Social Research ¦ Market Research ¦ Behavioural Insight ¦ Evaluation ¦ SROI
Social Research ¦ Market Research ¦ Behavioural Insight ¦ Evaluation ¦ SROI
M·E·L Research completed a research study for WMCA to gather insights into residents’ opinions and experiences around social lives, use of digital technology for social connection, as well as connection and activity in the local community. Insights will enable WMCA to make more informed, inclusive, and effective decisions. By understanding residents’ needs, WMCA can better ensure its policies are equitable, responsive to ever-changing needs, and foster greater trust, transparency, and regional cohesion.
We used a mixed-method approach to speak to 2,134 residents online and 666 residents face-to-face – a total of 2,800 interviews across the West Midlands. Quotas were set on age, gender, ethnicity and disability within each of the 7 Local Authorities – Birmingham, Coventry, Dudley, Sandwell, Solihull, Walsall and Wolverhampton, to ensure the survey was representative not only of the West Midlands, but of each individual LA too. Residents were targeted online by postcode matching and F2F through use of Census 2021 output areas.
We created one main PowerPoint narrative-led report for the WMCA region as a whole which included detailed sub-group analysis. Analysis included significance testing at 95% level of confidence. 7 individual reports were created for each LA within the WMCA area. Finally, a technical report outlining the approach and sample accompanied the main reports. Results from the main report (WMCA area) were then presented at two online sessions with WMCA colleagues and LA representatives.
