The Importance of Evaluation
13 September, St George’s University of London
The session was led by Marcus Green, Optum, who focused on understanding evaluation practices for real-world projects.
Access to resources from this session: Slides and access to the Evaluation Toolkit
This Network Café brought together community leaders and researchers from across South West London to explore the importance of evaluation in research. The session was led by Marcus Green, Analytics Director at Optum, and focused on understanding evaluation practices for real-world projects.
It began by discussing key reasons for evaluation, such as assessing impact, learning what works, identifying areas for improvement, and maximising community impact. The conversation highlighted how evaluation could act as a tool to demonstrate the value of work being done in ways that would resonate with external stakeholders.
Marcus guided participants through practical steps in the evaluation process. A key focus was on setting evaluation questions that aligned with project goals, helping to clarify what success looks like from the outset. This enabled everyone to reflect on how they could apply these questions to their own work.
The session also covered the importance of data and measurement, discussing how to gather both qualitative and quantitative data that can provide useful insights. The session encouraged close collaborations with stakeholders from the beginning to ensure robust data collection.
Next, the session moved to designing evaluation methods that suit each project’s unique context. We discussed the Logic Model, a framework that helps map out the flow from inputs to outcomes, showing how small actions can lead to significant, measurable change. Marcus also stressed the value of using SMART metrics to ensure that projects are realistic in what they aim to achieve.
Speaking on the session, one attendee shared, “The quality of discussion between participants was excellent,” highlighting the value of collective input, and many participants left with new connections and expressed excitement about building on them.
Best practice when conducting surveys
9 August, online
The session was led by Dr. Catherine Heffernan, who drew in a diverse audience eager to improve their survey techniques.
Access to resources from this session: Slides and session recording (coming soon)
Through a series of interactive activities, participants shared their own experiences and best practices for distributing surveys, increasing response rates, and using effective nudging techniques such as emails, calls, and in-person follow-ups. These conversations emphasised the importance of making surveys accessible and convenient for participants to maximize engagement.
Together with the participants, Catherine explored key aspects of survey design, discussing the differences between quantitative and qualitative research approaches and the steps involved in crafting effective surveys. The session also underscored the significance of carefully framing questions and the need for pre-testing and piloting surveys to achieve meaningful results.
The group activities were a central part of the session, allowing everyone to apply the concepts in a practical setting. One exercise involved critiquing poorly designed questionnaires, which sparked lively discussions. Another activity focused on creating a codebook for data analysis, a tool useful to organise and interpret survey results effectively.
Feedback from attendees was overwhelmingly positive. Many valued the interactive nature of the event and the practical activities, noting how much they learned from each other’s experiences. This Network Café was a powerful example of how collective learning can deepen understanding and provide practical tools for conducting successful research.
Launch event
16 May, Oru Sutton
The launch brought together a diverse group of community members, representatives from voluntary sector organisations, researchers and senior leadership staff from across South West London.
On 16 May 2024, the South West London Research Support Network was launched at Oru Space Sutton. Funded by NHS England’s Research Engagement Network, this network was set up to build awareness of and expand opportunities in research for communities, voluntary organisations, NHS and local authority staff and members of the public throughout the six boroughs of Kingston, Richmond, Merton, Sutton, Wandsworth and Croydon.
Over a wonderful lunch, a diverse group of approximately 100 community members, representatives from voluntary sector organisations, researchers and senior leadership staff chatted and shared learning and research interests.
This was followed by the main event chaired by Dr Catherine Heffernan, Director of Health Improvement, NHS South West London. Through a series of fireside chats, the audience met representatives from the South London Applied Research Collaboration, the South London Clinical Research Network and the South London Health Innovation Network.
We learned about the work done by BIG South London to ignite the local economy, Kingston Voluntary Action and the SWL Integrated Care Board’s Evaluation Ambassadors. These discussions emphasised the resources and support available to help people participate in research in South West London.
We also heard about the Research Café Study, aimed at exploring the role of Research Cafés in increasing diversity and inclusivity in healthcare research and conducted in partnership with four vital voluntary sector organizations: Centre of Change in Croydon, Mind in Kingston’s Magpie Project, People Arise Now in Sutton, and Tooting Community Kitchen in Wandsworth. The principal investigator Dr. Josephine Ocloo and the Research Assistant Sapna Kurade shared experiences from this study with advice for the future of this network.
Attendees praised the event’s inclusive and welcoming environment, saying that they had wonderful conversations with amazing people. People were keen to know about the future network cafes and there was a collective commitment to build a more inclusive research community in South West London.
