University of East Anglia (UEA)

The Research Project

A prominent Professor based at the University of East Anglia was conducting research into the effects of a nuclear power station of the health of the local and immediate community. They contacted Mackman Research to help with the recruitment phase of the project. For this, they required the research team to audit the small village of Bradwell to gain an insight into its residential profile. This audit phase would then lead to discussion and the recruitment of research subjects to be later interviewed (in-depth) by the Professor.

The Research Design & Methodology

Our method for the University of East Anglia involved several phases. We staggered our approach due to the potentially sensitive nature of the research into health and well being. Our first approach to the residents of Bradwell-on-Sea was made via the delivery of a custom designed flyer. The flyer explained the purpose of the research, who would be making the next contact, and who would have access to the findings.

Following a village mail out we received several inquiries from residents who were willing to take part in the research. We then proceeded to our second phase where we approached residents door-to-door.

Research Outcomes

During our door-to-door contact we had lengthy conversations with residents to establish qualifying criteria. This stage was crucial in developing buy-in from those subjects and further identified some issues that may be faced later in the research process relating to strength of feeling. We collated our final list of respondents which was handed to our client along with  detailed observations to further aid the development of themes.