Begin with the End in Mind

Session 2

Session Objectives

Understand the value of a communication plan in improving the use of research results

Understand the importance of stakeholders in the research and research use processes

Introduce the Stakeholder Analysis Matrix

Establish the criteria for meaningful research questions

Who Will Use Study Results?

Developing a communication plan

Ensures communication activities are budgeted

Identifies key audience – decision maker and other consumers of information

Identifies appropriate communication method for each audience

Developing a Communication Plan

Different stakeholder audiences

• Have different perspectives

• Need/want different information

• Need information at different levels of

complexity

• Have different intensities of interest

Communication Plan – 4 Questions

1. What are the objectives of the communication strategy?

2. Who are the target audiences?

3. What are appropriate channels of communication?

4. How will you assess information use?

Developing a Communication Strategy

1. What are the objectives of the communication strategy?

Multiple research questions often included in a study

Identify key potential findings and align them with appropriate target audiences

2. Who Are the Target Audiences?

Decision maker

Primary stakeholders affected

Secondary stakeholders affected

Role of Stakeholders in the Research Process

What Is a Stakeholder?

Any person or group with a particular interest or ‘stake’ in your research Providers / Implementers Policy makers Program managers Partners Funding agencies Beneficiaries Professional associations

Decisions

Context of Decision Making

Information/data

Stake-holders

Involving Stakeholders Throughout the Research Process

Relevance of data

Ownership of data

Appropriate dissemination of data

Use of data

Implications of Expanded Stakeholder Involvement

Additional actors in the research process can:

Increase timelines

Add complexity to the process

Increase study cost

When to Involve Stakeholders in Research Activities

Study planning

Study question development

Protocol development

Data collection

Data interpretation & recommendation development

Dissemination

Assessing effects

How to Involve Stakeholders? Study planning

Stakeholder analysis

Communication plan development

Study question development

Protocol development

Data collection

Data interpretation & recommendation development

Dissemination

Assessing effects

Stakeholder Analysis MatrixName of Stakeholder Organization (and specific individual)

Stakeholder Description

Potential Role in Activity and Use of Results

Level of Knowledge of Research Topic

Level of Commitment to Topic (positive and negative)

Constraints to Participate in Activity

When to Involve

Gov’t sector

Political sector

Commercial sector

NGO sector

Civil society

Donors

Stakeholder Analysis Matrix

Name of Stakeholder Organization (and specific individual if required)

Stakeholder Description

Potential Role in Research Activity and Use of Results

Level of Knowledge of Research Topic

Level of Commitment to Research Topic (positive and negative)

Constraints to Participate in Research Activity

When to Involve

Div. of Maternal and Child Health, MOH

MCH service delivery

Primary audience; access to sites; service guideline revision

High, extensive

Strongly supports scale-up of PMTCT services

Busy schedule; Need 4-week lead time to participate in meetings

Study planning, question development, data collection, interpretation, dissemination & use

How to Involve Stakeholders? Study planning

Stakeholder analysis

Communication plan development

Research question development

Protocol development

Data collection

Data interpretation & recommendation development

Dissemination

Assessing effects

Formulating Meaningful Research Questions

Final QuestionRefined Question

Identifying, Assessing, Refining, and Prioritizing Questions

ImportantPriorityActionable Data gapNot already

underway

Answerable Method available Reasonable time

period

Initial Question

Criteria for Meaningful Research Questions

Important: Could the answer to the question lead to a policy or program change that would have a large effect on the population in question? Priority: Does the question address a current and pertinent issue?

Actionable: Can the results of the research be used to identify clear policy or program recommendations?

Answerable: Are data available, or can data be collected, to address the question?

Let’s Look at an Example

Research topic: Number of children borne by a woman (parity) & contraceptive use

Research problem: Do women with few (or no) children have a lower demand for family planning?

Research question: How does contraceptive use vary by number of existing children among married women?

Hypothesis: Low parity married women will have lower contraceptive prevalence rates.

Key Messages

Identify your target audiences and how you will communicate your research findings

Involve stakeholders throughout the process, not just at the beginning and the end; this facilitates uptake of results

Develop research questions that fill an information gap so that your research is linked to program/policy development and improvement

FORMULATING MEANINGFUL RESEARCH QUESTIONS & IDENTIFYING STAKEHOLDERS

Small Group Activity 2:

Small Group Activity 2: Instructions Select a reporter to record the group work on flip chart paper and report back to

the plenary. Locate Exercise 2 worksheet.

Develop a hypothesis for the research question assigned to your group. The hypothesis is the provisional theory guiding the research (see Exercise 2 worksheet – part 1).

Identify the primary program or policy implication for the research question assigned to your group. The program implication will be the action undertaken if the hypothesis is supported by the data.

Assuming the hypothesis is correct, what additional questions need to be answered to implement the recommendation of the study effectively?

Assuming the hypothesis is not correct, what additional information would help to interpret the results?

Considering where the research falls in the program-policy continuum, what stakeholders need to be involved in the research activity? Use the Stakeholder Analysis Matrix to guide this discussion (see Exercise 2 worksheet – part 2). When filling out the stakeholder analysis, complete only columns 1–3 (stakeholder name, description, and role).

Small Group Activity 2: Report Back

Each group has 10 minutes to discuss what they found challenging when developing research questions and identifying stakeholders, and how they overcame these challenges.

MEASURE Evaluation is funded by the U.S. Agency for

International Development and is implemented by the

Carolina Population Center at the University of North

Carolina at Chapel Hill in partnership with Futures Group

International, ICF Macro, John Snow, Inc., Management

Sciences for Health, and Tulane University. The views

expressed in this presentation do not necessarily reflect

the views of USAID or the United States Government.