EQUAL - Final report - eng - navreme

3.4.7 Case studies
EVALUATION OF CIP EQUAL TRANSNATIONAL CO-OPERATION PRINCIPLE
A case study is a common research tool in social sciences and an evaluation tool. A case study is, in
fact, a type of a research strategy because it works with the context of the reality, it is not a purely
qualitative analysis and it combines the data analysis and qualitative elements of the research. It is
often supplemented with other research methods, which was the case of this evaluation, too. The
evaluation team worked with 35 studies of development partnerships in CZ and with more than 20
foreign studies. The studies were based on the analysis of documents, interviews, visits and additional
determination. The list of the case studies is mentioned in Annex 8.7. The studies were processed in
standard way (structured descriptions of situations and processes elaborated in writing) then an
analysis of them and interpretation of the differences and specifics was carried out. The precise
structure of the case studies is mentioned in Annex 8.8, it contains in general: description of the
situation (number of employees, competences, formation, powers, tradition), description of processes,
environment, identification of effective methods of work, identification of barriers, solving conflicts,
coherence with the surrounding CIP EQUAL management systems, links to the CIP EQUAL objectives,
etc. The aim was to capture above all the well-established ways of partnership formation and
development, the areas of its added value, thus the areas of solutions the transnational cooperation
contributes to.
3.4.8 Structured interviews
This method was used when interviewing persons accessible with difficulty and where a personal visit
would not increase the effect significantly and where it was necessary to act quickly (example of task
No. 1) and further in additional interviewing of persons already contacted in the past (evaluation
visits); therefore we have chosen for the interviews the experts from all the mentioned countries, the
representatives of the European Commission, the Monitoring Committee, the National Support
Structures, the National Thematic Networks and the representatives of the development partnerships
that were not addressed in another way (except for the representatives of the development
partnerships visited within the framework of evaluation visits). The evaluator identified the particular
representatives on the basis of an analysis of particular persons’ suitability for interviewing from the
point of view of representativeness, elimination of duplicities and the highest possible effectiveness of
the used method. The list of all persons that were visited or inquired by means of structured
interviews is mentioned in Annex 8.4.
3.4.9 SWOT
SWOT analysis was applied in the evaluation at two levels: 1) as a supporting analytical method in
evaluation of results of the particular activities and 2) as a general matrix of evaluation of potential,
results and threats of the actually implemented transnational cooperation within the framework of
individual DP from CZ and the selected EU countries. The SWOT analysis was also used successfully
for assessment of functioning of the transnational partnership in different cultural environments,
which are given by different tradition, experience, social economical and political background. More
detailed information on this utilisation of the SWOT analysis is mentioned in the chapter on concrete
realization of the evaluation.
Navreme Boheme, s.r.o. 25