Community Research
If you are involved in leading community organisations you'll need to assess needs and evaluate results. The resources in this guide have been collected to help you with basic research skills to do this. It also includes new tools, recent research, conferences and events.
"Freedom is just chaos with better lighting" - Alan Dean Foster To the Vanishing Point
If you are involved in leading community organisations it probably won't be long before you need to use some basic research skills to assess needs or evaluate results. Some basic research know-how is also often a useful part of advocacy and working for social change.
Research at its best is about finding out, learning and doing better. This kind of research is too important to be left to academics - we all need get our hands dirty. The resources in this guide have been collected to help point you in the right direction.
Suggested starting points:
Your help in further developing this Community Research Guide is essential. Whether its 'old favourites' or 'new finds', please email useful websites, resources, case studies or news to research@community.net.nz
Community Research Guide Editor, Garth Nowland-Foreman, is a community consultant who has worked with non-profit and voluntary organisations and those who fund them for more than 25 years. He also teaches in the Unitec Graduate Diploma in Not for Profit Management and 'Managing to Make a Difference' short courses, and has a particular interest in influencing change, organisational learning and development.
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The Community and Voluntary Sector Research Forum is a great place to hear summaries of new and forthcoming research. Meeting quarterly in Wellington are people from community and voluntary organisations, government and universities, who are seeking to increase the pool of information on the sector by undertaking relevant research-related projects or promoting research.
Date added: 24 November 2006
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Making sense of government data is set to become easier, thanks to a new web-based pilot project launched this month, says Internal Affairs Minister Nathan Guy.
Date added: 12 November 2009
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Date added: 4 September 2009
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This section provides a number of key guides on methods for doing your own evaluation and research. The focus is on understanding your approach, choosing appropriate methods and how to put them into practice, especially in non-profit and voluntary organisations.
Date updated: 13 December 2006
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The Managing Well resource catalogue (online in the Community Centre section of this web site) includes references or links to manuals, websites, information sheets, books, and other documents, and a list of organisations that can help you in this area.
Date updated: 7 December 2009
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The Social Report from the Ministry of Social Development provides information on the social health and wellbeing of New Zealand society.
Date updated: 24 November 2009
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Structures and Strategies - A Narrative Analysis of Eleven Community Organisations in Otago is the culmination of over two years research by the Department of Social Work and Community Development at University of Otago focusing on the life stories of community organisations.
Date updated: 25 March 2009
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To supports its advocacy and educational role, Philanthropy NZ has sponsored ground-breaking research to uncover where the money comes from for non-profits in Aotearoa New Zealand.
Date updated: 2 April 2008
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Hungrykids.info is/was a very useful website sharing the results of research on children, food and poverty in Wellington primary school students.
Date updated: 28 March 2008
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If you should ever not have enough emails in your inbox, the American Evaluation Society (AES) has collated a list of links to more than 30 email discussion groups on evaluation at http://www.eval.org/Resources/Listservs.asp.
Date updated: 17 January 2007
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The US-based Association for Research on Non-profit Organisations and Voluntary Action (ARNOVA) has an electronic discussion list called ARNOVA-L.
Date updated: 13 February 2005
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US-based CharityChannel sponsors an amazing number of non-profit electronic discussion forums which aim to bring together non-profit sector practitioners and academic researchers to learn from each other.
Date updated: 14 August 2005
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A professional organisation for people involved in evaluation. There are regional groups across Australasia, including in Auckland and Wellington. Membership benefits include 'Evaluation Journal of ...
Date added: 15 December 2004
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ANZTSR is a network of people interested in pursuing or encouraging research into the Third Sector in Australia and New Zealand. Membership benefits include: quarterly newsletter, biennial conference, membership directory, 'Third Sector Review' ...
Date added: 15 December 2004
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CACOM is based in the University of Technology Sydney and was established in 1990. It provides training and undertakes and disseminates research on the Australian community sector and its management. It also operates the Asian Third Sector ...
Date added: 15 December 2004
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