Hard to Reach Groups Market Research

At DJS Research we understand the complexities of vulnerability. Challenging circumstances can be multilayered which means hard to reach audiences are often multifaceted.

This deep understanding informs our tailored approach to researching individuals facing vulnerable circumstances - their needs are central to our projects end to end:

• Putting needs first: recognising the needs of the individual based on their personal circumstances, ensuring they are handled sensitively and with the utmost respect.
• Agile recruitment: using varied approaches to engage hard to reach groups including our in-house panel Different Perspectives.
• Community links: building face-to-face links with community organisations to access digitally excluded groups, and those without telephones, through trusted channels.
• Skilled interviewers: all our respondent facing staff have been trained to handle individuals in vulnerable circumstances. We have experience dealing with people facing the most severed vulnerabilities including those with life limiting illnesses or who have family (including children) in this position and those dealing with extreme financial hardships.
• Protection and support: our 'red flag' system means we can alert clients, or other appropriate organisations, immediately if we feel a respondent needs urgent help or might be at risk.
• Accessibility: ensuring that the research we design is suitable for the audiences we are researching. For example, we have worked with accessibility experts to ensure that our online surveys work for multiple audiences.
• Working with organisations: working closely with organisations who represent people in vulnerable circumstances to optimise our understanding of these groups which further informs our approach.

Examples of our work 

We have a wealth of experience conducting research with people in vulnerable circumstances across a wide range of sectors and for a broad mix of clients:

You can view detailed case studies here, which bring to life some of our important work with vulnerable audiences

Our vulnerability research has also been published, and is freely available within the public domain, such as our water affordability report for CCW which concluded with detailed findings and recommendations on how to end water poverty: Low income households' experience of water bill affordability and support report.

Want to see the headlines from our most recent vulnerability research?

To receive headline insights from a short Different Perspectives survey, measuring awareness, uptake and trust in advice or support from utilities companies with household bills, please contact our Vulnerability Specialist, Ali Sims.

And to discuss any aspect of researching hard to reach groups, please do reach out to Ali - she'd love to hear from you.