APPLIED RESEARCH
Vink Consulting works with organizations to conduct applied research aimed at understanding and addressing social issues. We support clients with research for a variety of purposes, including research to: assess the needs of a community or specific population group; develop a better understanding of the underlying factors contributing to a social issue; and identify effective practices in addressing an issue.
We engage in a full complement of applied social research and analysis, including:
- Literature reviews and environmental scans
- Social indicator analysis and visualization
- Needs assessments
- Market research
- Quantitative and qualitative data collection and analysis (surveys, interviews, focus groups, etc.)
RECENT EXAMPLES
The Scarborough Housing Stabilization Planning Network (SHSPN) engaged Vink Consulting to conduct a research project to explore homelessness and housing insecurity in Scarborough. Through a review of existing literature and extensive primary research and community consultations, the report examined:
- The demographic make-up of Scarborough and policies that impact housing issues in Scarborough
- The nature of Scarborough’s homeless and at-risk populations, their experiences of homelessness and housing insecurity, barriers they face in finding and maintaining housing, as well as service gaps and needs
- The services offered in Scarborough, service use patterns, networks and partnerships between services providers.
The study also identified priority actions for the community to address homelessness and housing security issues in Scarborough.
Vink Consulting was commissioned by the Landlord Self-help Centre to conduct research aimed at developing comprehensive information about the size and scope of the secondary rental housing market in Ontario. The report estimated the number of rental units which comprise the secondary rental market on a provincial basis and on a regional basis as of 2016. It also projected the growth, or loss, of the market over the next five and ten year periods and assessed the factors which will contribute to the growth or loss of units in the market. The report used a demographics-driven model to estimate and project the size of the secondary rental market that combines age-specific population projections with assumptions about the household formation, tenure, dwelling type, and condominium status decisions of people as they age.
In 2014, Vink Consulting was retained by the Government of Nunavut to prepare a Profile of Homelessness in Nunavut. The project was undertaken to contribute to a better understanding of the needs and challenges of individuals experiencing homelessness in Nunavut as well as a picture of what homelessness in Nunavut currently looks like and could look like in the future. The project involved the Territory’s first point-in-time homelessness count. We managed a one day point-in-time count of homeless people in Nunavut’s three largest communities and conducted interviews with community organizations across the territory to determine the extent of homelessness in Nunavut’s smaller communities. The report provided information on the number of individuals experiencing homeless in Nunavut and details on the demographic profile and service needs of these individuals. We also provided recommendations for future research on homelessness in Nunavut as well as strategies to address homelessness in the territory.