Research in Action
Directory of Socio-Legal Researchers
Directors and Principles, Focus Consultants
100 Viaduct Avenue West
Victoria, British Columbia V9E 1J3
250-479-2962
Fax: 250-479-2961
focus99@shaw.ca
Languages spoken:
English
French
Research interests:
Aboriginal issues
Access to justice : economic and social costs
Civil justice
Criminal justice
Dispute resolution options
Family justice
Library and information science
Needs assessment and mapping
Public legal education and information
Public perceptions of justice
Quality management assessment
Research methodologies:
Critical literature reviews
Focus groups and community workshops
Indigenous methods
Legal research
Multiple method designs
Needs assessment, mapping, and evaluation
Proposal writing
Qualitative methods
Quantitative methods
Applied Research Experience:
We have twenty-five years of experience in national, provincial/territorial and local contexts that spans the following areas and issues:
- Criminal and civil justice, policy, program and project needs assessments and evaluations
- Ground-breaking studies of family dispute resolution policies and practices
- A national needs assessment of government funded custody/access services
- A best practices analysis on how to complete longitudinal research in family justice
- The impacts of provincial-federal child maintenance policy and programs on payors and recipients
- Outcomes of child protection mediation (including a seven-year follow-up study of the impacts of this mediation for on parents and children)
- Studies of innovative and integrated justice service models
- Research on the outcomes of rules changes (such as new rules in Small Claims Court (BC), and an international review of evaluation methods used to assess rule changes at the Supreme Court level).
- Methods of delivering legal information to the public and legal practitioners, including evaluation of web-based PLEI products.
- Evaluation planning, implementation and training with Aboriginal and indigenous communities in southern and northern Canada
- Guides on program and policy implementation, organizational and indigenous evaluation approaches
- Critical literature reviews literature reviews related to corrections programs of
Statement of Interest:
We believe that evaluation and research is fundamental to knowing "what works" in the criminal and civil justice field at the administrative, policy or program/project levels. Informing and supporting evidence-based policy and practice is at the heart of what we do. Research that addresses quality management, outcomes and impacts also inevitably addresses cost effectiveness, collaboration and sustainability.
We believe in working collaboratively with administrators, policy and program staff to define research needs, and the measurement criteria that fit their objectives, requirements, time frame and budgets. We are also interested in developing professional and reliable tools or expertise that can be used by administrators or program/project staff on an ongoing basis.
The Directory should not be construed as an endorsement of any individual, institution, or research described. Read more »