-business/growing-business/trend-analysis/analysing-trends

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The implications derived from understanding a specific trend will result in a positive or
negative activity to change or maintain the trend. Ultimately these implications will
result in the recommendations and actions needed at the end of an investigation.

Looking at data in an isolated or limited context will not allow us to define its importance
or performance. We must compare the data to like data and the same data across
multiple time periods or scenarios. Let’s look at the previous examples of product X.

When investigating the sales value fluctuation between months we could certainly see
the disparity in sales performance between months. This however is an isolated data
set and more context is needed to understand any issues.

X Sales current FY November December January February March Total
20X7
5 400.00 6 300.00 4 200.00 4 900.00 3 400.00 24 200
Contribution 22% 26% 17% 20% 14% 100%

Let’s add a comparison data set with the same value type but over a historical period.

Now suddenly we can determine that the variance is nothing new and we can start to
define a trend, the same variations seem to have repeated in the same months in the
previous year.

November December January February March Total

X Sales current FY 5 400.00 6 300.00 4 200.00 4 900.00 3 400.00 24 200
20X7
22% 26% 17% 20% 14% 100%
Contribution
X Sales current FY 4 200.00 5 320.00 2 800.00 3 100.00 2 900.00 18 320
20X6
23% 29% 15% 17% 16% 100%
Contribution

Let’s simplify this view by converting the data to a graph. We can now see a visual
representation of the data set and clearly understand that there is a definite correlation
between years regarding sales contribution and months.

Sales contribution from Nov to March- year on Year

35%

30%

25%

20%

15%

10%

5%

0% December January February March
November

Contribution 2017 Contribution 2016

The identified trend indicates that sales are consistently lower in January and March.
Based on this the investigation can now concentrate on the highlighted exceptions.

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We can now ask specific questions relating to the data identified:

• Do customers spend less after the Christmas rush?

• Are product X’s stock levels perhaps depleted after December sales?

• Is the slight improvement in February indicative of people not having funds in
January but why then the drop in March?

The above questions will all lead to additional research activities and would again
compare data between the two years. Perhaps stock availabilities or levels play a part
or consumer shopping patterns.
The implication of these trends and results is that the company may need to change
stock policies or marketing strategies or perhaps accept the results and focus on other
areas to improve profitability. Bear in mind that when identifying trends, it is always
best to have as long a period as possible to give consistent results.

4.2 Present recommendations in a well-structured report
Written reports23 can often miss or lose their intended goal if they do not present a well-
defined response to the question or task they are reporting on. It is as important as in
any other form of communication to keep the reader’s attention and focus on the topic
and issue at hand. Again, remember to concentrate on the value or impact of the issue
being reported and to ensure that the measures used are relevant to the key indicators
of the business. Concentrate the report around the exceptions or anomalies that
highlight your findings and recommendations. Make use of graphs, tables and
diagrams to simplify the findings and make use of an appendix for all substantiating
and contextual details.

4.2.1 Write a research report
As with verbal presentations your documented report must cover the following points

• Introduction - explain the topic and background of why the investigation was
initiated. Define the expectations and their relevance to the business as well as
the parameters and measurements used in outlining the results.

• Methodology and approach - describe the research methodology and source
of data as well as the evolution of topics covered within the research period.
Define the measures and scenarios used in comparison and the manipulation
of data into normalised or averaged results.

• Results - present the resulting data gathered in a clear and understandable
format, use graphs and tables to highlight exceptions or anomalies within the
data collected (it is advisable to include details and values as an attachment
should the data be needed for context). Make use of comparative data to
explain exceptions, anomalies or performance areas and ensure that the
comparative data is in some way distinct from the queried data set. When
presenting theoretical situations make use of attached relevant case studies or
literature to substantiate the scenarios. Qualitative results are often more easily
relayed using written reports rather than values or numbers. However, bear in

23 From: https://www.skillsyouneed.com/write/report-writing.html

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Module 4

mind that correctly categorised or defined data can be presented as a graph or
table and will be easier in relaying your findings.

• Conclusions and recommendations - should again be presented in a concise
and clear method highlighting the impact in cost or productivity as well as the
cost or resource needs to correct, maintain or initiate recommendations. Where
necessary show a gap analysis with current scenario versus recommended
scenario and include quantitative values, resource requirements and timings.

The gap analysis below shows the adoption recommendation for the company wanting
to use social media and internet sales to improve market share

Gap analysis based on introduction of internet sales and social media exposure:

Advertising Current Proposed situation Initial cost Maintenance
methods situation 20000 capital cost
Print media, expenditure for
Advertising Print media, enhanced web page web development R800 Monthly
coverage web page with catalogue and (R18 000) and for domain and
Advertising sales functionality, social media comms
success as a 30 000 social media setup (R2 000)
percentage people R7 000 (salary
of product 800 000 people Set up dispatch based on
take up 3% process in industry norm)
Turnover 5% (increase warehouse
(monthly) R540,000 predicted du to ease R15 000 Courier fees
of ordering online. based on a
Staffing 3 employees 24% increase
requirements R670,000 in sales
On shop floor R12 000
Stock supplied by 4 Employees monthly
management warehouse on (additional person
replenishment will be needed to
Stock method manage online
insurance Covered by catalogue and
current social media sites)
delivery agent Stock held at
existing warehouse,
additional
distribution needed
in form of courier to
deliver internet
orders.

Covered by courier
included in fees.

Using the gap analysis and then describing the activities within the table will be an
effective way in presenting results and recommendations. Remember to keep this and
other documents used to define context, costs or findings within the appendix of the
report.

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Module 4

4.3 Generate a competitive advantage by mapping new innovative
knowledge from the research

Often when researching a specific objective, we inadvertently stumble onto additional
or unrelated topics that could pose future opportunities or risks to your business. These
should never be ignored and while they may not have relevance to the objective at
hand they should be referenced for further investigation.

When looking at the mind map we used for the investigation of the web based sales
initiative, we can identify many topics that were not originally considered or do not
impact directly on the results or investigation at hand. These, however, could offer
opportunities if followed up in a separate investigation.

Security Customer Catalogue Inventory
administration administration management
Orders and password
Delivery
Marketing accounts Details
methods
Web
Page

Links from
other sites

Credit Payment
management methods

An effective side effect in the above investigation could be the “links from other sites”.
This could result in a significant increase in product and company exposure. Or it could
be a potential a threat if affiliated sites are not in line with company social policy.

The creation of an online customer profile could be used to improve direct marketing
facilities or even progress to include a loyalty program aimed at increasing customer
engagement.

Cultivate a method of research that through comparison and topic relationships is
always looking for risks and opportunities to assist the business performance.

Make use of internal resources such as staff with specific skills or experience and build
a culture that discusses and challenges current standards with innovative and positive
ideas.

When starting a research project create a focus group of individuals (time permitting)
from the many layers within the business to use as a source of information and a
sounding board to discuss new methodology or ideas.

Work research into the DNA of a business by improving the quality and content of your
research projects.

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Module 4

4.4 Create a report
The fourth step in conducting a needs analysis and research into a business issue is
to produce a written report of the results.

You need to:
• Create a report:
o Ensure that the report meets the organisational format specifications.
Use graphics and tables where appropriate to improve the quality and
ease of the communication
o Ensure that the language medium adheres to organisational language
policy. The grammar and syntax conform to international norms
o Ensure that the content accurately reflects the analysis, the objectives
and the recommendations
o Use support documentation, when necessary, which enhances the
potential of understanding the report
o Acknowledge sources according to organisational format policy
o Complete the report within agreed time frames

The report would be a summary of the needs analysis / research that you have
completed. It could be in the form of:

• A report
• A research paper
• A presentation
• A report back
When creating the report, you need to ensure that the following 6 criteria are met:
1. the report meets the organisational format specifications. Use graphics and

tables where appropriate to improve the quality and ease of the communication
2. the language medium adheres to organisational language policy. The grammar

and syntax conform to international norms
3. the content accurately reflects the analysis, the objectives and the

recommendations
4. support documentation is used, when necessary, which enhances the potential

of understanding the report
5. sources are acknowledged according to organisational format policy
6. the report is completed within the agreed time frames

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Please see additional information in the Appendix containing Report writing
guidelines for more specific guidelines about how to create the report.

Using appropriate computer skills
When creating the report, it is important to create a
professional document. You need to have appropriate
computer skills in order to create a professional document.
The teaching and learning of appropriate computer skills such
as word-processing skills, is outside the scope of this learning
programme.
Remember:
Take opportunities in your workplace to enhance your computer skills.

Class Activity 5: Present a well-structured argument on a business
issue
Please follow the instructions from the facilitator to complete the
formative activity in your Learner Workbook

Reflection
Individually, complete the formative activity in your Learner Workbook

Facilitator Observation Checklist
The facilitator will provide you with feedback about your participation
during the class activities in your Learner Workbook

83

Summative Assessment Guidelines

Summative Assessment

You are required to complete a number of summative assessment activities in your
Learner Portfolio of Evidence Guide. The Learner Portfolio of Evidence Guide will
guide you as to what you are required to do:

• Complete all the required administration documents and submit all the required
documentation, such as a certified copy of your ID, a copy of your CV and
relevant certificates of achievement:
• Learner personal information form
• Pre-assessment preparation sheet
• Assessment plan document
• Declaration of authenticity form
• Appeals procedure declaration form

• Place your complete Learner Workbook (with the completed Class Activities) in
the specified place in the Learner Portfolio of Evidence Guide.

• Complete the summative assessment activities in your workplace:

Knowledge Questions
Individually, complete this summative activity in your Learner Portfolio of
Evidence Guide

Practical Activities
Individually, complete this summative activity in your Learner Portfolio of
Evidence Guide

Witness Testimony
Individually, complete this summative activity in your Learner Portfolio of
Evidence Guide

Logbook
Individually, complete this summative activity in your Learner Portfolio of
Evidence Guide

Once you have completed all the summative activities in your Learner Portfolio of
Evidence Guide, complete the Assessment Activities Checklist to ensure that you have
submitted all the required evidence for your portfolio, before submitting your portfolio
for assessment.

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Appendix

Appendix A:

Research Introduction

Research is about collecting information that tells us about something and it helps us
make informed decisions. We do this every day, whether it’s reading a newspaper or
listening to the radio. Perhaps we want to know what political party to vote for, and
want to find out more about it, or we need to phone a company to find out more about
a job vacancy. Perhaps we’re enquiring about a school, or the best price for buying a
new computer. Most of these processes involve research at some level. In fact, some
people might argue that merely observing what is going on around us is a form of
research – a way of gathering data or information which we then organise in a coherent
way, so that we can act.

Of course what we call research (as in ’basic research methods’) is a more formal way
of going about asking questions. We usually begin with something very specific we
want to know. Then we ask the question or questions in a structured way. This structure
is called a methodology. In research, there are a lot of different kinds of methodologies,
and some of them can be very complicated. However, there are some basic ones that
have been tried and tested, and which can be easily learned.

There are many different kinds of research, e.g.:

• Market research is learning about business markets so that investment or
business decisions can be made. The kinds of questions that get asked here
include: Who are the potential customers? What do the customers need? Who
are the competitors? And what is the market environment?

• Economic research has its own way of going about things. For instance, it
may involve specially constructed formulas and equations that facilitate an
understanding of the economic environment. It may ask questions such as: Are
the economic fundamentals in place? What are the economic trends in the
manufacturing or mining sectors? Of course, some of the questions economic
research asks may be similar to those market research asks.

• Scientific research may involve a whole range of sophisticated and specialist
research instruments, such as mathematical or chemical formulas and very
specialised methodologies.

• Media research will involve looking at issues such as media content and
audience. Its own kind of specific instruments – such as ways of measuring
audience preferences and its spending power – have been developed for this.

• Social research is quite a broad term and may involve different kinds of
research: from gathering information on the population (demographics) to the
attitudes and behaviours of people in a community or country.

Although many of these different kinds of research have developed methodologies that
are specific to their particular discipline, there are basic research methods that are
common to most.

The types of basic research methodologies that you could use include:

• Quantitative research

• Qualitative research

• Participatory research

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In using these research methodologies you could then:

• Conduct surveys

• Conduct interviews

• Conduct focus groups

• Develop case studies

Each of these techniques helps you find out different things in different ways. They can
be used on their own, or in a variety of combinations. You may even want to use
elements of each to make up your own way of going about research. But first it is
important to try to understand what each technique entails.

Quantitative research
Quantitative research (the word ‘quantitative’ comes from the word ‘quantity’) involves
information or data in the form of numbers. This allows us to measure or to quantify a
whole range of things. For example: the number of people who live below the poverty
line; the number of children between specific ages who attend school; the average
spending power in a community; or the number of adults who have access to
computers in a village or town.

Doing a survey
A common way of conducting quantitative research is using a survey. Surveys usually
involve filling in a questionnaire. The usefulness of a survey is that the information you
get is standardised because each respondent – the person who fills out the
questionnaire – is answering the exact same questions. Once you have enough
responses to your questionnaire, you can then put the data together and analyse it in
a way that answers your research question – or what it is you want to know.

It is important to realise that quantitative research does not necessarily mean that
respondents will give numbers for their answers to your questions. Sometimes they
may answer a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ question, as in: ’Do you have a computer?’ Sometimes they
might write down an answer, a word, a sentence, or a paragraph to describe
something, as in answers to: ’What is the brand or make of your computer?’ and
’Please describe in detail what you use your computer for.’ Other answers may involve
numbers, as in: ’How many computers do you have in your business or organisation?’

How these varied responses become numbers is in the way they are analysed. From
the example questions above, one might be able to say: 20 out of the 30 (66%)
respondents use a particular brand of computer, while 5 (16%) use another. The
remaining five respondents all used different brands of computers which you would list.
You might then want to provide some examples of how the computers are used.

There are, of course, many different kinds of quantitative research besides the survey.
Observational research involves watching or observing various behaviours and
patterns.24 Perhaps you want to find out how many cars of a particular make use a
specific intersection. To do this you might stand at the intersection at a particular time
of day, and record the makes of cars. Perhaps you want to monitor the number of
people entering a particular shop at specific times of the day, recording their
behaviours, and whether or not they buy anything or are just browsing.

24 Observation can also be used effectively for qualitative research.

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More complicated forms of quantitative research are experimental research or
mathematical modelling research.25 (See the glossary for their definitions.)

Media research may use a form of quantitative research to understand the number of
articles published in a range of newspapers on a particular topic. These articles are
then analysed according to various monitoring criteria, such as the specific focus of
the article, the author, the date of publication, page number, the column length and
even the headline. From this, you can make analyses such as: ’Of all the commercial
newspapers in Nigeria, 25% of them carried stories on HIV/AIDS during January and
February 2004.’ You may want to add that most of these were written by five journalists,
or that none of them appeared on the front page of the newspaper during this period.

With all kinds of research, it is important to be as specific as possible, and to explain
your assumptions. Remember, your research results might not tell you everything but
they will be valuable for what they do reveal. In the example of the media research, we
might be able to conclude that HIV/AIDS didn’t feature prominently in the commercial
media during the monitored period. We might want to find out the reasons for this and
decide to interview the newspaper editors. By doing this, we would be doing some
qualitative research.

Surveys can be conducted in a number of ways. The most important thing is to think
clearly through the kind of questions you want to ask, and to make sure that the
responses will answer your research question. When you get your responses, you
need to be sure of exactly what they are (and aren’t) telling you.

Here’s a real example of how the answers to surveys need to be treated
carefully26:

Recent research by the Human Sciences Research Council in South Africa has
shown that more than three-quarters of South Africans are opposed to same-sex
marriages and abortion, and that a similar number support the death penalty.

In response to the question ‘Do you think it is wrong or not wrong for two adults
of the same sex to have sexual relations?’ the research found that 78% of
respondents said it is always wrong for two adults of the same sex to have sexual
relations. However, as the researchers pointed out, the answer only reflects an
attitude, but does not necessarily mean that the respondents will act on their
attitudes.

Besides being very careful about the kinds of questions we ask, and what the answers
are telling us, it is often helpful to limit the kinds of answers respondents can give. You
may want to phrase the questions in such a way that tick boxes can be used, so ‘yes’
or ‘no’ answers are possible, or the respondent fills in numbers instead of descriptions.

25 Peter J.P. & Donnelly J.H. (2000) A Preface to Marketing Management. McGraw-Hill Higher Education, USA.
26 James, C. (2004) A conservative bunch, Mail & Guardian, November 12 to 18. Mail & Guardian, Johannesburg.

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Using the Internet for surveys
A good way to conduct a survey is through an online questionnaire. The Internet is
useful for giving your survey geographic reach. Using the Internet, you can survey
many different people from all sorts of countries – something that would not have been
possible before or else too expensive. To do this, you can either distribute a
questionnaire via e-mail or create a simple online form. An easy way is to use
SurveyMonkey.com (http://www.surveymonkey.com). SurveyMonkey is an excellent
online tool that helps you create and manage your own online survey easily.
With the online form, the responses will be e-mailed straight back to you. Many people
don’t have a lot of time to answer surveys, and online forms are often quicker for them
to complete. However, keep in mind who you want to reach. Do they have reasonably
fast access to the Internet? Do they have access to the Internet? You may want to
provide a fax number for faxed responses, an e-mail address for e-mail responses and
an online form to cover all of your bases.
Don’t forget that you can even post a survey questionnaire using snail mail – although
this is likely to be quite costly, and you may not get that many responses (this often
depends on how persistent you are, how well the people you are surveying know you,
or if you are offering them prizes or money for completing the survey).
Using the Internet to conduct a survey may not be useful when surveying a specific
community. Here you may want to send a team of researchers into the street to collect
responses or conduct a focus group.
Advantages of surveys

• Good for comparative analysis.
• Can get lots of data in a relatively short space of time.
• Can be cost-effective (if you use the Internet, for example).
• Can take less time for respondents to complete (compared to an interview or

focus group)
Disadvantages of surveys

• Responses may not be specific.
• Questions may be misinterpreted.
• May not get as many responses as you need.
• Don’t get full story.

Qualitative research
The aim of qualitative research is to deepen our understanding about something, and
usually this means going beyond the numbers and the statistics. Qualitative research
helps us to give reasons why the numbers tell us what they do. It is often contrasted
to quantitative research – and they are very often used together to get the ‘bigger
picture’ of what we are trying to find out. Qualitative research helps us ‘flesh out the
story’.

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Face-to-face interviews and focus groups

The most common forms of qualitative research are face-to-face interviews and focus
groups. Face-to-face interviews are just that: Meeting someone in person and
discussing various issues. The informant – or person you are interviewing – may be
an expert in a particular field (e.g. the editor of a newspaper) or they may be someone
who is affected by the issues you are researching (e.g. someone who is HIV positive
or who reads the media).

Although it is very important to develop a list of questions you want to ask someone,
face-to-face interviews usually involve more than ‘yes’ or ‘no’ answers. The point is to
try to understand the complexity of the issues you are researching. The nature of face-
to-face interviews is that they are usually quite discursive.

Focus groups involve discussions with two or more participants. While questions for
focus groups need to be prepared to guide and focus the discussions, the responses
are often free-ranging, as the participants are encouraged to explore the issues at hand
in an in-depth way.

While focus groups and interviews will help you develop explanations for quantitative
data, sometimes they can provide you with quantitative data themselves. For example,
you might find that 20% of the participants in a focus group discussion did not like the
way HIV/AIDS positive people were portrayed in the media (quantitative data). Then
you might find that the reasons (qualitative information) they gave were that:

• They found it demeaning;

• They thought that it was insensitive;

• They thought that HIV/AIDS positive people were treated as ‘others’.

With focus groups and interviews, it is usual to write up the responses to your
questions, to arrange and analyse the responses in a careful and meaningful way, and
to include the most relevant ones in your research report.

Research tip: Face-to-face interviews

• Always prepare a set of questions to ask the informant;

• It is a good idea to record your interviews, so that you can check your facts
later. Take notes during the interview, if you feel comfortable doing this;

• Remember: Interviews take time, and the informant is giving you his or her time
for free. Interviews shouldn’t really take more than an hour, unless the informant
wants to spend more time talking to you. Usually 10 questions are enough for
this amount of time;

• Sometimes people transcribe the interview recordings. This usually makes
analysing the results easier, but it also takes time and can be quite an effort.
Consider including a budget in your research proposal for transcription, and
then pay someone else to do it;

• Sometimes you may need to ask the informant if they are prepared to be
identified in your research, or if they would like to be quoted anonymously. This
is usually the case if their identity needs to be protected, and sometimes if you
are researching a controversial topic;

• You may want to consider letting your informant review any direct quotes you
use before publishing the research report. However, this takes time and
sometimes can delay the research process;

• Ask the informant if you can include their contact details in your research report;

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• Ask the informant if he or she would like to be alerted when the research is
published, and let them know where they can read the report if it is publicly
available.

Advantages of face-to-face interviews
• Can allow for in-depth knowledge sharing;
• Helps to develop the bigger picture;
• Helps with analysis of results;
• Good for networking (e.g. you may be referred to other people to interview).

Disadvantages of face-to-face interviews
• Can be time consuming;
• May be difficult to arrange an interview time;
• Can be difficult to compare and analyse information.

Research tip: Focus groups
• Focus groups can sometimes take time to arrange, so prepare in advance. Try
to find an intermediary to help you (an organisation or individual in close contact
with the potential focus group participants);
• Think about who you want to participate in the focus group by referring to your
research question. What age group should they be? Should they be male or
female? Should they come from a particular income bracket? You may want to
consider holding separate focus groups for different age groups, or for different
genders. For example, it may be important to hold a separate focus group for
males and females if you are discussing sex and sexuality;
• Issues of power: The focus group facilitator holds an immense amount of power
in the discussions. You need to keep this in mind. If a male facilitator questions
young girls about sexuality, will that affect the research results? Some
researchers will not let the people commissioning the research (e.g.
government) be present in the focus group sessions. In some cases, special
rooms are built with one-way glass so that the session can be observed
unobtrusively;
• You need to find out if it is normal to pay focus group participants, and what the
going rate is. Often focus group participants come from poorer communities. If
it is not normal to pay participants, you may want to consider it and set a trend!

Advantages of focus groups
• Good for community participation (grassroots input);
• Helpful in developing ideas and sharing latent, or hidden, knowledge
spontaneously;
• Enables you to get information from a number of individuals simultaneously.

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Disadvantages of focus groups
• Can be difficult to set up;
• Participants may need to be paid;
• Need to be sensitive to who the facilitator is;
• May need a translator;
• Sometimes difficult to organise and analyse information.

Site visits and observation

Site visits (e.g. when you visit an organisation, a manufacturing plant, a clinic or a
housing project) are very useful, and sometimes even necessary ways of gaining
additional insight and making your theoretical information concrete in your mind. Site
visits will help you understand your information better and will make the research
process a much more rewarding experience. They allow you to observe what is going
on, and to ask questions you may not have thought about. Be curious!

Even if site visits are not part of your research methodology, it is recommended that
you include at least one in your research process, so you can form a mental picture of
what’s happening on the ground.

Observation is simply a way of gathering information. This may involve a site visit but
it can also involve visiting a community, or a place, and watching what people do (e.g.
stand in a street). Like a site visit, it is a good way to concretise your research, and to
help you understand your research results better.

Advantages of site visits and observation

• Help you understand your research better;

• Help you ask questions you may not have thought of;

• Concretise your research;

• They are fun!

Disadvantages of site visits and observation

• Take time;

• Can be expensive (depending how far you need to travel);

• With observation in particular, you need to be careful how you interpret what
you see. With site visits, you may want to make sure you have a guide so that
you can ask questions.

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Case studies

The term ‘case study’ is often used quite loosely. They are a way of capturing concrete
details of a real or fictional situation, and presenting these details in a structured and
compact way. Case studies tell a story, and are often very lively and colourful ways of
presenting your research, or to go about conducting research.27

Case studies are used widely in a whole range of disciplines, such as psychology,
anthropology, sociology and criminology. Business analysts have used case studies
for over 80 years to discuss particular problems with businesses and how they
overcame them. (Business case studies were first developed by the Harvard Graduate
School of Business Administration in the 1920s.)

Because case studies follow a structured format, different situations can be compared
or analysed comparatively. Case studies are typically short (often no more than 5
pages long) and usually only contain the essential information needed to present a
situation and, if necessary, to describe and properly analyse a problem.

Case studies often contain both qualitative and quantitative data, adding to the
richness and detail of the situation being described, and the problem being analysed.

There are many different structures to case studies, and you will need to decide on the
most appropriate structure for what you are trying to convey. If you are doing more than
one case study for the same research topic, it is important to ensure that the structure
you use is consistent, so that your results can be compared.

Often case studies will contain:

• The essential details of the organisation or situation under question (such as
name of organisation, description of core activities, socio-economic
background);

• Some background information that has led up to the situation being presented;

• A detailed description of the situation being analysed;

• A description of the problems encountered;

• An analysis of possible solutions (if a problem is being presented).

Advantages of case studies

• Specific concrete example;

• Can help with problem solving;

• Are often interesting to read.

Disadvantages of case studies

• Can take time to develop;

• Depending on format, may need some level of good writing skills;

• Do not usually give broad overview of issue at hand.

• Research tip: Writing case studies

Charles Warner28 has some useful tips for writing your own case studies. These can
be summarised as follows:

27 In its essence, a case study is a way of presenting a problem in a concrete way, and then proposing a solution to
the problem. However, the case study format is often used simply to capture factual information about a range of similar
situations systematically (e.g. information about telecentres).
28 See Warner, C. (undated) How to write a case study
http://www.cpcug.org/user/houser/advancedwebdesign/Tips_on_Writing_the_Case_Study.html

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• Keep your audience in mind (you may be writing for someone who doesn’t know
anything about the situation you are describing);

• Keep jargon to a minimum (or at least explain jargon clearly);

• Tell a story (make your characters and situations as real as possible);

• Set the scene (make your opening interesting, set up the confrontations,
frustrations and the conflicts that you will describe);

• Don’t analyse as you tell the story. Simply present the scenes and situations
and make sure that your story proceeds in a logical, step-by-step way (save
the analysis for your part on problem solving);

• Provide all the relevant details that are necessary to understand the situation
and problem;

• Use lots of dialogue (your characters need to come alive);

• Leave the reader with a clear picture of the major problems at the end. The
ending should leave you with the question: ’What is to be done now?’

Some of these tips may not be useful for your purposes. Often case studies are simply
a way of capturing factual information in a compact and digestible manner. Decide
what works for you, and use it.

Participatory research

One of the key problems with some kinds of research is that the wrong kinds of
questions get asked, despite the researcher’s best intentions. This doesn’t necessarily
mean that the researcher hasn’t thought long and hard about his or her questions, or
that they are not appropriate. However, sometimes questions are biased towards
certain perspectives and are based on certain assumptions. There might be a whole
other way of looking at a situation that the researcher, because of his or her
background, does not realise. Unless the researcher is able to understand this different
way of looking at things, the research results might simply confirm the presumptions
and prejudices of his or her perspective.

Anthropologists, for example, often encounter these kinds of problems when they’re
doing field work and are living in or visiting a community they are researching. Good
anthropologists are always conscious of their roles as outsiders, and how their mere
presence can affect the research results. People sometimes behave differently when
they know there is a researcher around. (See Site visits and observation above.)

Concrete examples of how research can reinforce prejudices are dotted throughout
the history of anthropology. In their early encounters with native tribes, colonial
anthropologists often described the customs and beliefs they observed as backwards
and savage – quite the opposite of their grand vision of European culture!

One way around these sorts of dilemmas is participatory research. Participatory
research allows community members, or a particular group being researched, to
participate in developing research questions, designing the methodologies to be used
in the research, and analysing the research findings. The usefulness of this approach
is that perspectives that might otherwise be ignored by a researcher are incorporated
into the research from the start. The analysis of the research findings shifts from being
‘researcher-centric’ (or biased towards the assumptions of the researcher) towards
being ‘community-centric’, or incorporating the perspectives of the community.

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Participatory research is a very good methodology to raise awareness around issues
that a community or group might face, and it also helps in developing appropriate action
plans in response to the research findings.29
Some specific types of participatory research, such as autodiagnosis or participatory
rural appraisal, are explained in the glossary. However, the most important thing to
remember is that participatory research is about a group or community being involved
in all, or most, phases of the research process, from designing the questions, to finding
out the answers.
Advantages of participatory research

• Can be more certain that research isn’t biased;

• Involves community;

• Opportunity for awareness-raising in community;

• Can develop appropriate action plans from research.
Disadvantages of participatory research

• Takes time to involve community;

• Need to manage research process well, in a participatory manner, while striking
a balance between getting the work done efficiently and on time.

Planning your research
Journalists often use a basic formula for writing a straightforward news story. It’s called
the 5 Ws and an H structure: Who? What? Where? When? Why? and How? By
answering all of these questions, you will get to the nuts and bolts of a story in a few
sentences or paragraphs. The point of this is that all the most essential information is
at the top of the story, making a newspaper easy to scan for a reader.
The 5 Ws and an H formula is a useful tool to apply to many situations, and helps you
to remember to ask the most essential questions. Thinking about these questions will
help you plan your research, although you might want to consider them in a different
order.

Step one: What?
You need to ask: What do I want to know?
Deciding on a research question
The first and most important thing to do when planning research is to properly
understand and clarify what it is you want to know.
By understanding what it is you want to know – some people call this the research
question – you will be able to answer all of the other questions that are necessary to
plan your research properly, such as:

• How do I find out what I want to know?

• Where can I get the information I need, or who do I need to ask?

• When will my research be done by?

• And why? (or finding the right answers to the research question).

29 Health Communication Partnership,
http://www.hcpartnership.org/Publications/Field_Guides/Mobilize/htmlDocs/glossary.htm

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When you are formulating your research question, you need to bear in mind the
purpose of your research. You need to ask yourself:

• Who will be reading and acting on your research? (e.g. is it the community, a
donor, or a business?)

• What do they need to know to inform their decisions?
• What decisions does the research need to inform?

Conducting a local information scan
Once you have decided on your research question (or questions) it is useful to conduct
a local information scan. What information do you already have access to? You may
want to surf the Internet, or ask a few experts in the field you are researching, or
perhaps you need to speak to a few people in the community. This will help you see
what information is already out there, and help you refine your research question.
Sometimes you may find that research has already been done in the area you want to
work in. Then you may decide to ask a different kind of question, or focus on specific
areas of research.
A local information scan needn’t take up too much of your time, just enough for you to
get your bearings on your research topic. Once you have conducted a local information
scan, take another look at your research question. Should it be changed or refined in
any way?

Theory
Some people insist on a theoretical framework for research. What social, scientific or
economic theory are you going to use to understand or interpret your research results?
It is important to remember that we inevitably bring some sort of theory to our
interpretation of research results, even if we aren’t aware of it, or can’t name it. For
some research, a clearer understanding of theory may be necessary. However, a lot of
basic research can be conducted without necessarily venturing into this sometimes
complicated world.
If you want to develop a theoretical framework for your research, speak to an expert in
the field and find out what might be a good one, and where you can read more about
it. Alternatively, visit a library, or do some background research on the Internet. If a
good theoretical framework exists, you should be able to find a lot of information on it
easily.

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Step two: How? Where? Who?

You need to ask:

• How do I find out what I want to know?

• Where can I get the information I need, or who do I need to ask?

By constructing your research question or questions, you will have decided quite
specifically what it is you want to know. You will also have decided the kinds of
information that will be necessary for the research results to inform a decision or a
number of decisions.

How do I find out what I want to know?

Now that you are clear on what kind of information you are looking for, you need to
decide on a methodology by asking:

• Do I need quantitative or numbers information?

• Or do I need qualitative or explanatory-type information?

• Or do I need a combination of both?

• Will case studies be helpful in properly understanding and presenting the
research findings?

• If I need quantitative data, will I conduct a survey or develop a questionnaire?

• If qualitative information is needed, will I interview people or conduct focus
groups?

• Will I conduct site visits or observation?

• Given the research topic, will I conduct participatory research?

• Where can I get the information I need, or who do I need to ask?

Once you have decided on a methodology, you need to decide where you are going to
find the information or who you are going to speak to. Are you going to search the
Internet, or visit a library? Are there other information resources you have access to
(e.g. pamphlets or booklets)? Do you need to speak to people in a community? Or
individuals or experts who do a particular kind of work? You should already have some
idea about this having conducted your initial information scan.

At this point, you may want to build a simple table, setting out the most appropriate
methodologies, and where you are going to find the information, as well as some of

the challenges you may have to overcome. An example of how this table might look is
given below:

Research topic: Attitudes to HIV/AIDS in the community

How do I find Where to find Potential How to
out what I information? problems overcome the
want to problems
know?
Internet and HIV/AIDS websites None expected.
Background pamphlets (e.g. UN websites);
research past research on
Interviews HIV/AIDS;
government and
NGO statistics; local
clinic or NGO.
Health care
workers; doctors
and AIDS activists.

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Quantitative Survey Taxi ranks; at Smith street taxi How will I know Be sure to ask
Qualitative local shops; rank; Paula’s café; that the each person
shebeens. Xolani’s 24-hour commuters at the we approach if
Midnight Razzle taxi rank are from they are local.
Face-to- Local the local
face government; Director of Health; community? Ask Paula and
Interviews Municipality; Mayor; Two doctors Xolani for
Doctors and at Chris Hani Will I need Paula’s permission
health care Baragwanath or Xolani’s before
workers. Hospital; Health permission? approaching
care worker at customers.
Focus Living Positively The Director and Approach their
groups NGO. the Mayor might personal
be very busy. assistant for an
Community appointment at
members aged 18- It may take some the start of the
35. 8 males and 8 time to get the research
females. Will ask focus group process.
Living Positively participants Remember:
NGO to help us together. Will we We may need
organise this. need to pay them? to persist.
Approach
Living
Positively right
away, and find
out what they
recommend.

Research tip: Background research

Most research involves some form of background research. You have already done
part of this in your information scan, but you will need to do some more thorough
research into your research topic to understand and collect information that already
exists.

Like an information scan, background research can involve a number of things:

• Online research;

• Visiting a library to discover more about what you are researching;

• Speaking to experts who can give you an overview of your research topic;

• Reading various literature, such as pamphlets and booklets.

Sometimes you may find that there is a lot of background information on the issue you
are researching. Because all research has time limits, you need to keep your research
question clearly in mind and decide as you go along whether the information you have
found is relevant to your research needs.

It is a good habit to record or store the information you collect in a systematic way. You
may want to keep a book with details such as title, publisher, date of publication, place
of publication and authors’ names, or you may want to bookmark the relevant websites
you find on your Internet browser. This is important because if you are going to use
any of the information you find, you need to reference it to show where you got it.
Referencing can take up a lot of time if you have forgotten the source of a quote or
idea.

When conducting background research, be critical! Some information you find on the
Internet, in pamphlets or in libraries may not be that reliable. Ask: Does this look like a
reliable source of information? Is it an official website or from a recognisable
organisation? Or does it look a bit suspect? Only use information that you think is
reliable and accurate. Double-check the facts if you have to!

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Where to find information
There are many places to find information. Some ideas have been listed below:

• Internet (general searching/specific websites);
• Pamphlets/promotional material;
• Conferences;
• Experts (you may want to develop a database of experts in various fields);
• Magazines;
• E-newsletters;
Keeping track of published research (usually by signing up to mailing lists or
e-newsletters, but keep an eye on the media as well; a lot of research – especially
social research – will be written about in newspapers and magazines).

Step three: When?
You need to ask:

• When do all the different parts of the research need to be done?
Proper planning means a more efficient research process, less time and money
required to conduct the research, and a happier research team!
Now that you have a good idea of what your research is all about, you need to plan it
so that everyone in your research team knows what’s expected from them and when.
It is also important to plan so that things that need to be done first - which other parts
of the research are dependent on - are done in time. One way to do this is to develop
a research work plan.
There are many ways to develop a work plan, but the simplest is to use a table.
1. Begin by listing all of the work areas in your research. Be specific;
2. Put them in order of priority: Which ones need to be done first?
3. Try to estimate the time that you will need to accomplish each research activity;
4. Build a calendar, cross-referencing your work areas with the dates, as in the

example below. Depending how specific you want to be, your calendar might work
in days, weeks, months or even hours!
With most research, things can take a little longer – or if you’re lucky a little shorter –
than you anticipated. So plan for unexpected events and leave a little spare time in
your work plan. With time and experience, you will develop a much better idea of how
long things will take.

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Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Week 5 Week 6 Week 7

Arrange interviews and
focus group
Develop survey
questionnaire
Background research
Conduct interviews
Report back to donor
Conduct surveys
Collate results
Analyse results
Fill in any gaps
Write report
Edit report
Send final report to donor

Now that you have developed a work plan, be sure to circulate it to all the members of
the research team, and to discuss any queries they may have. Also share it with the
people you are doing the research for, if appropriate. It will give them confidence that
you are thinking clearly about the work you have to do.

Step four: Why? (Getting the answer)

Now that you have posed your research question, and planned your research well, you
can go about collecting your data. This is best done methodically, continually
measuring your performance against your work plan, and making adjustments where
necessary. When problems are encountered (and you will encounter them), they need
to be solved, or alternative courses of action planned.

Returning to your research question

The most important way of getting your research answer or answers is to return to your
research question. What did you begin by asking? The research question will be a
good guide in helping you arrange your research results.

At the same time, you need to keep in mind who you are doing the research for, and
what they want to do with it. For example, if the government commissioned the
research, wanting to know how best to inform a community about conserving water,
you might want to begin by discussing the demographics of the community. You might
then create a section where you list ways in which communication already happens in
the community, including media contact details (e.g. media consumed or radio stations
listened to). You might want to go on to list the pros and cons of each of these
communication vehicles. You might also have a section describing current attitudes to
water conservation in the community. Finally you may want to develop two or three
scenarios outlining possible ways in which communicating with the community might
be effective.

Remember, it is usually best to provide a number of alternatives for a way forward – it
is not necessarily the researcher’s job to come up with one answer, unless you have
been asked to do so. Decision-makers usually want to consider your research and
decide on their own. It is your job to help them make that decision by giving them all
the information they need.

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