Evaluation and research

How are you making a difference? Evaluation helps organisations understand people’s needs and improve social outcomes. OPM’s team of over 40 social researchers, analysts and evaluators work across all strands of social research involving both primary and secondary methods and data.

What we offer

We offer robust evaluation services such as:

• summative evaluations aimed at finding out ‘what works’, ‘how things work’, ‘why things work’, and ‘who needs to be involved’
• formative evaluations aimed at developing ownership and building consensus in order to use emerging findings to improve practice.
• co-produced evaluations, characterised by collaboration and capacity building in order to enhance the chances of sustainability
• theory-driven evaluations that identify mechanisms for change in a way that is sensitive to local contexts
• quasi-experimental evaluations that help to assess whether changes may be attributed to a particular intervention
• economic evaluations that assess value for money and whether something is cost-effective
• small-scale, quick turn-around evaluations, as well as complex longitudinal evaluations
• evaluation to assess whether pilot programmes should be rolled out for wider implementation

Why choose OPM?

A better approach

Our approach is robust, transparent, and authoritative. We’re driven by a commitment to assess impact and success in a locally meaningful way that engages people effectively.

We assemble our evaluation team to match your needs. These experts from across our organisation understand leadership, are skilled in organisational development, know what it means to be involved in the commissioning and delivery of services, are experts in engaging with a wide range of groups and use innovative evidence-gathering methods.

We work with the UK evidence-based policy and practice movement, and we have experts who understand the needs of policy-makers and practitioners. This enables us to produce ‘fit-for-purpose’ outputs that people will actually use.

We’ve established partnerships with leading universities and private organisations, including Warwick, Cardiff and York universities, the UK Centre for Evidence-based Policy and Practice, GfK NOP, SQW, Experian, and others.

The OPM way

OPM has worked to improve social results for 20 years. We understand public policy and service delivery and we have a wealth of public service experience. We listen carefully to your requirements, assemble a team with the most appropriate skills and then tailor our work to meet your objectives, timescales and budget.

Find out more

If you would like to talk to someone about our evaluation and research work, email Jon Gibson