Measuring Impact - Nicva
Measuring Impact - Nicva
Measuring Impact - Nicva
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Assessing the impact of regeneration projects 29<br />
5.2.2 Interviews and analysis<br />
Following agreement with the project managers and partnership co-ordinators, interviews<br />
were held with project managers and key stakeholders for each organisation. These included<br />
intended beneficiaries, local residents and activists, volunteers, staff, project managers of<br />
other SRB-funded projects, and other funders. Not all stakeholders were specific to one<br />
particular project: local residents, local authority and London Development Agency (LDA)<br />
staff for example. Interviewees were selected based on availability and suitability. Contact<br />
details for further potential interviewees were obtained at many of the interviews (particularly<br />
the interviews with project managers).<br />
A total of 28 interviews, lasting between half an hour and one and a half hours, were carried<br />
out. Most were individual interviews, but in some cases it made sense to interview two or<br />
three people in an informal group situation. Many interviews took place in the interviewees’<br />
work places. In the case of volunteers, they were carried out informally on-site, or in the<br />
interviewees’ own homes. Some local residents and volunteers involved in the Lansbury<br />
Festival were interviewed in the informal setting of the post-festival celebratory party. Three<br />
local residents were accessed via a local New Deal provider.<br />
Interviews were loosely structured and varied depending on the interviewee. This allowed the<br />
greatest opportunity to identify the full range of impacts. Importantly, there was no particular<br />
emphasis on anticipated impacts.<br />
Questions were asked based on a number of themes, most of which were common to all interviews.<br />
New themes arising during interviews were used to inform subsequent interview schedules,<br />
resulting in a fuller and more comprehensive interview schedule. Broad themes included:<br />
• social capital (linking 7 , bridging 8 and bonding 9 );<br />
• long-term/future impact and sustainability;<br />
• impact on and relationship with other organisations, including members of the<br />
partnership and other funders;<br />
• negative impact;<br />
• other current impacts, including skills, enjoyment, environmental improvements,<br />
and changes in attitudes.<br />
Interviewees were also asked about their perception of the system or network in which the<br />
organisations operate, and to represent their perception of the system diagrammatically,<br />
explaining the roles and relationships within the system. In addition, some local resident<br />
interviewees were asked to circle on a map the area where they lived. The map was then left<br />
on the table so that interviewees could refer to it throughout the interview.<br />
Analysis was carried out on an ongoing basis, so that subsequent interviews could be<br />
amended accordingly. The transcribed interviews were then coded according to themes.<br />
7 Linking social capital: the connections between individuals and groups in hierarchical or power-based relationships<br />
such as national and local government.<br />
8 Bridging social capital: the links or relationships between people from different groups or networks.<br />
9 Bonding social capital: the strong ties and close relationships within homogeneous groups.