Resource Category: Research Design

Justice Methods are a series of short factsheets that provide an easy-to-read, practical overview of research methodology relevant to the legal assistance sector.

1. Introduction to legal needs surveys
2. Top tips for conducting great client surveys
3. An introduction to sampling for client surveys
4. Glossary of survey terminology
5. Survey questions to identify priority groups
6. Evolution to people-centred justice
7. Top tips for writing great service model case studies
8. Top tips for analysing service data
9. Legal assistance program evaluation plan template
10. A guide to developing a program logic in legal assistance

This report draws together evidence relevant to framework development, shared outcomes, and sector-wide frameworks and collates information on how outcomes frameworks are currently used within the legal assistance sector nationally and internationally.

EXTERNAL - The Productivity Commission has developed an evaluation strategy to be used by all Australian Government agencies. The Strategy sets out a new approach to evaluation policies and programs affecting Aboriginal and Torres Starit Islander people aimed at improving the quality and usefulness of evaluation.

EXTERNAL - National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) revised guidelines provide relevant advice about ethical conduct in research with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.

EXTERNAL - The Federation of Community Legal Centres (Vic) have led the development of a shared Outcomes Measurement Framework for CLCs to use to demonstrate individual and collective impact.

Faced with a proliferation of articles, research, evaluation reports and other evidence, identifying lessons learned from past experience and research can be challenging. This paper provides a guide to learning from the literature. (Justice Issues 19)

This paper provides an introduction to evaluating effectiveness in the context of legal assistance services.  This requires careful planning, dedicated resources, and particular expertise and methodology. (Justice Issues 16)