Campaigns to End Violence against Women and Girls - Virtual ...

– What other possible solutions are there to this specific problem, or this type of
problem? Building on the results of the previous research steps, a mind-map can be
drawn to generate and visualize ideas of possible solutions. (Brainstorming on
solutions)
Additional research may be necessary to frame the campaign issue more precisely – or
change it altogether, if it is found that the initially identified issue was imprecise or ill-
chosen. Campaign impact evaluations suggest that campaigns which are based
on sound formative research, i.e. preliminary and continuous research that is
constantly fed back into the campaigning process, are more likely to develop a
successful campaign strategy and generate impact.
See the Monitoring and Evaluation section in this module for specific research methods
and approaches. Specific guidelines for research on legal issues are contained in the
Legislation module.
CONDUCTING FORMATIVE RESEARCH
Formative research, i.e. research carried out before and during the campaign to
determine and refine the campaign planning process, provides accurate, up-to-date
information to strategically develop the campaign on a sound basis. The complexity and
nature of formative research depends on a number of factors, including the nature of the
campaign. For example, in an advocacy campaign for legal change, analysis of law, law-
making processes, the institutions involved and ways of influencing these will be key
topics for formative research. In behaviour change campaigns, formative research
examines the prospective target audience, their behaviour and the factors which
influence it. Using social marketing theory, formative research is used to determine the
best ways to reach the intended target audiences. [See formative research on target
audiences for a case study that illustrates how this can influence campaign design.]
Formative research should combine several methods and use different sources of
information so as to take into account different perspectives and cross-check the data
obtained. Where resources are insufficient for large-scale surveys, participatory
research methods, e.g. focus group discussions, can be used to obtain basic
53
Campaigns December 2011