We've carefully curated free online learning resources for those working in local government and the community sector on activities that strengthen the building blocks of health. They support research, evaluation, and learning, so you can make the most effective use of evidence.
For most topics, you can choose how you want to learn:
- quick bites – short resources that take about 10 minutes to read or watch
- deeper dives – more detailed content that takes up an hour to read or watch
For some topics, we’ll host our own webinars and create materials to cover those areas.
For more in depth learning, or for help on a specific project or challenge, please explore our community of practice.
The stages of research and evaluation
There are 5 stages in the research and evaluation cycle:
- Starting out
- Planning
- Determining success measures
- Data collection and analysis
- Using your findings to drive meaningful change
Our resources below are grouped by stage and will guide you through each step of this process with confidence and ease.
1
Starting out
Define what the issues are and what you want to investigate.
This is always your starting point. It’s about recognising that research or evaluation is needed to improve something – whether that’s how you deliver services, understand issues more effectively, or learn what’s happening in practice.
Understand how to locate and assess current evidence, so your work is informed, relevant, and avoids duplication. Including existing literature, documents, information or monitoring to understand what is already known.
What resources (time, budget, skills) are available? What scale is realistic i.e. local, borough-wide, or targeted groups?
2
Planning
Clarify the distinct purposes and approaches of research and evaluation to choose the right path for your project and explore different types of evaluation.
Use the data to frame the issue as a researchable question or set of questions – be specific about what you want to understand or measure.
Discover how to choose the most appropriate research methods to answer your research questions effectively.
Reflect on your role and influence in the research process and how it’s essential for ethical, inclusive and respectful engagement with the communities you work alongside.
Ensuring inclusivity from a wide range of participants in data collection is essential for getting a comprehensive understanding of issues or outcomes. This can also include involving people in data collection and analysis.
3
Determining success measures
Use visual tools to map out how activities lead to outcomes, helping to plan, evaluate, and communicate your work.
Learn how to design a framework that clearly sets out how you’ll monitor progress, evaluate impact, and embed learning. This includes identifying who’s responsible, how data will be collected and used, and how insights will drive adaptation and continuous improvement.
4
Data collection and analysis
Learn how to design and apply quantitative methods to collect, analyse, and interpret numerical data, helping you identify patterns, measure outcomes, and support evidence-informed decisions.
Explore collaborative approaches that value lived experience and shift power to the people you are researching alongside – ensuring that the work is developed with and by communities, making the findings more relevant and impactful.
Explore how to design and run qualitative research to gather detailed insights from communities and other people involved, helping you understand the ‘why’ behind the data and create approaches that work better for everyone.
5
Using findings to drive meaningful change
Learn how to present findings clearly and use them to share learnings, inform decisions and influence change.
Tell us about your experience
Good or bad we want to hear what you think of our online learning resources. Use the learning and observation log to share feedback and the impact log to tell us about any impact that has come about as a result of our support.
Community of practice
Join our weekly online sessions for a collaborative space to share ideas, learnings and support. Connect with others tackling similar challenges and get practical help with research and evaluation questions – big or small.
Learning sets
Join our short courses delivered over 3 months to help you tackle real research and evaluation challenges. Sessions run every other week, mixing in-person and online formats, and give you practical tools and clear next steps.