There are a wide range of tools and methods available. People tend to worry about methods- but getting the questions right, and thinking who you need to involve are more important. You are using everyday skills of making contact, getting people to speak, and listening and taking notes- only in a more planned and rigorous way.

Broadly the list can be broken down into:

• Counting
• Observation
• Looking at documents & records
• Interviewing
• Case studies
• Group exercises and review meetings
• Questionnaires
• Visual and Projective techniques

The Evaluation Trust has produced a toolkit for use community and voluntary organisations. It contains advice on different methods and how to apply them, as well as resources, such as visual aids. To download the complete document, click here..., or browse through the complete list alternatively to find out more about the different methods, and where they should be used, keep reading!

Qualitative and quantitative methods have different costs and benefits, and reach to different parts of the jigsaw...
Quantitative methods of collecting information involving measuring, counting, collecting numbers, summarising and aggregating data, and statistical analysis.
Qualitative methods of collecting information involving depth exploration of richness of meaning, feelings, experiences, processes, understandings and events.

Levels of Data Quality can be descibed in different ways...
Reliability:the extent to which another person who had seen and heard what you did would have recorded the same data; or consistency of a measure from one situation to another.
Validity:the extent to which your data records the significant features of the situation you are studying- the test measures what it is supposed to. Credibility:the data needs to be credible...use multiple sources of evidence, pilot all tools, cross check for consistency, make your chain of reasoning clear, and get key people to verify early on what is coming out.