Author Archives: admin

Collective Leadership – Exploring new territories for evaluation

Posted on November 9, 2018 by admin

I spent time this summer writing about evaluation.  It’s been good to immerse myself in reading and thinking about what complexity and collaboration mean for how we evaluate public programmes and interventions. The focus has been Workforce Scotland’s Collective Leadership … Continue reading →

Posted in 5th generation evaluation, Appreciative inquiry, Co-production and new ways of working, How can evaluation be useful?, Leadership, Living systems research, Participatory research methods, Partnership working, Research Impact, Stories, What is action research? | Comments Off on Collective Leadership – Exploring new territories for evaluation

Participative transformation?

Posted on July 24, 2015 by admin

I have recently written a book review of Participative transformation learning and development in practising change, by Roger Klev and Morten Levin in the Journal Action Learning:  Research and Practice, 2015 They propose that given the challenges of the uncertainty … Continue reading →

Posted in Co-production and new ways of working, How can evaluation be useful?, Leadership, Partnership working, Research Impact, What is action research? | Comments Off on Participative transformation?

Calling time on ancedotal evidence….

Posted on December 9, 2014 by admin

I notice my irritation rising whenever someone refers to ‘anecdotal evidence’. As if people are saying the evidence is merely anecdotal. It’s unreliable and based on hearsay. It doesn’t count for much. And so often, such remarks are made in … Continue reading →

Posted in Co-production and new ways of working, How can evaluation be useful?, Living systems research, Participatory research methods, Research Impact, Stories, What is action research? | Comments Off on Calling time on ancedotal evidence….

Caring conversations in action

Posted on January 15, 2014 by admin

Taking time to hear the stories that matter to matter pays off in the long run…it’s just the way we do things round here.   Asking for feedback can feel a bit embarrassing but we find the courage because it’s good … Continue reading →

Posted in Co-production and new ways of working, How can evaluation be useful?, Living systems research, Participatory research methods, Partnership working, Research Impact, Stories, What is action research? | Comments Off on Caring conversations in action

Research as if people were human

Posted on December 20, 2013 by admin

I’m delighted to be a guest blogger for IRISS this week.  This post talks about how stories energise and restore people’s connections with each other and what they care about, so motivating people to work together.  Action research – a truly humane approach to … Continue reading →

Posted in Co-production and new ways of working, How can evaluation be useful?, Living systems research, Participatory research methods, Partnership working, Research Impact, Stories, What is action research? | Comments Off on Research as if people were human

Appreciative dialogue – co-production in action

Posted on November 14, 2013 by admin

Here’s a new article on appreciative dialogue by Belinda Dewar and Cathy Sharp. We discuss the role of appreciative dialogue in facilitation of practice development and action research. There’s not much guidance about the ‘how’ of facilitation – here we highlight one … Continue reading →

Posted in Co-production and new ways of working, Living systems research, Participatory research methods, Partnership working, Research Impact, Stories, What is action research? | Comments Off on Appreciative dialogue – co-production in action

Better by Design

Posted on July 29, 2013 by admin

Research for Real has been selected, in partnership with Animate, to act as a Learning Partner to the Young Foundation and Taylor Haig in the 2 year BIG funded project Better by Design, which will be supporting 15 voluntary organisations in … Continue reading →

Posted in Co-production and new ways of working, How can evaluation be useful?, Partnership working, Research Impact, Uncategorized, What is action research? | Comments Off on Better by Design

Stories – how to use them to bring work to life

Posted on July 29, 2013 by admin

Changing places with stories is a new resource developed by Space Unlimited with Research for Real to help groups of people to work with stories to support learning and inspire action to improve our places. Experience shows that story-telling can … Continue reading →

Posted in Co-production and new ways of working, How can evaluation be useful?, Living systems research, Participatory research methods, Partnership working, Research Impact, Stories | Comments Off on Stories – how to use them to bring work to life

Everyone’s talking about impact…..

Posted on May 30, 2013 by admin

Nice blog by Heather Sim of Space Unlimited…measurement of change as an art as much as a science.

Posted in How can evaluation be useful?, Research Impact | Comments Off on Everyone’s talking about impact…..

Improvisation and the art of change

Posted on January 23, 2013 by admin

At a Total Place event today we were reminded “the revolution will be improvised”. A catchy meme for sure which reminded me of an article I’ve read some time ago by Frank J Barrett.   He makes the point that there are lots … Continue reading →

Posted in Co-production and new ways of working, How can evaluation be useful?, Living systems research, Participatory research methods, Partnership working, Research Impact, What is action research? | Comments Off on Improvisation and the art of change