Diversity & Equality

Research

MDA provides a range of services relating to research and development. Much of our work centres on research to provide the evidence base for policy development and implementation.

What we do

We carry out qualitative and quantitative research customised to clients. This includes:

• Staff and customer surveys
• Online and e-mail questionnaire facility
• Local, regional and national surveys
• Satisfaction surveys, gathering the views of customers
• Focus/discussion groups to determine the scope of particular situations set to parameters for wider research
• One-to-one interviews in respect of our work on investigations and mediation
• The evaluation of projects including European-funded projects

MDA operate across all sectors and will work on small scale snap-shot projects through to large regional and national surveys.

We have an experienced team of analysts, and all research design, data processing and statistical analysis is carried out in-house. For large scale data collection exercises, we have close partner relationships with agencies such as ACNielsen and others.

Recent work that MDA has been involved in includes, for example:

• Extensive surveys with local authorities to gauge the needs, perspectives and aspirations of residents living in public and privately rented housing
• Assessing the impact of social inclusion and cohesion policy within a major metropolitan region and setting out the policy and planning implications for public authorities and their private sector partners
• Identifying issues in rural areas of most concern to BME communities and working with local authorities and housing associations to set out the priorities for service provision
• Analysing the views of refugees/asylum seekers on the nature of quality of services they received from the voluntary and community sectors (VCS)
• Quantifying and expanding the views of workers in a manufacturing plant on the level of workplace harassment and bullying, with the aim of presenting relevant recommendations and solutions
• Assessing the views of young people in crime, policing and law enforcement
• Assessing the performance of organisations in respect of meeting regulatory requirements and funder expectations
• Assessing the impact of a major legal services agency's proposals for introducing competitive tendering in the procurement of criminal defence services in England and Wales
• Evaluating the impact of stock transfers from local authority housing to new agencies in a number of specific communities

In carrying out research projects, we particularly emphasise placing the results in a practical context which can be used in a proactive and innovative way by our clients. We also help clients develop strategic plans and approaches following the results of the surveys produced.