Research & Analysis
Our Approach to Research & Analysis
Our approach to research differs from standard approaches in the international development field. Most research begins by defining a set of research questions and then designing a methodology and data collection plan to answer those questions. While such an approach can generate important data and knowledge, it is constrained by the research questions, which limit the research’s scope to those areas of inquiry. By contrast, our research doesn’t narrowly focus on answering research questions but instead focuses on generating unique and impactful messages within a particular scope, while ensuring the validity and reliability of the underlying evidence.
What does this mean in practice?
It means that rather than sequencing research steps—starting with data collection, moving to analysis, and then developing findings—we do the three steps simultaneously: As we are collecting data, we are also analyzing it and generating preliminary messages for the eventual report. The benefit is that we have the freedom to adjust the focus of our research toward validating emerging findings, rather than maintaining a strict focus on answering static research questions. This allows us to dig deeper into unexpected findings and answer questions we may not have considered when designing the methodology. We do this by continuously adjusting our methodology through iterative feedback loops. If a new finding emerges but doesn’t have robust evidence, we adjust the research in real time to triangulate that finding. All too often, research reports leave the most interesting findings on the cutting room floor because they fall outside of the original research plan and, therefore, lack sufficient evidence and rigor to present in a peer-reviewed setting. This can lead to a dry, unimaginative final report that is less likely to generate a buzz or achieve impact. Our message-oriented research solves this problem. It focuses the research on the most impactful and “punchy” findings, so those messages, which may deviate from the original research questions, are fully substantiated by the evidence in the final report. By generating unique and impactful findings, the research is more likely to achieve its ultimate development goals.
We prioritize innovative research methods and data sources.
These include AI-powered analysis, machine learning, big data harvesting, and others. We still use traditional evidence sources, such as interviews, surveys, and focus groups, but we try to apply innovative techniques where we can. There is a very practical reason for this—we feel that collecting data with nontraditional methods is more likely to generate nontraditional findings and unique messages. This fits within our ethos of message-oriented research.
We are committed to culturally sensitive research.
Our diverse and multidisciplinary team includes local stakeholders and adheres to high ethical standards. Our research teams strive to integrate the local cultural, socioeconomic, and political factors into the research design. This requires a deep understanding of the local context through local stakeholder and community engagement. This achieves two goals. First, it allows for a better contextualization of findings in the final report. Development doesn’t occur in a vacuum and understanding the cultural or political realities of a research area generates more actionable findings. Second, this allows our research team to adjust their data collection techniques to local sensitivities. The last thing we want is for our research to provoke a social backlash against research participants, whether it’s women discussing gender-based violence or farmers discussing local militant groups; we take every precaution to ensure our research obtains informed consent, protects confidentiality, and is sensitive to the needs and rights of participants, especially in vulnerable communities. All field research is led by local teams.
The Research Process
1. Define a General Scope
This includes brainstorming and agreeing on general research questions. These questions will guide the direction of the initial data collection.
2. Collect Preliminary Qualitative Data
This usually involves a literature review and stakeholder or focus group discussions. The point is to have a greater understanding of the pertinent questions within the scope before defining our data collection in too much detail.
3. Define Emerging Findings and Messages
We analyze the preliminary data to identify preliminary messages and interesting areas of inquiry.
4. Develop a Robust and Innovative Methodology
We will prioritize research activities that have the highest potential for producing insights into the emerging messages. We then allocate resources accordingly to ensure that these high-impact areas receive the attention they need. We want the research to strike the right balance between depth and breadth. We will define measurement indicators that are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART).
5. Begin Data Collection
The data collection usually includes both qualitative methods, like interviews or focus groups; and quantitative methods, like surveys and statistical analysis. We specifically look for innovative approaches to data collection and analysis to generate interesting findings.
6. Continuously Adapt the Methodology to Emerging Findings
Our research process is a continuous cycle of hypothesizing, testing, learning, and adapting. We incorporate feedback loops with stakeholders—including local communities, development practitioners, policymakers, and peer reviewers—and make iterative improvements to the methodology based on new evidence and changing contexts. This agility ensures that the research stays relevant and captures evidence on emerging insights.
7. Validate the Data
Our team cleans and verifies data to ensure its accuracy, completeness, and impartiality.
8. Analysis and Messaging
We do not separate the data analysis and the messaging for the report. We feel that these steps should happen simultaneously. The analysis and messaging will directly influence the report’s message-based structure.
