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Section A: Commissioning Research and Consultation
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Commissioning Research And Consultation
There may be occasions when you need to commission a research or consultation exercise from an outside consultant. In particular, external consultants often carry out large-scale surveys involving face-to-face interviews by trained interviewers, although elements such as questionnaire design or data analysis may be kept in-house if the necessary skills are available. Using a specialist research organisation has a cost but potentially brings a number of advantages, such as:
- confidence that exercises will be properly designed and carried out
- ready access to trained interviewers
- knowledgeable analysis and presentation of results
- confidence that the exercise is unbiased, which may be particularly important on controversial or politically sensitive issues
Preparing A Brief
If you wish to use the services of a research company you need to be very clear about what you want to find out. You will need to write a formal research brief that contains enough detail about the project to allow the consultant to design a research proposal. This stage is particularly important because if it is ambiguous or unclear you may not get answers to all of the questions you need to cover.
The brief should include:
| Background | The context to the work and why it is being undertaken. |
| Objectives | What the research is designed to explore, measure or explain and what you intend to do with the results. |
| Target Audience | Who you want to reach, e.g. all adults, parents, a particular age group. Include any issues relating to minority ethnic communities and disability. |
| Topics | Questions that seem, at this early stage, to need answering. |
| Deliverables | Outputs you require, e.g., written reports, statistical tables, electronic data files for further analysis, presentations. |
| Methodology | You may wish to suggest the research methodology, or ask the consultant to propose a suitable method within the time and budget available. |
| Resources | You may wish to specify your budget and ask the consultant to tell you what they can do for the price, or you may just ask them to quote a cost for your specification. |
| Budget | How much is likely to be available for the work. |
| Timing | A timetable of when a proposal is required, when you want the research to start and when you need it completing by. |
| Information | Request the Company’s conditions of business, the names of the people who will be carrying out the work and their experience of similar work. |
| Contact | Provide a contact name to allow further discussion and clarification if necessary. |
Costs
The Council has financial regulations regarding the use of external consultants, see Section 10 of: http://www.bradford.gov.uk/council/constitution/2003/pdf/PART3G.pdf
At the present time (March 2003) the regulations require competitive quotations to be obtained from four sources for contracts between £4,000 and £60,000. A decision can be made not to seek competitive quotations if this is felt to be inappropriate or impracticable but this must be agreed with the Director of Legal and Democratic Services. Formal tenders are required for contracts expected to exceed £60,000 and must comply with the Standing Orders for Contracts.
Selecting A Consultant Or Agency
If you decide to invite quotations from a number of potential consultants it is common practice to contact no more than four. Developing a research proposal is a time consuming job for a research organisation and they may not bother if they think that their chances of getting the job are slight. It is usual practice to invite the Consultants to present their proposals to you.
When selecting a particular consultant you should consider:
- Evidence that the consultant has understood the brief and
the problems to be researched. Have they added to your ideas?
- The overall approach suggested, including a statement of
the research objectives, sampling techniques, fieldwork methods, data
handling
and analysis. Does this meet with your expectations and, if not,
are convincing alternatives presented and explained?
- The experience of the researchers assigned to the project.
- The consultant’s ability to deal with any issues relating
to ethnic minority communities or disability.
- The cost, usually a global sum. The proposal should, however,
be clear about what the cost includes and what additional costs may
be incurred. Are you satisfied that they are offering value for money?
- Do they feel right? Do you think you can trust the organisation
and work with their staff?
Appointing A Consultant Or Agency
When you appoint a consultant it is normal to send them a commissioning letter, which along with your brief and the consultant’s proposal form the contract for the research.
If you need assistance to develop a research brief and appoint an external
consultant please contact Richard Smith in the Research and Consultation
Service on 01274 433839.
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Introduction and Framework Section A Section B Section C Section D Section E |
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