Our research and evaluation projects are focused on helping clients and partners to understand the impact of an intervention or programme, and recommend improvements that will deliver and manage active and measurable change.

All our young facilitators are trained in clean questions, health and safety, mental health first aid and are DBS checked. They are actively involved in all aspects of the planning and research process.

Youth-led co-creation

Our approach to research is focused on actively listening to the voices of those involved in any programme or intervention. We believe that young people engage more positively with their peers, and therefore draw out higher quality data and insights from our research. 

We believe that young people’s active participation in the design, process and research phases offers greater insights and deeper engagement, resulting in outcomes that are more effective and better focused on young people’s/families’/communities’ needs.

Most Significant Change (MSC)

We have recently added Most Significant Change (MSC) methodology to our suite of tools and our team has undertaken training to deliver projects using the process. MSC is a qualitative, participatory monitoring and evaluation technique using story collecting, panel discussion and evaluation. It is particularly useful where there may not yet be agreement between stakeholders on what outcomes are the most important for a programme or intervention. 

MSC works well where interventions are expected to be highly participatory, including any forms of monitoring and evaluation of results. Monitoring happens throughout the programme cycle, which provides information to help manage the programme. MSC provides valuable data on impact and outcomes that are used to help assess the performance of a programme as a whole.

Find out more about how MSC can help you evaluate your programmes and interventions.

Workshops

Make (Good) Trouble workshops are engaging, interactive and thought-provoking. They are designed by and for young people, to encourage positive enquiry. Led by our young facilitators, they provide safe and creative spaces for children and young people to express themselves.

Focus groups

Make (Good) Trouble conduct focus groups on behalf of organisations and statutory bodies to help them to better understand young people. We have access to children and young people of all ages across the UK, bringing them together in a safe space, in order to share their ideas and opinions.

Find out more about our focus groups and what they involve here: MGT Focus groups

Evaluation and impact analysis

Make (Good) Trouble have carried out evaluation and impact reports for local authorities and as part of our ongoing project measurement within our organisation. Our reports are based on an analysis of research – carried out by our team, or using existing data and information from other sources. We analyse the effectiveness of programmes or interventions and offer recommendations for improvements, strategies for future projects.

Testimonial

“The peer-led reviews of the Holiday, Activity and Food (HAF) programme have been incredibly valuable to demonstrate the value of the project. By working collaboratively with activity providers and speaking directly to the young people and their families, Make (Good) Trouble were able to capture the wide ranging positive impacts of the programme. Alongside each report, they also created a short celebratory film, incorporating photos, videos and audio testimony from young people who attended. These films were able to capture the positive impact on young people’s physical and mental health and have proved a valuable tool to promote the programme to schools and other local organisations.

“As 2021 was the first year of HAF provision in East Sussex, it was incredibly important to be able to capture what had worked well but also identify areas for improvement to inform planning for future delivery. The recommendations from the reviews, shared with both the HAF internal working group and external partnership advisory group, have been instrumental in helping to set the direction the HAF programme will take in 2022 and beyond.”

– Ben Baker, Holiday Activities and Food Programme, Project Manager, Equality and Participation Team, Children’s Services, East Sussex County Council, 2022