Research and evaluation

Both academic research and project or process evaluations are valuable and may be carried out and used together. Research seeks to generate new information or knowledge and uses established methodologies and rigorous procedures for sampling, data collection and analysis to do so.

In contrast, evaluation aims to assess a specific service or process, sometimes against a set of known standards. Although the methods used can be simple, it is still important that they are rigorously applied. High quality evaluation is useful to us and to our clients to ensure that processes and the outcomes of projects can be understood, improved or replicated.

Willis Newson has worked with Professor Norma Daykin of the University of the West of England (UWE) on the production of academic evaluations of a number of our projects. Moving On, an arts and mental health project devised and delivered for Avon and Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust (AWP) was the subject of a two-year research study. The resulting research highlighted the value and benefits of participatory arts for service users and staff in mental healthcare settings, and produced a best practice framework. 

Another project for AWP, Arts at Callington Road, has also been evaluated by UWE, as has the Bristol element of the recently-completed Reach initiative. Information on all of these can be found on the project pages of this website.