Methods

A key aim of the Third Sector Trends Study is to build on the well-established research methods for studying national sector trends through the development of innovative approaches to studying the sector at regional and local levels. It also aims to share new methodologies with other researchers. There are two parts to the study, a quantitative mapping of its scale, now complete and a more qualitative survey-based study of the local dynamics.

Measurement of the scale and scope of the sector in the N East and Cumbria
The completed element of the study was highly quantitative, developing reliable estimates of the numbers, scale and scope of all types of third sector organisations in the region, whether registered charities or not. This involved combining existing sources of information in innovative ways to produce reliable estimates, based on:

  • integrating local data from the principal registers and regulators of the sector;
  • using directories or databases from local infrastructure bodies;
  • integrating data from these sources with statistics on the wider third sector, through GuideStar UK’s databases and others.

Published and other documentary sources of data were supplemented with a survey designed to provide a basic profile of the features of the ‘unincorporated’ organisations, namely those which do not feature on national register.

The mapping of third sector resources was fleshed out further through:

  • analyses of large-scale datasets on volunteers;
  • the paid workforce (using, for example, the Citizenship Survey, the Labour Force Surveys);
  • further registered charity data, taken from the Guidestar database.

Using these data, the researchers built a reliable picture of the total scale and geographical distribution of organisations and their resources in the region. This part of the study was carried out by a consortium led by Professor John Mohan. Reports are available on the Third Sector Trends Study page of the website.

Study of local third sector dynamics and change over time
The other key element of the study is in two phases and mixes quantitative and qualitative methods to study the local sector’s dynamics, interaction and change over time. The first phase was approached in a number of ways, including:

  • a survey of infrastructure bodies in the region;
  • an in-depth long-term study of the comparative performance of 50 third sector organisations in different fields of operation, the ‘TSO50’ study;
  • the construction of a large representative panel survey of organisations across the region.

The panel survey will gather evidence on the dynamics of third sector organisations in response to external factors, such as trends in the economic and political environment. Other qualitative components for assessing sector dynamics include a study of stakeholder perceptions of trends in third sector development, and an exploration of the formation, strength, influence and benefit of third sector networks. This part of the study is led by Professor Tony Chapman, formerly of the University of Teesside and now at the University of Durham. Reports are available on the Third Sector Trends Study page of the website.

The second phase includes a second round of the ‘TSO50’ survey and a further ‘TSO1000’ questionnaire survey continuing interview panels with individuals working in or with the sector. This phase of the study will provide trend information on the financial impact of cuts, changes in sector behaviour and attitudes in response to changing circumstances, and indicators for successful organisations e.g. more mergers and partnership working or more organisations engaging in social enterprise activity.

The second phase will allow the research team to make conclusive recommendations about what funders and the voluntary sector need to do to enable the sector in the region to be successful and sustainable and would help to ensure that future policy, strategy and funding interventions, by the Foundation and others, were targeted and effective.

The Foundation and the research team aim to engage key stakeholders and ensure knowledge transfer to a wide range of users through inclusion in the study, events, publications and web resources. A number of outputs from the study have already been disseminated and published.