Glossary R

Rapid Rural Appraisal

 

Technique designed to avoid many traps identified with rural research. An exploratory technique that allows questions to be changed as the process develops. Requires a team of researchers.

Recruitment Questionnaire

 

The questionnaire used as a tool to help screen and select appropriate respondents for a given study. In the US, and increasingly in the UK, this is known as a 'screener'.

Referenda

 

Where votes are cast on a question or proposition as means of assessing the wider public opinion on an important issue. They can provide a foundation or legitimacy for collective decisions and thus facilitate their acceptance and application by the population concerned.

Notes:

  • Needs to be preceded by the provision of information on the issue and public debate
  • Referendums do not have to be binding, and are sometimes called consultative referendums
  • They can be held by different levels of jurisdiction or for specific geographical areas
  • As a consultation technique it is an unusual practice, best used very sparingly

Representative Sample

Where the population is divided into strata dependent on some particular factor (age, social class, economic class etc) and a random sample taken from each strata.

 

Research Ethics

The application of fundamental ethical principles to the commissioning and carrying out of consultations

Residents’ Consultancy

A general term used to describe initiatives that encourage 'residents of areas undergoing regeneration to share, or market, the skills they have acquired through participating in the regeneration process'.
The aim of residents' consultancy schemes is to promote good practice and encourage involvement in neighbourhood renewal.

Residents’ Panel

Similar to a Citizens’ Panel but composed of people resident in a particular and defined area

Respondent

Describes an individual or organisation making a formal statement or answering questions as part of a consultation exercise.

Response

The statement made by a consultee in answer to a question, or as comment upon a document, as part of a consultation exercise.

Note:

  • A single consultee can make a variety of responses – even to a single document
  • A consolidated response is where the consultee presents all its responses as one document or submission
  • Postings on an e-discussion forum, for example, would not normally be regarded as a response

Response Rate

In consultations this refers to the ratio of number of people who answered the survey divided by the number of people in the sample. It is usually expressed in the form of a percentage.

Note:

  • Also known as completion rate or return rate

Roadshows

A travelling presentation outlining the consultation narrative and providing consultees with an opportunity to express their views.

Role Play

 

See Theatre & Drama

Roundtable Forums

These can be used where there is a need to bring together, on neutral ground, groups with conflicting views. A skilled facilitator is required.