{"id":2331,"date":"2026-07-09T14:41:38","date_gmt":"2026-07-09T13:41:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/appsoc.org.uk\/?p=2331"},"modified":"2026-07-09T14:41:38","modified_gmt":"2026-07-09T13:41:38","slug":"how-can-voluntary-sector-organisations-be-part-of-innovation-in-research","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/appsoc.org.uk\/?p=2331","title":{"rendered":"How can voluntary sector organisations be part of innovation in research?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The University of Exeter and Devon Community Foundation have been working with voluntary sector organisations in the South-West of England. Here Pat Pinkowska<\/strong> and Kerry Brown<\/strong> explore how qualitative research can better respond to the needs and challenges that these organisations face.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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In January 2026, we were invited to run a workshop as part of a Social Value event in Newton Abbot, Devon. This event provided an opportunity to meet local organisations and introduce the I-QUEST-PH project<\/a>: I<\/strong>nnovations in\u00a0Qu<\/strong>alitative Res<\/strong>earch Met<\/strong>hods: Transforming\u00a0P<\/strong>ublic\u00a0H<\/strong>ealth Research Approaches and Perspectives. We began a conversation about the sector\u2019s needs. Social value is a loosely defined concept that many organisations struggle to capture and measure, raising the question of whether qualitative research could help address this challenge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In contrast to quantitative approaches, qualitative research methods are designed to capture non-numerical forms of data (e.g., quotes, images, observations). Within the I-QUEST-PH project<\/a>, we understand innovation in broad terms \u2013 not only as methodological novelty, but also as improved responsiveness to partners\u2019 needs and adaptations of existing qualitative practices. We also recognise those working in the voluntary sector have various capacity and access to research resources. For this reason, we wanted to speak with these colleagues to explore how they currently use or would like to use qualitative research, and whether they see a need for innovation to enable them to capture the social value or other impact of their work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What did we do?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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On the day, 20 people signed up to a workshop on \u2018Telling stories with data \u2013 beyond the data collection\u2019, indicating a strong interest in conversations about qualitative research and storytelling. The workshop involved two tables of 10 people, who took part in rounds of answering questions on Post-it notes, followed by an informal reflection of the insights and themes across the two tables. In this way, we were learning together, whilst also introducing some basic principles of qualitative research to those unfamiliar with these types of data. We asked people to:<\/p>\n\n\n\n