How do you manage the collection, analysis and reporting of qualitative data across multiple European (EU countries and Turkey) locations with several researchers in different country locations, using different languages, and with different disciplinary backgrounds and skills?

The response of EduMAP was to ensure rigour and research quality through a clear and tested research design that allowed adaptation but maintained a focus on answering the research questions. The research design describing how we did this is now available on this website. It is made available as a series of five documents that describe the research design and guidelines used. The objectives for the empirical research were:

Objective for WP3

Examine the effectiveness, achievements, and shortcomings of educational initiatives identified as good practices (GPs), assessed according to their effectiveness in enabling vulnerable learners to participate in social, political and economic life.

Objective for WP4

Map and examine the varied communicative ecologies (CEs) that exist in the field of adult education among the providers of educational initiatives and vulnerable groups in order to:

• shed light on interconnections and mismatches between the supply and use side of adult education
• offer an in-depth view of the information and communication context of vulnerable groups.

Empirical research therefore focused on Targeted research on best practices among vulnerable groups and Communicative ecologies in the field of adult education. The research design included data collection and analysis protocols aligned to both WP3 and WP4.1 objectives, tested and adapted through a pilot conducted between December 2016 and March 2017 in Bucharest, Romania.

The research design and guidance was used to ensure consistency across the Consortium for the data collection and interpretation. Overall, based on these guidelines, EduMAP partners collected data in 19 EU countries and Turkey, covering a total of 40 adult education (AE) programmes. In addition, eight groups of young people at risk of social exclusion (91 respondents) from seven EU countries and Turkey have been involved in the study to investigate their communicative practices and identify ways to improve access to adult education.

The aim of publishing the research design is to offer an exemplar of research guidance that may be used to plan and implement multi-sited and multi-partner research for an interdisciplinary project. For more details on datasets and sampling, please consult the EduMAP Deliverables D3.1. Targeted research on best practices among vulnerable groups; and D4.1 Communicative ecologies in the field of adult education (available soon on this website).

The Five Key Documents

Data collection was conducted jointly for WPs 3 and 4.1 among three categories of respondents (educational authorities, educators and students of AE programmes). In addition, data was collected for WP4 from groups targeted by educational initiatives, but not necessarily accessing them.

There are five key research design documents that guided the empirical research.

1. Research Design – Overview (download)
   • This is the overview of the research design, explaining how the three research strands interrelate
2. Strand #1 Context analysis (download)
   • Corresponding to the first strand of research
3. Strand #2 Targeted research on good practices in adult education (download)
   • Corresponding to the second strand of research
4. Strand #3 Targeted research on vulnerable groups: Communicative ecologies mapping (download)
   • Corresponding to the third strand of research
5. Approach to data coding and analysis (download)
   • Rationale, guidelines and tools for data coding and analysis

The documents include templates, protocols and guides for each of the three research strands and the data analysis approach, proposed as flexible tools to adapt and employ by the EduMAP project partners as required during the fieldwork. Feel free to use and adapt any of these materials, and more information can be supplied upon request.