General information
Code: V5-2288
Period: 1.10.2022 - 30.9.2023
Range on year: 0.19 FTE | 2022
Project leader at FDV: izr.prof.dr. Tatjana Rakar
Co-financiers: Republika Slovenija Ministrstvo za javno upravo.
Research activity: Social sciences
Abstract
Through their activities, nongovernmental organisations respond to the specific needs of local communities. Their role must be understood in the context of specific national and institutional arrangements, which influence the development of this sector and, in particular, in which areas the nongovernmental sector is developing more. Such activities of nongovernmental organisations in local communities, where nongovernmental organisations strengthen public services in areas where gaps exist, have not been sufficiently recognized and supported in public policies. Well-developed and innovative nongovernmental organisations by using the so-called bottom-up approach can effectively identify and respond to the needs of the local environment, especially in the context of community-based services, volunteerism, and advocacy. The project aims to identify the growing needs for community-based services, both at the level of local communities and at the level of nongovernmental organisations’ needs, in order to strengthen their capacity for quality implementation of the public services. The project will use a variety of social science research methods. In addition to an in-depth analysis of key secondary sources, primary research will be conducted based on a combination of a qualitative approach using the focus group method and a quantitative approach using a survey method. The qualitative data will be analysed based on deductive and inductive coding, while descriptive and multivariate statistical methods will be used for analysing the quantitative data. The project thus fills a gap in the nongovernmental sector research, as there have been no large-scale surveys in this field in Slovenia in the last decade. Since then, there have been changes at the level of legislation, funding, and especially at the level of nongovernmental organizations. Through an in-depth analysis of the role of the nongovernmental sector in the Slovenian welfare system, the research project will upgrade the results of previous surveys and thus contribute to the formation of appropriate public policies that will enable the nongovernmental sector not only to grow but to comprehensively develop, as well as an adequate acknowledgement of its role within the Slovenian welfare system.
The phases of the project and their realization
In the project, we will use both primary (qualitative and quantitative) and secondary (quantitative) data sources. The research will be conducted in four basic phases, some sequential and some parallel.
In the first phase, we will conduct secondary research based on the systematic collection and analysis of data from secondary (already existing) sources such as relevant databases, public documents and expert studies.
In the second phase, we will conduct qualitative research using the focus group method to identify community needs for public services in 12 statistical regions. We will conduct focus groups with prepared discussion guides covering topics such as existing ways of providing public services, satisfied and unmet needs for public services in the community, needs and potentials of the non-governmental sector and future development of public services in the community. We will analyse the data using qualitative analysis based on deductive and inductive coding. The focus groups will be conducted online on the Zoom platform and the specialised qualitative analysis software Maxqda will be used for the analysis.
In the third phase, we will conduct a quantitative survey of a stratified random sample of the population of NGOs with an annual turnover of more than €5,000, as we assume that these NGOs have the potential to provide public services in the community. We will conduct an online survey and analyse the data using the statistical programme SPSS.
Based on all the data obtained using a combination of different methodological approaches (mixed research methods), we will make recommendations for the implementation of public policy (policy brief) in this area and the appropriate placement of NGOs as service providers in the welfare system.
Research Organisation
https://cris.cobiss.net/ecris/si/en/project/20232
Researchers
https://cris.cobiss.net/ecris/si/en/project/20232
Citations for bibliographic records
https://cris.cobiss.net/ecris/si/en/project/20232
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