NWT RESEARCH DATABASE

Regions: Inuvialuit Settlement Region, Gwich'in Settlement Area, Sahtu Settlement Area, Dehcho Region, North Slave Region, South Slave Region, Qikiqtaaluk Region

Tags: social sciences

Objective(s): To generate, measure and compare the impact of social enterprise activity; to gather detailed information on existing social enterprise and social economy organizations to support the work of SESS network and to update the existing northern database of organizations in the Yukon, Northwest Territories and Nunavut.

Project Description: The overall objectives of the survey will be to generate, measure and compare the impact of social enterprise activity. Through the survey the research team hopes to gather detailed information on existing social enterprise and social economy organizations to support the work of the Social Enterprise and Sector Survey (SESS) network and to update the existing northern database of organizations. The research team should have a representative sample that is large enough for statistical analysis from a list of known social enterprises in the Yukon, Northwest Territories and Nunavut that trade in goods and services in order to meet their social/cultural/environmental mission, and that are recognized as such by others in their context of operation. 1. List preparation and verification The first phase of the work will be to confirm the structure and content of the survey to ensure inclusion of any additional questions or components to ensure relevance to the Northern context. The existing northern social economy database will serve as the starting point for identifying existing organizations. Discussions with key organizations including the research institutes and Registrar of societies and other information sources will be used to build on the list of potential organizations. Existing networks are identified and will be invited to contribute names and contact information to the sample frame, and in turn, benefit from the results. This will begin the outreach to new and existing social enterprises and social economy organizations. 2. Survey The second phase involves the circulation of the survey to all verified social enterprises and social organizations. Data will be collected for entry and analysis. Follow-up strategies will be done to maximize the number, quality and completeness of responses. The survey will be distributed to social enterprise and social economy organizations in the Yukon, Northwest Territories and Nunavut. The survey work will be done by a summer student during the months of June, July and August. Respondents will have the option of electronic submission using an online process or telephone interview, or self-completion followed by email, fax or mail submission. A copy of the draft questionnaire is attached with this application. 3. Analysis and Report writing The final phase will involve the review of preliminary results to the social enterprise and social economy related networks and summarize the results. This involves the verification of data, preliminary and final analysis and the draft report preparation. Following this, information is verified and a final report produced. This project will support the updating of an online database of Northern social economy organizations that includes those operating in the Northwest Territories. It provides an easily accessible information source on social economy organizations that support people and communities throughout the North. Northern communities continue to face substantial social and economic challenges. Many communities rely on the supports provided by social economy operations. Through the social economy research network of Northern Canada (SERNNoCa) we began to understand the types and numbers of social economy organizations and the contribution these make in the North. A survey conducted by SERNNoCa of these organizations, resulted in the development of a searchable database of these groups in 2010. This tool provides easy access to locate and contact these organizations based on the types of services they provide. An initial inventory was created and posted 4 years ago but there have been a number of changes with some organizations closing and new ones established. The Social Enterprise Sector Survey in the North in intended to serve 2 main purposes: 1. As part of the national study it will provide a better understanding of the social enterprise sector, primarily non-profits, cooperatives and other organizations operating in the Northwest Territories that: Earn some, or all, of their revenues from the sale of goods and services and Invest the majority of their surpluses /profits into social, cultural or environmental goals 2. Enhance the online resources and contacts for the Northwest Territories by updating the database of social economy organization in the North http://yukonresearch.yukoncollege.yk.ca/sern/resources/organizations This will be a 2 stage process. First a draft report will be developed to be used in discussions with communities/participants in the survey. This would be presented to key people or those that are interested and able to move the results forward. The research team wishes to be sure that the results make sense and capture the correct information and all possible organizations. The community engagement piece is important as the team would like to have feedback on this work in terms of the information gathered and the preliminary analysis. Second the research team would like to find out how the results can leverage and support engagement in the social enterprise sector. Various mechanisms will be used to communicate this project widely. This may include webinars and other platforms or events that might have opportunities to share results. The research team will also look at opportunities to engage more people using an online forum. The researchers will be looking for other events in communities and major northern centres that might be opportunities to share this information. The SESS group will do the analysis and provide a report of this information. The final report will be written from the analysis and interpretation of the data similar to the reports that have already been done from the results obtaining in various provinces. These reports will be posted online at the SESS website http://www.sess.ca/english/report/ Some of the additional questions on the last page of the questionnaire are specific to the northern context and were asked in the previous social economy research network program (SERNNoCa) survey. The principal investigator of the SERNNoCa network, Dr. Chris Southcott will be reviewing and comparing this information to the previous results and will provide a follow up report to the initial findings that were obtained in 2009-2010. The fieldwork for this study will be conducted from July 23, 2014 to December 31, 2014.