Methods

Performing a SWOT Analysis

Generate data by performing a SWOT analysis. This exercise will allow you to provide information that may be useful in helping an organization to strategically improve. A SWOT analysis requires you to go through the process of generating information about the organization. This includes focusing on understanding and then explaining the organizations strengths.

You will need to study the organization and make a determination after careful research so that you can articulate, both orally and in writing, what the organization’s “strengths” are. Observe the organization and its people. Read its website, brochures and other materials. Notice the behavior of the staff and employees and visitors. After doing this, and taking notes, you should be able to figure out what is it that is good about the organization. These are likely to be the things that the organization is controlling. Include both tangible and intangible factors that you view as good features.

This can include the stated vision, mission and or philosophy, and any needs that you determine might be fulfilled by this organization. It could also include any data such as income or contributions, number of people employed, positive impacts on the community, goals which have been accomplished, people served and other types of ways that the organization has achieved goals or made positive impact on others.

The organization’s “weaknesses”, will include various internal factors occurring inside of the organization which might prevent or impede the organization from achieving its desired goals. You should be able to identify these problem areas and situations and make suggestions to help the organization better understand how it might improve by converting these weaknesses into strengths. Also, you will need to determine what types of “opportunities” (situations, problems or phenomena) exist in the world, which seem to match the organization’s mission, goals, purpose or vision.

Determine what you can you do to point out how the organization might propel itself by getting involved in the opportunities that you will identify. Develop suggestions for action and a timeline for accomplishing goals.

The fourth prong of the SWOT analysis involves identifying possible “threats”. These are external factors which are beyond the organization’s control which could cause the organization to be unsuccessful in achieving its goals, mission, vision or stated purpose. Articulate that these threats are and create contingency plans to address these threats if in the event they occur. Be sure to list the identified threats and to classify them in terms of their severity and likelihood of occurrence.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SWOT_analysis

http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newTMC_05.htm

http://manyworlds.com/exploreco.aspx?coid=CO85041445304

Participant Observations

Participant observation is a research strategy, a method, that aims to study and explain behavior and practices of a group of individuals, within their environment, over an extended period of time. This method involves a range of techniques including direct observation, informal interviews, participation within the group, analyzing collective discussions, group dynamics and documents, self-analysis and historical analyses of the lives of the participants of the group. This method can be qualitative, quantitative or both.  The longer and more intensive the observation, the more convincing the data. Researchers can use this method to highlight discrepancies between formal statements, compared to actual and informal behaviors. This method originated from the field of anthropology and is used today across various disciplines. While going through the process of systematically observing the group of people, the researcher using this method will typically play a role and actually participate within the group in some manner. A researcher using this method will watch, listen, take notes, reflect and analyze their observations and notes over and over again over an extended period of months or years. This type of method is usually referred to as an unobtrusive research method since the people being studied are not directly interrogated. In contrast, interviews, surveys and questionnaires would directly interrogate the people under study.

Readings:

“Participant Observation, Module 2 - Qualitative Research Methods: A Data Collector’s Field Guide” http://www.techsociety.com/cal/soc190/fssba2009/ParticipantObservation.pdf, Family Health International, 2009. http://www.techsociety.com/cal/soc190/fssba2009/ParticipantObservation.pdf

R.M. Lee (2000) Unobstrusive Methods in Social Research (Open University Press).