Analysing your Project

Ceris Anderson & Caron Walpole

StreetGames

Session Overview

Why is it important to analyse your project? What data should we collect or look up? What are the limitations of data collection? What other information and feedback would be useful? What to do with the data and evidence once it is

collected

What is the one thing you most want to cover in this session today?

Why is it important to analyse your project?

Why is it important?

It can help to: Keep track of progress and assess how things are going

Identify what is working well and where changes/improvements may be needed.

Provide consistent performance measurement.

Provide feedback on progress to everyone involved and can be used to share best practice

Show the value and impact of sport to partners, Government and the wider community etc.

Provide an evidence base to support the case for continued and increased levels of funding.

It is an essential part of good project management

Data collection is important but it can also be a challenge…………

What challenges do you face with data collection?

Data Collection

Try to keep it as simple as possible

Only collect what you really need

Explain to project staff, coaches, volunteers and participants why you collect the information and why it is important

Ensure systems are in place from the outset

Make use and share the data

What data should we collect or look up?

What data?

This must be driven by the aims and objectives of your project:– Sports participation– Participant engagement, Retention, Progression– Volunteer engagement and development– Training & qualifications – Health improvement– Reducing crime and ASB– Others……..

Can they all be measured by data collection?

Sports Participation

Sessions Participants Attendances

May also collect data on:

Coaches Volunteers Qualifications Events

Data collection

Participant profile Attendance registers Volunteer records

Participant Data

Total numbers Who is attending (profile) and who isn’t

What activities are they doing? How often are they coming? How long have they been coming? Who has dropped out? Are there

any patterns? How do we know if there has been

any progression?

Wider project Aims

You may need to collect other data or use progress ‘markers’:– Questionnaires or interviews (may be tailored to your

project or national surveys like the GPAQ)

– Evaluation tools (e.g. engagement ladders, Rickter Assessment, Outcomes star)

– Partner data (e.g. crime stats, NEET records)

What are the limitations of data collection?

“Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts

can be counted”. [Albert Einstein]

Data Limitations

Data collection can provide very useful information and show trends but it will not explain why

It will not identify why something is working well or not so well

What is behind the data?

What are the ‘life stories’?

It can be hard to prove causality

What other information and feedback would be useful?

Other information Gather feedback:

– Why is something is working well – what are the success factors?

– What have been the challenges

– What could be done differently

What are the ‘stories’ that bring the data to life?

What progress or impact has the project made?

How to find out

You may decide to conduct in-depth research

But you can also gather useful feedback simply and cheaply

Informal conversations Graffiti Boards Social Media Photo or Video Evidence Conducting interviews Ask young people to do

‘paired pal’ interviews Surveys Hold focus Groups Projective techniques

What to do with the data and evidence once it is collected

Build your project ‘story’

What have you learnt about:– Numbers attending, year-on-year growth– Key trends: can these guide future delivery/

investment– Your success in attracting key target groups– Your activities or growth in a particular sport– Your development of local capacity – Contributions towards physical activity targets– Contributions towards improving quality of life

Build your project ‘story’

Project Case studies– What has happened– What worked well– What have you learnt

Individual ‘pen portraits’– Progress of an individual participant, volunteer, leader or

coach Other sources:

– Do other partners have data or evidence which supports your work

– Has there been any press or political interest? Use all your different sources to ‘tell the story’

www.streetgames.org

ceris.anderson@streetgames.org