Research project

About us

OPM is an independent, employee owned organisation that undertakes research to help develop public services. We work with organisations across local and central government, health, social care, children’s services, the police and community safety, education, the media, the voluntary sector and commerce. All the people we work with share a common commitment: a determination to improve the well-being of the communities they serve.

Our values

OPM is made up of enthusiastic members who care about people and public services and work within a strong ethical framework. We take very seriously our responsibilities to those who are part of any research we undertake. We will protect your anonymity and anything you tell us as part of our research will be reported confidentially. If for any reason you wished to be acknowledged when we report the research we would still ensure we have obtained your explicit permission.

Our team and skills

The team we have put together for this research understand its importance and the sensitivities that surround the topic. We have a wide range of methodological expertise and the specialist knowledge and experience to ensure it is successful. Many team members have a personal, as well as professional, interest in this work and they will do all they can to ensure that those who take part know their contributions are appreciated and invaluable to the project.

Project Manager/Research Fellow – Iain Ryrie

Iain Ryrie joined OPM in October 2009 and is an experienced researcher who has championed user involvement in the design and delivery of research. He specialises in health and social care and his work has included the production of guidelines on service user involvement for the Department of Health and the use of those guidelines in local and national studies. Iain’s interest in equality and diversity has included work with LGBT communities on behalf of local health care providers to ensure community needs are incorporated into service improvement plans.

Project Manager/Researcher – Sarah McDonnell

An experienced practitioner working with OPM for the past two years, Sarah specialises in qualitative research. She is part of the team at OPM driving LGBT and wider equalities and diversity research forward. She will be taking both a project management and an active research role in this study. Her wider work focuses on cohesive communities and social development and she has strong interests in equality, behaviour change and policy development. She has worked for private, public sector and charitable organisations both here and in Australia.

Senior Researcher – Sanah Sheikh

Sanah has been at OPM since May 2007 and in that time has gained extensive experience of qualitative and quantitative research and is experienced in using a range of research techniques. She has facilitated focus-groups and workshops with hard-to-reach groups, conducted in-depth interviews with professionals and service users, and carried out large scale surveys as well as survey analysis. Sanah’s interests include community cohesion, the equality and diversity agenda and stakeholder and community engagement. Sanah also supports OPM Director Ewan King, in the coordination and delivery of OPM’s work on community cohesion and violent extremism.

Project Recruitment – Sara Love

Sara has been extensively involved in OPM’s qualitative research projects for the past three years, and has particular project recruitment experience surrounding equality and diversity issues. Her background is within political and charitable organisations in the UK, and within social outreach work and grassroots women’s organisations in India.

Research Assistant – Robert Pralat

Robert joined OPM in autumn 2009 having graduated in psychology and gender studies. While at university, he conducted research into the impact of the Civil Partnership Act 2004 and the Children and Adoption Act 2002 on the attitudes of young gay men towards their future family life; he also examined the cultural and political meanings of same-sex relationships. He now maintains his work around equality and diversity in his research with OPM.

Research Assistant – Bandana Thakur

Bandana has a special interest in rights based social research which is informed by her extensive background working within social justice contexts for charities and campaigning organizations in the UK. She has extensive experience of a broad range of methodologies and facilitation and engagement techniques, particularly those involving seldom heard and marginalized groups such as Deaf and disabled young people, gypsy and traveller communities and young offenders.

Research Assistant – Kate Allman

Kate has been working at OPM since March 2009, in which time she has gained experience in conducting research using a wide range of methodologies. Prior to joining OPM she studied anthropology and developed interests in civil society, public participation and social capital, particularly in relation to globalisation. She has recently conducted work on equality and diversity for the Equality and Human Rights Commission, which involved looking at areas of significant inequality in Scotland.

Project Director – Dr Chih Hoong Sin

Chih Hoong joined OPM in March 2008 from the Disability Rights Commission where he was a departmental head. He leads OPMs evaluation work and has extensive experience of designing, conducting and managing a wide range of research at the local, regional and national levels. Chih Hoong is passionate about all aspects of equality and diversity, and has extensive experience in issues relating to sexual orientation, ‘race’/ethnicity, ageing and disability.

This research project, and our methods

The Government Equalities Office (GEO) has the main responsibility for sexual orientation and transgender equality across government. This involves leading on legislation, advising government departments and agencies and producing research and guidance for both government and wider stakeholders.

The literature reports a dearth of evidence on the extent of participation among LGB&T people in Great Britain. A recent review of sexual orientation commissioned by the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) concluded that, “LGB people perceive barriers in various forms of democratic participation, but the nature of such barriers requires further exploration” (Mitchell et al, 2009). It also reported that there is little research investigating the barriers for LGB people becoming involved in their local communities. The position on participation among Trans groups is even less clear.

The GEO has now commissioned OPM, in partnership with the Consortium of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgendered Voluntary and Community Organisations (the Consortium), to undertake research into the experiences of and barriers to participation in public and political life for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Trans people. In order to meet their commitment to improving equality of representation and involvement in public and political life, the GEO would like to better understand the extent to which LGB&T groups are under-represented in public and political life, what the barriers are to participation and how it is possible overcome these barriers.  This research project is the first phase of this work.

The research project has three key aims:

1. To examine the extent, nature and experience of participation in public and political life among L, G, B and T groups and changes to this over time
2. To explore the attitudes and perceptions of L, G, B and T people towards participation in public and political life and the nature of the demand among these groups to be able to participate more
3. To explore the barriers to participation among L, G, B and T groups and identify how to increase representation (including “visible” representation) among these groups.

By 'participationin public and political life', we refer to components in the EHRC’s Equality Measurement Framework (EMF) (see Alkire et al 2009), specifically thecapability to participate in decision-making, have a voice and influence. This framework includes the following layers:

• a – participate in decision-making and make decisions affecting your own life independently
• b – participate in the formulation of government policy, locally and nationally
• c – participate in non-governmental organisations concerned with public and political life
• d – participate in democratic free and fair elections
• e – get together with others, peacefully
• f – participate in the local community
• g – form and join civil organisations and solidarity groups, including trade unions

Why we need you

We have completed a rapid literature review, spoken to people and organisations from across the LGB&T community as well as other professional organisations, including some large private sector employers, who feature in the Stonewall Top 100 employers list.

These early conversations have helped us frame our research tools and interview questions. We are now moving on to our ‘fieldwork’ stage where we will talk to approximately 150 members of the LGB&T sub-communities. We will be using telephone and face-to-face interviews and focus groups. We aim to include as diverse a range of experiences and identities as possible and will be recruiting participants nationally and advertising our work in both LGB&T and mainstream publications.

The interviews and discussions with members of the LGB&T communities will provide us with the information we need to understand what barriers to participation (if any) exist for LGB&T people and how the barriers faced differ between and within these communities. We will use this evidence to make recommendations for the GEO to meet its commitment to improving equality of representation and involvement in public and political life.

Are you interested? If so, please register your details using this link. We will contact you with more information.