HOW TO ANALYSE RESPONSES

How will you analyse responses?

The precise method of analysis will depend on the consultation technique used.

The following broad steps can be applied to most consultation exercises:

Step 1: Ensure that accurate and complete records are kept of all responses, whether received through a formal written consultation or more interactive methods.

Step 2: Try to sort the responses into particular types, for example, business groups, employees’ representative groups and individual views. This will help you to identify variations in perspectives on particular issues.

Step 3: Develop a ‘framework grid’ for analysis by identifying the key policy issues, themes and proposals, and then summarise the primary viewpoints on each aspect.

Step 4: Examine the primary viewpoints and consider the implications for the Separate the practical/realistic solutions from those that you know cannot be pursued.

Step 5: Prepare an outline government response to the consultation based on your analysis of the responses. This should set out the key themes identified by the consultation and how you propose to resolve these. Explanations of why popular recommendations have not been carried forward should also be included.

Step 6: Draw together all of the above into a single ‘outcome’ paper.

Step 7: Deliberate with relevant stakeholders in government to develop a clear position on the ramifications of what is set out in the outcome paper.

Another aspect to bear in mind in the analysis is that when selecting methods, you must anticipate the kind of results you expect to have at the end of the process, and how these will be processed and analysed, in order to feed into decision-making. Otherwise, there is a danger that decision-makers will become preoccupied with the mechanisms used to involve the public at the expense of how they will actually use the end results to support the development of a particular policy.

It may be helpful to use a timetable that identifies completion dates for key tasks associated with the consultation exercise. In circumstances where a number of methods (including e-consultation approaches) have been used to involve the public to develop a particular policy, the different responses will need to be integrated.