Series of research seminars ends

In January NICVA teamed up with ARK – the Northern Ireland Social and Political Archive, a joint initiative by the University of Ulster and Queen’s University – to provide an introduction to basic research skills to voluntary and community sector organisations.

Today saw the final seminar take place at NICVA.

About the four seminars

The four half-day events were primarily aimed at researchers and policy and information officers in voluntary and community sector organisations who are involved in processing or producing research for their organisations.

The four sessions covered:

1. Accessing and utilising sources of research
2. Designing research projects
3. Data Analysis
4. Report writing and dissemination

Today's session: Report writing and dissemination

The final session at NICVA today focused on what happens after you have completed your information gathering and analysis.

The session started with Gillian Robinson (Director ARK) and Ann Marie Gray (Policy Director ARK) delivering a detailed look at writing a research report and how to effectively present your findings. The session focused on:

• Structuring a report,
• writing an executive summary, and
• giving an effective PowerPoint presentation of your research findings

David Young, the Senior Press Officer at the University of Ulster then gave a short overview of how to write a press release to highlight to your research findings.

Emma McKenna from the ScienceShop rounded off the session and the series of seminars with an informative look at how you can use your research findings to have an impact on policy.