Using a creative approach in research helps generate new ideas and solutions, making the process more engaging and enjoyable. It allows researchers to tackle problems from different angles, combine insights from various fields, and adapt to changes more easily. This approach also improves how findings are communicated, making them more accessible and impactful.
At M·E·L Research, we embed collaboration, co-design, and co-learning into our evaluation and learning practices. By using creative and participatory qualitative approaches, this ensures that these communities fully engage with the research, increasing agency and enabling their voices. Creative approaches can be really useful when you want to:
•Make your data collection approach more ‘human’ – making research more exciting and inspiring to be part of!
•Help people to think differently by creating a unique space for people to reflect.
•Collect data from children and young people or those with different languages or limited literacy skills.
•Shift the power dynamics, improving the data and insight that you collect.
•Enhance empowerment and expression – giving people more control and the ability to express themselves.
•Capture those unexpected outcomes of a programme or intervention.
Our team are experienced at working with a range of clients to help design the best way to collect evidence using creative approaches. Our evaluation team – which includes members with lived experiences – works in a trauma-informed way and focuses on engaging with diverse, minoritised, and vulnerable communities. Here are some examples of evaluation programmes where creative approaches have been used:
Pictures, drawings and artwork: Participants are asked to draw, create or take a picture of something that represents their perspectives on the research topic. This allows them to express their ideas visually. Researchers will ask participations to add a story or narrative to the image with sparks further discussions.
Conversation trees: Participants are asked a question/s, they write their response on a tag (akin to the leaves of a tree) and hand it on the tree. As the tree populates with ‘leaves’ this sparks discussion between participants and researcher.
Photo-elicitation: An approach to interviewing participants which uses photographs to prompt discussion. Participants are asked to choose a picture. The researcher will then explore why the picture/s was chosen, stimulating conversation and will prompt based on the research topic.
Graffiti Wall: A graffiti wall is a blank canvas where people can express their thoughts and creativity in response to a prompt, resulting in a mix of sketches and writings that support in the moment conversations with researchers.
Doorstep engagement provides a direct and effective way for councils, housing providers, utilities, charities and other public service organisations to reach people in their own communities.
A well-designed doorstep engagement programme can do more than distribute information. It can help organisations understand why people are not using a service, address practical barriers, provide tailored support and encourage lasting behaviour change.
In order to maximise the impact of campaign investment M.E.L Research can test early creative ideas, through to final copies of creative. We can offer feedback on all types of creative including TV, posters, press, online, social media and radio. This can be done using various methodologies depending on the type of feedback needed, and the type of creative.
We specialise in large scale national polling to help policymakers and organisation leaders make informed decisions. Our accurate, reliable, and unbiased insights help to explore public attitudes on a range of social issues.
We have considerable expertise in engaging with residents in order to provide local authorities with an understanding of local priorities, neighbourhood issues and the quality of local service delivery. We are passionate about giving residents a clear voice in shaping services and improving neighbourhoods.
At M·E·L Research we believe that brand strength is built in different ways, but fundamentally being authentic to your brand identity throughout all contact points is essential.
Our dedicated team is poised to offer unparalleled support across various research requirements, adhering strictly to the highest ethical standards, ensuring every project we undertake is trauma-informed and fully integrates Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) principles, and utilising our own in-house team for the full range of fieldwork and analysis approaches.
The M·E·L Research Panel members take part in a variety of qualitative research, including one-to-one interviews, focus groups, and online workshops. Each project explores real-world social issues that matter, covering topics such as health, education, local government, and equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI), plus much more.
We have over 35 years’ experience in running quantitative research studies for a range of public services clients; from residents consultations to health and well-being studies to Survey of Tenants And Residents (STAR) projects amongst others.
NSPCC commissioned M·E·L Research to deliver an annual brand tracking study among professionals working to keep children safe. This study formed part of a longitudinal programme, with this wave representing the fifth iteration, enabling robust trend analysis over time. The core purpose of the research was to monitor NSPCC’s brand health, understand perceptions and usage of its services, and identify emerging safeguarding challenges to inform strategic decision-making.
The target audience comprised safeguarding professionals with decision-making responsibilities across a range of…
Sport Wales commissioned M·E·L Research to deliver a pilot project designed to open up dialogue with funded partners and better understand their experiences of receiving support. The wider context for this work was a desire to ensure that support provision remained relevant, effective and responsive to the evolving needs of a diverse partner base, including National Governing Bodies (NGBs), National Partners and Regional Sport Partnerships. The core business need was to generate evidence-based insights that could help shape and improve the support offer. Specifically, Sport Wales wanted to understand how their support was…
M·E·L Research delivered Ripple Effect Mapping (REM) training for Winning Scotland, supporting the rollout of the Planet Youth prevention model across six local authority areas in Scotland. REM focuses on discovering and understanding the impacts or effects of a programme, project or intervention using multiple stakeholders. REM adopts a strengths-based approach and looks at how certain actions or efforts play a role in causing the observed changes. The idea is to identify changes or effects and how an intervention caused them – this approach helps to visually map out the outcomes and impacts of a…
M·E·L Research was commissioned by the Royal British Legion (RBL) to co‑design and deliver a pilot Lived Experience Panel. The pilot aimed to test whether a structured panel of people with lived experience of the Armed Forces community could meaningfully inform RBL’s campaigns, policy and research work. The model was delivered over a short, intensive period to “test and learn” during live organisational strategy projects. The pilot explored feasibility, impact, support needs, and the potential for scaling or embedding the approach. M·E·L Research supported recruitment, developed and delivered all training, and provided…
The Invictus Games is an international multi-sport event for wounded, injured and sick servicemen and servicewomen, both Serving personnel and veterans. The Invictus Games acts as a crucial part of recovery journeys for many from the Armed Forces community and aims to positively focus on what they can achieve post injury or illness, celebrating their fighting spirit, though an inclusive sporting competition that recognises the sacrifice they have made. The Duke of Sussex was inspired to create the Invictus Games after visiting the Warrior Games in…
Help for Heroes commissioned M.E.L Research to develop a detailed segmentation of the UK charity-giving public, focusing specifically on individuals who support – or could be encouraged to support – military and veterans’ charities. The charity sought an evidence-based understanding of the motivations, behaviours and communication preferences of potential supporters, with a view to strengthening engagement, improving message resonance, and ensuring its offer aligns with what matters most to supporters and prospective supporters.
Barnardo’s commissioned M·E·L Research to carry out an independent evaluation of the Children that We Care For (CtWCF) Mental Health and Wellbeing (MHWB) pilot service in Sandwell. The service was delivered in partnership with Sandwell Children’s Trust and aimed to address a clear gap in emotional and mental health support for children that are cared for and care experienced young people. Nationally, demand for children and young people’s mental health support has grown, with a higher proportion of children and young people living with probable mental disorders.
The evidence presented in our report highlights the significant role that the Housing Enablement Team (HET) plays in supporting timely hospital discharges and preventing delayed transfers of care. Over the last decade, the service has grown substantially, now working with more than 2,000 patients per year, many of whom face complex housing and social challenges that would otherwise prevent a safe and timely discharge.
Analysis of the available data demonstrates that the HET provides a rapid, effective response.
The Children and Young People’s Health Equity Collaborative (CHEC) was a three-year partnership between Barnardo’s, the UCL Institute of Health Equity (IHE), and three Integrated Care Systems (ICSs) – NHS Birmingham and Solihull, NHS Cheshire and Merseyside, and NHS South Yorkshire. Its vision was that all children should enjoy good health and positive wellbeing, reduce child health inequalities and improve the outcomes for CYP from underserved communities by acting on the social determinants of health.
Breakthrough T1D is a leading global charity committed to accelerating life-changing breakthroughs to cure, prevent and treat Type 1 Diabetes (T1D). Alongside funding critical research into a cure, we are also deeply invested in improving lives today—through better technology, healthcare access, and emotional and informational support for everyone living with T1D. One area of growing importance is the experience of ageing with Type 1 Diabetes.
Shelter is the leading charity in the UK on homelessness and housing issues. Shelter has a strong, established voice on the issues of home quality, availability, affordability and tenure security through both campaigning and advocacy. Shelter runs campaigns to raise awareness and seeks to influence housing policy, working with government and other organisations to advocate for changes that can deliver sector wide improvements.
The British Dyslexia Association (BDA) is the voice of dyslexic people. They campaign and advocate to influence government, organisations and institutions to become dyslexia-friendly and accessible, to enable dyslexic people to reach their full potential.
The BDA commissioned M·E·L Research to conduct research to understand and quantify the lived experience of dyslexic young people aged 13-18, to deeply understand how dyslexia impacts their lives.
