Some of our philosophy and style of working

We are committed to practical, action-oriented research and evaluation; careful designs which have room to ‘emerge’ flexibly in response to the situation; the active involvement of all relevant parties or reference groups, and particularly of those primarily to benefit, who we have termed the ‘critical reference group’ (Wadsworth 1984, 1991, 1997).

We are a ‘broad church’ in terms of techniques—and able to draw on our collective experience with an extensive range of strategic, interpretive and qualitative as well as meaningful quantitative methods.

Our centre has various ‘arms’. If need be, we have (or can point you to) low cost published written materials, other people doing similar things, courses, conferences and workshops, and more specialised assistance.

We aim for our fees to be reasonable. They are calculated in an accountable and transparent manner, using a sliding scale according to your means and numbers of our hours worked.

We work with you to identify your needs and the most appropriate inquiry designs given your unique context. Preliminary work can be paid for with no expectation that you will call on us for the next stage, or we can continue to provide meta-consultancy if needed, or work on a long-term basis with you.

We can work by the hour, day, week or over longer periods, and in a part time or developmental ‘built-in’ way.

Consultancy is negotiated by you with the individual researcher.