Community Engagement: When Do Councils Need Research?

Community engagement and market research do different jobs, and most councils need both. Consultation gives anyone who wants a say the chance to have it; it’s about participation, transparency and fairness.

Market research finds out what the whole community thinks, including people who would never fill in a feedback form or attend a drop-in session; it’s about representativeness and evidence.

Problems start when consultation results are reported as if they represent everyone. A submission process dominated by a few hundred motivated residents can tell you a great deal about concerns and ideas, but not what most ratepayers think. Use consultation to open the conversation and surface issues. Use research when a decision needs to stand up to scrutiny from councillors, auditors, the media and the people who were loudest in the room

What’s the difference between community consultation and research?

The simplest distinction is who chooses to take part.

• Community consultation or engagement is self-selecting. Anyone can respond through submissions, “have your say” surveys, drop-in sessions or public meetings. It’s open by design, which is exactly what it should be.
• Market Research or Community Stakeholder Research is sampled. Participants are deliberately recruited to reflect the community, whether through representative surveys, focus groups or one-on-one stakeholder interviews

Both are legitimate. They answer different questions:

	Consultation	Research
Who takes part	Whoever chooses to	People recruited to reflect the community
Best at	Surfacing issues, ideas and strength of feeling	Measuring how widely views are held
Main risk	Loudest voices dominate	Can feel “closed” if not explained
Typical use	Statutory processes, plans on exhibition	Priorities, trade-offs, satisfaction, evaluation

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Why do consultation results so often get challenged?

Because they’re often asked to carry more weight than they can bear. Councils under budget and accountability pressure understandably want a clear mandate, and consultation feedback looks like one. But when a council says “the community told us”, and the community turns out to be a few hundred people with a strong interest in the outcome, the decision becomes easy to attack from either side.

Common weak points include:

• responses dominated by one suburb, age group or interest group
• online-only surveys that miss people with low digital access or limited English
• leading questions written to support a preferred option
• no way of telling how many people hold a view, only that someone does
• fake or fraudulent data through social media

None of this means the consultation was wasted. It means its findings need to be framed honestly, and sometimes tested with a broader sample before a big decision is made.

When should a council use market research instead of (or alongside) a community engagement consultation?

Bring in research when the decision is significant, contested or expensive, and when you need to know what the broader community thinks rather than who feels most strongly. Typical examples:

1. Setting priorities in community strategic plans, where trade-offs between services matter – see our case study
2. Testing contentious proposals, such as rate variations, major developments or service changes
3. Measuring satisfaction with council services over time, through a structured community satisfaction survey
4. Understanding specific groups, such as young people, culturally diverse communities or local businesses, who are often under-represented in consultation
5. Evaluating whether a program worked, where you need evidence rather than testimonials

On many projects, the strongest approach runs both in parallel: open consultation for anyone who wants a say, plus a representative study that shows how widely views are held. Together they’re far harder to dismiss than either on its own.

How do you hear from people who never turn up to consultation or town hall?

You go to them, and you make it easy. People skip consultation for ordinary reasons: work, caring responsibilities, language, distrust, or simply not knowing it’s happening. Research can reach them through:

• Recruited samples with quotas by age, location, background and other factors, so the results reflect the community
• Short, plain-English surveys offered in community languages and through more than one channel
• Qualitative research held in familiar settings, such as small group discussions with specific communities
• An online research community that lets busy residents contribute over a week or two, at times that suit them – best moderated by an independent researcher
• Segmenting the community by needs and attitudes, so you can see where views genuinely differ rather than relying on a single average

Ruby Cha Cha’s take: Separate the megaphone from the microphone!

We think of consultation as a megaphone: anyone can pick it up, and the people who feel most strongly use it most. That’s democratic and valuable. Market research is a microphone held out to a carefully chosen cross-section of people, many of whom would never have spoken up, conducted by an independent researcher to provide a clear and unbiased account of the community needs.

Our rule of thumb: never report megaphone results as if they were microphone results. Label each source honestly in council reports: “this is what people who chose to respond told us” versus “this is what a representative sample of residents thinks“.

When both point the same way, the decision is strong. When they diverge, you’ve learnt something important before the council meeting rather than during it.

How does market research make a decisions easier to defend?

Good research gives councillors and executives evidence that holds up when a decision is questioned. The benefits are practical:

– Decisions that survive scrutiny from councillors, auditors, the media and the community
– Better use of limited budgets, because priorities reflect the whole community rather than the most organised voices, and it is important to see the spend on independent research as an investment to save budgets rather than eat into them
– More trust over time, as residents see that quieter groups are being heard too
– Clearer reporting that separates participation from measurement

It helps the people running engagement, too. Workshop facilitation and independently led town halls that brings residents, staff and councillors together around the evidence can turn findings into an agreed way forward. And an experienced market research consultancy can help design the mix of consultation and research before a project starts, which is far cheaper than trying to fix it afterwards.

FAQs

What’s the difference between community consultation and research?

Consultation is open to anyone who chooses to take part, so it captures ideas and strength of feeling but not how widely views are held. Research recruits participants to reflect the whole community, so it can measure what most people think. Councils usually get the most defensible results by using both.

How can councils reach residents who don’t take part in consultation?

Use recruited, representative samples with quotas by age, location and background, and offer short surveys in plain English and community languages. Qualitative sessions held in familiar settings and online research communities also help busy or hard-to-reach residents take part.

What is stakeholder interview research?

Stakeholder interview research uses one-on-one, in-depth conversations with people who have a particular interest or influence in a decision, such as local businesses, community leaders or partner agencies. It explores their views in detail and in confidence, which often surfaces issues a public forum would not.

When should a council commission market research rather than run consultation?

Commission research when a decision is significant, contested or costly, and you need to know what the broader community thinks. It’s especially useful for setting priorities, testing contentious proposals and measuring satisfaction over time.

About Us

Ruby Cha Cha is a Sydney based research team that works with government, council and social-sector clients on research designed to stand up to scrutiny.

If you’re planning community engagement piece or a consultation on a big decision and want to be sure you’re hearing the whole community, our qualitative and quantitative research consultants can help you get the mix right. Drop us a line to start the conversation.
 

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