Insight provides a full range of services in the management of social research projects.

The management of social research projects requires considerable skill. There are numerous reasons why the scope can evolve throughout a project including:

• The data available for a project is identified (and may be different to that originally expected)

• The data is more problematic than originally anticipated (meaning that more advanced analysis methods might be needed, that the questions to be asked of the data might need to change, or the data might not be suitable at all for the proposed analysis)

• Additional questions of the data are raised as initial research findings come to light

There are numerous challenges to managing project scope, the quality of results, the timeline and the project cost. The Insight team has over 20 years’ experience in study design, data collection, and data analysis for clients. We work closely with clients to achieve optimal project outcomes despite the challenges that are present within any project.

Every project will be different (including different client needs, and different project deliverables), and a tailored project management plan is developed for each individual project.

A typical project management approach for a larger project goes through the following stages:

• Initial planning - For any project to be successful it needs to start with a thorough understanding of a client’s needs. These pertain both to the project execution and deliverables, and also to the manner in which the client seeks to work together with the Insight team throughout the project. In consultation with the client the Insight team will draft a Project Plan outlining the project team, scope, methodologies, deliverables, timeline, and manner of communication throughout the project. Insight will then seek approval for this Project Plan from the client.

• Study design – Each project will have its own scope and characteristics; the manner in which data is collected, collated or obtained for the project; the data analysis methodologies; reporting styles; and roles for stakeholders (including approval processes for project decisions). Study design often involves reviewing similar studies and relevant literature, and evaluating the strengths and weaknesses of proposed data collection instruments.

• Ethics reviews and regulatory approval – While all projects need to be conducted in an ethical manner, some projects require a formal process involving a review by an ethics board and/or regulatory bodies.

• Piloting of instruments – All projects are a balance between time, cost and quality. It is usually recommended that data collection instruments are piloted with a small number of members from the target population (when the time and cost allow this). Through this process weaknesses within these instruments and their use can be identified and addressed.

• Data collection – Again there is a balance between time, cost and quality where some data collection strategies are faster and cheaper, and other strategies produce higher quality data. Proper management will identify any problems that occur during data collection and will address these problems.

• Initial assessment of data quality – On first obtaining a dataset a number of data quality checks are made to assess whether the project can continue as planned, or whether changes need to be made to the project plan.

• Data preparation – It should never be under-estimated how much time is required for data preparation (with different references estimating that between 70% and 90% of the average data scientist’s time is spent in the preparation of statistical data). This stage involves a range of tasks including change to file formats, data types, and integration between datasets.

• Further data quality checks – Data is again checked for data quality. This involves quality checks that were not possible using the initial data files, and also involves assessing the correctness of the data preparation work.

• Initial analysis – basic analysis methods and data visualization are used to gain an initial understanding of the patterns present within a dataset and the complexity of the data.

• Main analysis – advanced analysis methods are employed which are tailored to the specific research questions asked by a client and to the unique complexities of specific datasets.

• Initial proposal for reporting and deliverables – every client will have their own unique needs for reporting including the presentation style, the focus in the communication, and the level of technical complexity in the report. Insight will often draft a small sample of the final report (possibly including a proposed table of contents and a sample of 10% of the final report) and deliverables, and seek feedback from the client.

• First draft of reports and deliverables – a complete first draft of the report and deliverables are produced and feedback from the client is sought. In receiving this feedback it should also be noted that a client might not know or be able to verbalize all of their requirements until they review a first draft of a report and deliverables.

• Final draft of reports and devlierables – a complete final draft of the report and deliverables are produced, along with a document outlining how the feedback previously given by the client has been addressed.

• Review session to review project successes and lessons learnt – Insight is passionate about continuous improvement, and believes that there are things that could be improved within any project. At the same time it is also important to also identify and celebrate the successes within the project, and to ensure that those wins are continued in future projects. Insight appreciates the opportunities to hold review sessions with clients at the end of a project, and we also have our own internal review sessions. These successes and lessons learnt are documented internally by Insight to help guide our future projects.

Insight provides consulting and training in the management of social research projects. Insight is a Company Partner of the Research Society in Australia, and Insight CEO, Dr Mark Griffin, is certified as a Qualified Professional Researcher with the society.

See details about our current work.

See details about the training we deliver in project management, social research, and data science through a Registered Training Organization (coming soon).