Public Engagement & Qualitative Analysis.

Public consultation can garner large numbers of often lengthy submissions, and it can be difficult to manage and make sense of all the information received. Add to this the diversity of responses, from professionally commissioned technical submissions to one-off comments from passionate community members – making sense of everything is a challenge.

Our staff analyse every submission to identify the themes, topics and opinions within them, and report comprehensive findings back to your organisation. We ensure the relative importance of each issue, as evidenced by the weight of opinion, is reported clearly so everyone gets an accurate understanding of what submitters think. Where volumes are very large, we use AI on our terms – see How we use AI above. Our experience and independence give you and your stakeholders confidence in the results.

When organisations ask open-ended questions of stakeholders to inform their decision-making, responses can be lengthy and numerous, and cannot be accurately conveyed by sample quotes or lists. Collating and grouping topics using thematic analysis is a much more informative approach, when seeking to understand what customers, citizens or stakeholders are saying.

Organisations who don’t have the time or capacity to analyse comments totalling thousands of words can get meaningful insights by deploying the Global Research team. We thoroughly consider every answer, complete thematic analysis and present findings in written reports supported by visualisations and infographics. You very quickly find out what everyone thinks on the questions you consider important.

When you have collected written ideas, comments or submissions during a public engagement project and need analysis to gain a thorough understanding of the opinions expressed, including the most significant and contentious issues, Global Research can help.

We collate, read and thematically analyse all the data received during community engagement/consultation projects. Our thematic analysis and reporting identifies what contributors think about all issues discussed, identifying the most commented on, most dividing and areas of common thinking. Our qualitative analysis is comprehensive and thorough, including all feedback, no matter how it is collected, down to those one-off ideas that may be the game changer for your project. Our experience and independence gives you and your stakeholders confidence in the results.

When you pursue a deep understanding of why people have particular opinions, or you seek new and enlightening ideas, qualitative methods are the most effective. Whether it be focus groups, semi-structured interviews, online platforms or open-ended survey questions, ideas need to be properly collected and analysed so they actually inform your thinking. If you need to capture and analyse the thoughts of your customers, community, stakeholders or even your own staff, we are here to help.

We analyse thematically in NVivo, the industry-standard qualitative software, turning large volumes of ideas into concise, actionable reports. Because every comment is coded, we can compare perspectives across groups – residents and businesses, customers and staff, supporters and opponents – and show not just what people think, but who thinks it. Where volumes are very large, we use AI on our terms – see How we use AI above.

Many organisations seek social-media comments from a range of platforms, but don’t make full use of this free insightful information. They may not be aware that thematic analysis can provide deep insights or don’t know how to extract informative meaning. People who communicate about your business via Facebook, TripAdvisor, LinkedIn or X provide a wealth of valuable insights about your business or organisation. Often, the information sits dormant, waiting to inform your organisation on what your customers are thinking.

Our thematic analysis is the process of garnering meaning from text. We explore ideas for key themes, going beyond simple word searches or sentiment analysis which can be blunt, partially-informative or misleading. Global Research completes social media thematic analysis for organisations so they don’t have to trawl through reams of pages to find out what people are thinking, and then end up confused. Mining that data in a systematic and thorough way can reveal insights which are valuable and potentially game-changing for your business or organisation. Where volumes are very large, we use AI on our terms – see How we use AI above.