Methodology
The art of partnering
Methodology
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This is a detailed discussion of the research methods used in completing this report. Factors to be considered include:
the various methods using in undertaking the research that has informed this report; the research design
appropriateness; the selection of participants; informed consent and confidentiality; data collection methods; and
data analysis techniques. The methodology was designed to enable a range of approaches and data types as the
subject being considered is both broad and complex.
The team engaged with 88 cultural practitioners, arts administrators, politicians, representatives from local
authorities and funders through a series of one-to-one interviews and roundtable discussions. We also undertook a
review of literature and designed and conducted a questionnaire in which we received 94 full responses about
partnerships in the cultural sector.
Advisory Panel
The research undertaken during this Enquiry was guided by an advisory panel. This panel consisted of experienced
professionals, chosen for their expertise in either partnerships or the cultural sector. Our advisers were:
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Jim Beirne, Chief Executive, Live Theatre
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Leonie Bell, Director of Arts and Engagement, Creative Scotland
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Katherine Bond, Director of Innovation, Cultural Institute, King's College London
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Paul Bristow, Director of Strategic Partnerships, Arts Council England
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Katie Childs, Policy and Projects Manager, National Museums Directors Council
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Dr Jon Davis, Director of Partnerships and Skills, Policy Institute, King's College London
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Graham Devlin, Chair, Tipping Point
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Eliza Easton, Associate Researcher, Creative Industries Federation
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Prof David Guest, Professor of Organisational Policy and HRM, Management Department, King's College
London
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Clifford Harkness, Head of Collections Management, National Museums Northern Ireland
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Nigel Hinds, Executive Producer, 14-18 Now
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Sue Hoyle, Director, Clore Leadership
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Chris Michaels, Head of Digital and Publishing, British Museum
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Paula Murray, Assistant Chief Executive, Brighton Hove Council
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Ros Tennyson, Development Director, Partnerships Brokers Association
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Emma Wakelin, Associate Director of Programmes, Arts and Humanities Research Council
Having the advisory panel was helpful in ensuring that our research was relevant to and in line with the needs of the
sector. At the very start of the Enquiry we sought input from our advisory panel to guide the direction that the
Enquiry would take. We then presented our findings to the advisors at two subsequent points during our research.
We also sought insight from the advisors in shaping our report. This decision was taken to ensure that the
conclusions we drew from our data chimed with the needs of the cultural sector and were of practical relevance.
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Methodology
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Research questions and project scope
The Enquiry team began by drawing up a project scope in which a definition of partnership for this Enquiry’s
purposes was reached and in which key research questions were identified.
For the purposes of this project scope, we defined partnership as follows:
A partnership is a working relationship between two or more organisations in which both the risks and
benefits are shared, with the shared aim of delivering tangible benefits to the partners and the public.
It was also decided that we would focus on three main areas in our research on partnerships. These were:
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Engaging broader audiences;
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Achieving additional value for money; and
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Enhancing the quality of work in arts and culture.
Furthermore, due to a limited timescale and also to add coherence to the report, it was decided that we needed to set
criteria for the partnerships we could consider in this Enquiry. We therefore set a number of requirements for the
partnerships we will be looking at in this research:
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Our focus is UK wide and we are looking for partnerships from around the country.
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We are looking for partnerships that involve collaboration within the cultural sector as well as those that
extend to other sectors.
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Any partnership involving a higher education institution or a non-cultural sector partner must also involve a
recognisable cultural sector stakeholder and an outcome in the cultural sector.
•
We are looking for partnerships that are between public organisations or entities. We are not looking for
solely commercial partnerships though we recognise that commercial revenue can be derived from
partnerships in the public sector. We would not exclude examples involving a commercial partner, but the
partnership must be broadly fit comfortably as a public sector initiative.
•
We are looking for partnerships that enhance the quality and diversity of work in arts and culture
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We are looking for partnerships that enable greater engagement with broader / new audiences.
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We are looking for partnerships between cultural institutions, creative groups and organisations, or other
creative entities from across the museums and galleries, library, performance and audio visual sector.
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In the first phase of our research we are not looking for advocacy, lobbying or policy-making partnerships.
This might be part of later follow-up research.
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We are looking for partnerships that had a clear outcome in 2014, whether in line with expectations or
relatively/wholly unexpected
At this early stage we also set some broad themes that we felt would be interesting and important to explore in the
research. These were:
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Funding;
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Creating and sustaining partnerships;
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The art of partnering
Methodology
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Diversity of partnerships; and
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Digital.
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Research design
The primary research for this Enquiry consisted of three key methods: a questionnaire, one-to-one semi-structured
interviews and roundtable discussions. This methodological approach makes use of triangulation, which generates
both qualitative and quantitative data and provides a more fully rounded picture of the subject being researched. A
triangulation method such as this is likely to lead to more complete and all-inclusive findings.
We also conducted textual analysis of key academic, cultural and political literature and consulted existing
theoretical models of partnership practice, which have predominantly emerged from the NGO sector. In addition to
this, we invited experienced and distinguished professionals from the cultural sector, government and higher
education to form an Enquiry advisory panel, with whom we consulted at key moments during the research.
Questionnaire
In order to get a wide-ranging and representative snapshot of partnerships in the UK during 2014 we designed a
questionnaire to be distributed across the cultural sector. The results of the questionnaire would then create an
evidence base from which we could potentially select case studies and areas of detailed focus for the interviews and
final report.
Selection of respondents
In order to get a representative sample of respondents in the questionnaire, the Enquiry team used all available
channels to distribute the questionnaire as broadly as possible within the UK’s cultural sector.
We began by contacting a range of organisations from across the UK, and asking them if they could promote the
questionnaire through their channels to their membership, the sector and wider groups. We monitored the responses
to ensure a geographical spread and pushed harder in some areas of the country to ensure that we received a good
spread of responses from all areas of the country. We made use of local organisations and regional BBC radio to aid
with geographically targeted pushes.
We also used our own networks and those of our advisory panel to promote the questionnaire throughout the sector.
As there was no pre-existing database of everyone in the cultural sector involved in partnership working available to
us, the method that was used to distribute the questionnaire was snowball sampling. Snowball sampling is a sampling
technique where a small group of existing subjects for the study recruit further subjects or respondents from among
their own networks. This approach to sampling is often used to reach hidden or hard to reach communities. As the
sample is not random, one critique of snowball sampling is that it produces biased samples. For example, it could
mean that those who are well-connected and active within cultural sector networks are more likely to emerge as
respondents. Another possible issue is that the sample is skewed towards those who are already enthusiastic about
partnerships and partnership working. However, on this occasion it was felt to be an effective means of generating
responses to the questionnaire. This is because the cultural sector is a limited network in which most people and
organisations will tend to be tapped into the networks of large organisations, particularly funding bodies such as Arts
Council England or Creative Scotland. Furthermore, organisations and contacts within specific regions will tend to
have a better awareness of other cultural organisations in their region than the Enquiry team, whose in-depth
knowledge of the sector does not extend to every region of the country. Therefore, snowball sampling was felt to be
the best way to reach a widespread and unbiased group of cultural organisations across the UK.
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Methodology
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In total, we received 94 full responses to our questionnaire and 329 people started it, giving a response rate of 28.6%.
Every region of the UK was represented in this sample.
Questionnaire design
The Enquiry team designed the questionnaire so that it contained questions relating to the specific areas of focus
outlined at the start of the research. [A full copy of the questionnaire questions can be found online.] We decided to
use a questionnaire to collect data for a number of reasons. As a research tool, questionnaires enable the gathering of
data from large numbers of respondents and facilitate a wide coverage allowing for breadth of views and responses.
To do full justice to the range of partnerships taking place in the cultural sector across the UK, and to ensure our
research was not biased towards partnerships that the team happened to already know about, a questionnaire
conducted using snowball sampling was an effective method. As well as producing this wide range and breadth of
responses, a questionnaire also enables the researcher to obtain actual information relating to groups of people.
Although we cannot claim that the data gathered through our questionnaire is representative (due to the relatively
small sample size and the snowball sampling method) we are able to draw conclusions about overall trends and
responses from within the group that responded to our questionnaire, which covers the entire UK and a broad range
of cultural organisations.
We designed our questionnaire to include both closed and open questions. This was helpful in producing a mixture
of qualitative and quantitative data and it was also felt to be necessary as different questions required different types
of responses. Open questions are advantageous when the range of responses that may be given cannot easily be
predicted by the researcher, and also when the responses given will contain a level of complexity that can only be
expressed in a longer written format. There were a number of questions of this type in the questionnaire. Other
questions were well-suited to closed questions, often with yes or no responses. One advantage of using closed
questions is that they allow a picture of broad trends to emerge, which can be analysed more easily.
As a questionnaire with a large sample does not allow researchers to probe respondents further about their answers,
the questionnaire was also used as a springboard from which to move forward to the next stage of our research in
which we would acquire a greater depth of understanding. This process is discussed further in the next section on
data analysis.
Data analysis
We conducted our questionnaire using the web-based software Qualtrics. This created reports detailing the
responses to the questionnaire and broke responses to closed yes/no/don’t know questions down into percentages.
For the open questions, in which responses were given in open-ended comment boxes, the team spent time analysing
responses in some depth. The textual qualitative data emerging from these open-ended questions were analysed
through developing themes and concepts that emerged from the responses. Thematic analysis was useful to analyse
the responses to these open questions as it allowed themes or patterns to emerge from the data and allowed for data
to be compared and analysed across different responses.
A meta-analysis of all the responses to the questionnaire was also conducted, and from this the Enquiry team created
a taxonomy of partnerships in the cultural sector. A meta-analysis allowed the team to take a broad view of all the
responses from the questionnaire, drawing out overall trends and types of partnership, and to use this information to
suggest a taxonomy listing the varied types of partnership that exist in the cultural sector.
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Methodology
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Once we had created this taxonomy, or list of types of partnership, this was used to guide our selection of case
studies from the questionnaire responses. We selected 10 mini-case studies, ensuring that we had one to represent
each type of partnership within the taxonomy, and also ensuring that we had a geographical spread across the UK
and a range of partnerships with varied numbers of partners. The respondent to the questionnaire for each chosen
case study was then contacted to ask permission to interview them and their colleagues to gather more information
about the partnership.
The sample gathered in our questionnaire has been used as the basis of our Enquiry. The remainder of our primary
research, which took the form of interviews and round tables, has been based upon or emerged from the responses to
this questionnaire. This approach was taken to ensure that there was coherence within the report, which could have
otherwise proved sprawling as the subject is so large.
Semi-structured interviews
The next step, methodologically, was to carry out interviews with a selection of representatives from each
partnership chosen as a case study to explore these partnerships in more depth, drawing out issues and complexities.
The team conducted a series of one-to-one semi-structured interviews. Interviews are helpful when in-depth
information is required, and this was the case for this Enquiry. Furthermore, interviews are effective when
clarification or more information is needed, or when issues need to be explored in greater detail. This was necessary
in this Enquiry as partnerships are complex and often require a level of explanation and clarification that is easier to
gain through an interview rather than a written response to a questionnaire. Interviews were also useful in gaining
information about subtle complexities within partnerships and were more effective than the questionnaire in
providing information about the challenges and difficulties associated with partnership. The Enquiry team was aware
that respondents were more likely to discuss difficulties and challenges in person, as opposed to writing them within
a questionnaire. Gaining information about these difficulties or the challenges of partnership was an essential part of
the Enquiry, so interviews were a necessary part of the methodology.
A set of questions for the interviews were drafted and agreed by the Enquiry team (available online). These
questions were sent to interviewees in advance of the interview. The questions were used to structure and guide the
conversation within the interview, but were not rigidly adhered to. Semi-structured interviews were chosen as they
provide space within which the researcher can be flexible regarding the order in which topics are covered. They also
allow interviewees to develop their own ideas and speak more broadly on topics raised by the researcher. Semistructured interviews are also relatively easy to control in terms of time-keeping and questioning.
Selection of Interviewees
Interviewees were selected from each partnership chosen as a case study. Where possible, we arranged an interview
with a representative from every organisation involved in a particular partnership, in order to gain a more rounded
understanding of these often complex, multi-stakeholder partnerships. This was done through contacting the person
who had completed the questionnaire in relation to each partnership selected as a case study, and asking them if they
would be willing to do an interview and also asking them to put us in touch with other people involved in the
partnership from different organisations and agencies. Therefore, most interviewees were selected because they were
involved in partnerships that the Enquiry team had selected as case studies. However, questioning with these
interviewees was not limited to the case study partnership and the researchers also asked interviewees about more
general issues relating to partnerships.
The Enquiry team also conducted some additional interviews with people who were not involved in partnerships
from the questionnaire but who are experts in partnership practice, the cultural sector or funding structures.
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In total we conducted 34 interviews, of which 29 were with people involved in partnerships from the questionnaire
and five were additional interviewees who were felt to have expert insight into partnerships generally, or specifically
in the cultural sector.
Data gathering
The interviews were conducted over the telephone. This method was chosen rather than meeting face-to-face
because of constraints of geography and time. The interviewees were based all over the UK and the researchers
would not have had the time to travel to all these different areas. Carrying out interviews over the phone allowed for
the team to conduct a large number of interviews across a wide geographical spread in a relatively short period of
time.
Interviews were audio recorded and were later transcribed. The researchers also made notes during the
conversations to complement the interview transcriptions. Recording and transcribing the interviews was an
effective method as it allowed the responses to be captured in real time. Having the interviews transcribed allowed
the Enquiry team to go back over the qualitative data gathered during the interviews and to analyse themes and
concepts that emerged from these interviews.
Data analysis
The qualitative data gathered from the interviews were analysed using the transcripts of the recording.
Thematic and narrative analysis were both used in working with the data from the interviews. Thematic analysis
allows for themes and concepts emerging from all the interviews to emerge and to be analysed and described.
Thematic analysis allows for certain elements of each case to be analysed in relation to elements from other cases and
is therefore a helpful method for identifying and analysing overarching trends and themes. Narrative analysis was
also used to compare whole cases against each other, and was particularly used in the production of the taxonomy
and mini case studies.
Case studies
As each partnership is unique and no single example can speak for or be representative of others, case studies were
chosen as stand-alone examples. Each case study speaks for itself. The Enquiry team felt that case studies were an
effective way of presenting some of our data as they allow insight into examples of partnerships in the sector in a way
that cannot adequately be captured in an abstract manner.
Although the Enquiry team chose a partnership which corresponds to each ‘type’ of partnership listed in the
taxonomy, this does not mean that each case study is representative of this type, simply that it is one example
amongst many examples which may fit into this type.
The case studies were compiled using data from the questionnaire and from the follow up interviews pertaining to
that particular partnership.
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The art of partnering
Methodology
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Roundtable discussions
The other method used to gather data was a series of roundtable discussions held in Newcastle, Brighton and Derby
during April 2015. These round tables were specifically aimed at exploring the role of place and geography in
partnerships, which had emerged as a central issue relating to cultural partnerships and the motivation to partner in
our questionnaire. The locations for the round tables were restricted to England as due to devolved funding
structures the Enquiry team wanted to conduct round tables within an area that shared a national funding body. We
have included case studies from Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Newcastle, Brighton and Derby were chosen
as we had a significant number of responses from each of these cities and their surrounding areas in our questionnaire
and also because they are each from a different area of England, therefore giving a diverse geographical spread.
A set of questions covering key issues relating to partnership and place (available online) was written and
disseminated to all participants at all three roun dtables. These questions were then used as an agenda to guide the
discussion within the roundtables, which were chaired by the Enquiry team.
Participants invited to the round table included all of those who had completed our questionnaire within a particular
area. We also asked these respondents and other contacts within each area to suggest potential participants who had
a particular knowledge of cultural partnerships within the area. Participants at the round tables included cultural
practitioners, arts administrators, academics, university staff, politicians and employees from the local authority.
Round tables with diverse participants from a city or area were felt to be a particularly effective way of gathering
data about that place. As the cultural identity of a city is a communal phenomenon, it was felt that a group setting
would be most effective to capture this.
There are numerous other more general advantages associated with round tables as a means of gathering qualitative
data. A group setting gives a diverse group of participants an equal voice and allows everyone present to play an
active role in shaping the information presented. In exploring an issue (such as the role of place in cultural
partnerships) in which relationships between people is an essential factor, then a means of gathering data which
enables these relationships and their dynamics to be part of the conversation, such as a round table, is useful.
Additionally, round tables allow complex issues and factors to be debated and fleshed out in a way that may not
emerge during one-to-one interviews.
Data gathering
Members of the Enquiry team took detailed notes during the roundtable discussion, which were subsequently typed
up. The round tables were also audio recorded.
Data analysis
The data gathered at the round tables was summarised. As with the data emerging from the interviews, a
combination of thematic and narrative analysis was used in order to both compare key themes across the three round
tables, and to identify the overall picture in individual round tables and then compare one city with another.
Informed consent and confidentiality
All respondents gave information voluntarily to the Enquiry and were aware that they were giving on-the-record
information to a research study. Before taking part in any element of our research, respondents were given some
information about the Enquiry, including an explanation of the purpose and background of the research. They were
informed roughly how long the research was expected to take and were made aware that they were being asked to
participate in a research study.
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All respondents were aware that they were supplying information that may be used in the Enquiry team’s final
report, but were advised that if the team wished to use any direct quotations from them, these would be specifically
cleared prior to being used. All quotations taken from interviews and elsewhere have been cleared with participants.
Most quotations come from the interviews; others were supplied by respondents in a more informal setting. The
quotations from the round tables are identified by the location of the round table (eg Brighton, Derby or Newcastle)
rather than naming the particular participant who made that statement. The full list of participants in each round
table and the full list of interviewees can be found online.
Conclusion
This Enquiry has developed a triangulated approach to gathering its primary data in which both qualitative and
quantitative research approaches were adopted. Through using a range of methods, and through grounding its
research in the sample generated from the team’s questionnaire, the Enquiry has been able to approach the complex
topic of partnerships in a holistic manner based on a broad sample of the cultural sector’s partnership activity.
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