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Appendix Two: Instrument
Community Learning and Development Participant Survey: Guidance
Further help and guidance on completing the survey
What's it all about?
You will have been asked to take part in this pilot study by someone who knows you as a participant in some form of community activity.
Lots of different organisations support what you have heard described as 'community learning and development'. This is a way of working with and supporting communities to increase the skills, confidence, networks and resources that people need to tackle problems and grasp opportunities. This survey is part of a range of measures underway to try and evidence what kind of impact community learning and development makes to individuals, groups and communities.
That means we would like to know from you the difference that taking part in community activity makes to your life. We are also interested in your views on ways in which the activity may have made a difference to how your group works (if you come together as a community group) and also your views on how the activity might make a difference to community life. We value what you have to say.
This is a pilot study as we are hoping to learn lessons from this that tell us whether asking these kinds of questions give us information that is of value. It is then possible that this survey will be used across the country.
Confidentiality
Very importantly you will not be identified as part of this study. We are asking for information about you that helps us to know generally about all of the people who took part, but we aren't asking for your name or any other information that can identify you. Workers who have asked you to complete the survey will never see your individual response. We won't know who you are once you've completed it and we won't seek to identify individual responses in any way or share the individual responses with anyone involved.
What if you take part in more than one activity?
We know that the kind of activities that people take part in are very wide-ranging and couldn't possibly be listed here. But they tend to fall under three main headings and we'd like to know which one you are thinking of when you are answering the questions and the nature of your involvement. We cover this later.
If you are involved in more than one kind of activity pick the one that you know best and keep that in your mind when you are answering the questions. Decide on your answers based on a general picture that reflects your overall and most commonly held view. Try to think if you are just feeling bad or good today and then think how you feel most often before answering.
Group work and individual work
If you take part in something that is specifically about your own individual learning (for example taking part in a class or working with a tutor), you may find that some of the questions don't seem to apply to you and you will be able to skip these and move forward in the survey.
The questions that talk about 'our group/organisation' are designed for those whose goal is achieved by working together in a community group (for example a tenant's organisation or a self help group or a youth group). Some of these groups will be very informal while others will have constitutions and be very organised. We are interested to hear from you about both.
What do we mean by community?
When we say community, what we mean is a geographic community (for example, a whole town or just one block of flats), or it may be a community of people who all share the same interest (for example, carers or parents).
The activity and change
Each question is posed as a statement. It's important that you base your answers - as much as you can - on what you think the contribution of the activity has been to the change that you are describing in the statement.
Think about how things might have changed
For each statement, try to think about how you feel now and also about whether that is different to when you started taking part in the activity you have in mind. This may be some time ago or it may be fairly recently, but we're interested to see if things have changed for you. Mark your responses for the Past and for Now against the measure you think most applies for each statement.
Many thanks for your participation in this pilot study.
The following 6 points were those you saw when you first came to this on-line survey
1. We would like to know from you the difference that taking part in community activity makes to your life, your group (if you come together as a community group) and also your views on how the activity might make a difference to community life. This is a pilot study as we are hoping to learn lessons from this that tell us whether asking these kinds of questions gives us information that is of value. It is then possible that this survey will be used across the country.
2. At no point will you be personally identified as part of this study.
3. If you are involved in more than one kind of activity pick the one that you know best and keep that in your mind when you are answering the questions. Decide on your answers based on your overall and most frequently held view.
4. It's important that you base your answers - as much as you can - on what you think the contribution of the activity has been to the change that you are describing in the statement.
5. Try to think about how you feel now and also about whether that is different to when you started taking part in the activity you have in mind. This may be some time ago or it may be fairly recently, but we're interested to see if things have changed for you.
6. You can leave the survey at any stage and return later by revisiting the website address; you can then continue from where you left off. Please note: you can go back to previous questions by clicking on the Previous Page button at the bottom of the page - do not use the Back arrow button that you usually use on the internet. You can then review answers you've already supplied and can change them if you need to.
If you require assistance in completing this survey please contact Kris Von Wald or Carolyn Stenhouse on 0131 272 2728 or you can email Kris.
Avanté Consulting
Community Learning and Development Participant Survey
Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire Pilot
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