Research

Turn research collaboration into measurable impact

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Enabling innovative thinking through best practice stakeholder dialogue

There is growing recognition across the research and innovation sector of the importance of genuine collaboration - from the early stages of research design through to delivering meaningful impact for stakeholders and society. Yet many researchers and institutions face the challenges of limited time, internal capacity, and the nuanced skills required to design and facilitate effective dialogue.

 LET'S TALK

Commissioned research to the highest standards

We undertake commissioned research for government departments, the third sector, and other organisations. Our work spans semi-structured interviews, literature reviews, workshops, and innovative participatory sessions — always to the highest quality standards possible within your budget and timeframe.

Workshops

Workshops are at the core of what we do. In many cases they are the most efficient way to understand stakeholder views in depth.

  • Facilitation that draws out diverse perspectives in the room
  • Recording methods that capture what is said clearly and faithfully
  • Outputs structured so data can be analysed and used for research

Semi-structured interviews

Our team’s social science grounding means we can design and run semi-structured interviews for research — online or in person, to suit your project.

  • Detailed understanding of people’s views on a specific topic
  • Flexible questioning that follows the conversation without losing focus
  • Experience with clients including the Scottish Government, the Joint Nature Conservation Committee, and Northern Ireland Environment Link

Online surveys

We design and distribute online surveys to gather information and opinions from a wider range of participants.

  • Broad understanding of a topic across many voices
  • Factual and numeric data you can compare and track
  • Often combined with workshops, interviews, and other methods

Literature reviews

We have extensive experience reviewing literature and weaving findings into larger research projects.

  • Structured system for collecting, reviewing, and summarising sources
  • Cost-effective, rapid reviews without cutting corners
  • Clear links from evidence to your project’s questions and outputs

Analysing outputs and reporting

Our team processes and analyses large volumes of qualitative data and presents it in our ‘Word for Word’ reports — comprehensive, usable, and faithful to what people said.

  • No pre-set criteria or keyword searches that skew what you hear
  • Less risk of missing new, nuanced, or alternative perspectives
  • Reporting designed to be understood and acted on, not just archived

LET'S TALK

Helping researchers & institutions across multi disciplines

At Dialogue Matters, we specialise in independent stakeholder participation, engagement, process design and dialogue. We work with researchers and research institutions across disciplines to help them with:

Impactful research

Co-design impactful research with stakeholders at proposal stage

Relationships & collaboration

Build strong relationships and collaboration

Knowledge sharing

Facilitate reflection and knowledge sharing towards the end of projects

Pathway support

Support stronger pathways to impact

But don’t just take our word for it

A great range of opinions

& views 

Very stimulating

discussions from

a wide range of

different perspectives 

It exceeded   

all my expectations

The discussions were

brilliant & I had a

chance to learn

more from people

during the group work

Great discussions

& I learnt a lot from

other participants too