Quality of life survey

 
The Quality of Life survey provided robust new local data, so that hundreds of small voluntary and community organisations could target their services to the people and places most in need.

The Quality of Life survey provided robust new local data, so that hundreds of small voluntary and community organisations could target their services to the people and places most in need.

 
 

Case study: COMMUNITIES OF PLACE

Client: Various partners from Herefordshire
Date: 2018
Work: Research and analysis

Data Orchard led and delivered an entirely not for profit, collaboratively funded, county-wide residents survey. This was designed to fill gaps in the local evidence base (see our work on Herefordshire's Sustainable Route Map for more info).

Notably the research, as part of a project called Better Data Better Lives, explored quality of life data including, access and barriers to services and advice, culture and leisure, unpaid care, loneliness and social contact, well-being, social capital and community safety. The aim of the survey was to provide much needed information for a range of not-for-profit organisations, to target their services and resources to the people most in need of support. It took several years of planning and fundraising - thanks to a grant from Awards For All lottery and the E.F. Bulmer Benevolent Fund; and jointly funded by Herefordshire Community Foundation, the Great Places programme and the Brightspace Foundation, alongside our own contribution.

What we did

The Quality of life survey was posted to a random sample of 4,000 households in Herefordshire in the spring of 2018. It was complemented by consultation with young adults (via an online survey and focus group).

Designing the questionnaire was a balance of getting all we wanted to know versus keeping it a manageable size for respondents. It included using questions asked in previous years by the local authority (eg about social capital) to provide trend data, and benchmarking questions asked elsewhere (such as health and well-being).

“A big thank you to all those who responded!”
— Madeleine Spinks Co-Chief Executive

The results

The survey forms were processed, checked, analysed and weighted (no mean feat!) - to ensure the data reflected the population of Herefordshire. We produced a series of reports from the headline results to thematic analyses, and ran several events to discuss the results.

 
 
 
 
Case studyData OrchardAll work, Communities of place, Research and analysis, Health