Timmus Research Ltd is a research company based in Bristol, UK, set up in 2003 and run by Dr Tabetha Newman.
We support organisations to better understand their customers and staff. We collect data that makes a positive difference to organisations and individuals, using techniques such as online survey design and analysis, remote interviewing, literature reviews, qualitative analysis and statistical univariate and multivariate analysis.
We study people in digital spaces. We design digital evaluation services and the architecture for self-assessment tools, mapping to policy requirements and empowering end users. We help identify improvement opportunities.
Recent projects include helping the NHS identify ways to improve staff digital capabilities, collecting market research data for ‘We The Curious’, designing online student and staff surveys for Jisc, and collecting anonymous data from children in foster care in order to improve local and national policy mechanisms.
Contact us today to discover how we can help you.
We build and manage online surveys using a variety of platforms, chosen to meet client need. Questions are user-tested, and we ensure data are collected at an appropriate granularity to answer client questions and track through time.
We design and carry out quantitative and qualitative user research, including via surveys, focus groups, work-based interviews and remote tests. We use methods including cognitive and depth interviewing.
We analyse data using appropriate univariate statistical analysis to discern whether differences are due to chance variation or a real effect. We use multi-variate methods (e.g. factor analysis, MCA, KDA) to identify clusters, key drivers or persona types.
We help in the strategic and structural design of digital self-assessment tools, diagnostics and experiences. These could be for individuals (e.g. reflecting on skills) or organisations (e.g. measuring and benchmarking compliance).
We employ a user-centred approach throughout. We use depth and cognitive interviewing techniques and ensure we collect information ethically. We have experience in journey-mapping, wireframing, information architecture, persona development and interaction design.
We are happy to work with data collected by others; for example we can re-analyse survey data using multivariate techniques to unearth trends that were previously overlooked. We are experts in literature and policy review.
The Insights service is a set of customisable online surveys to measure the student digital experience, used by post-16 education providers across the UK and beyond. We designed the surveys and piloted them over a three-year period. During that time we were responsible for the day-to-day running and support for the service, as well as the analysis and co-writing of the final report. In 2019 this was adopted by Jisc as a successful service offered to all UK higher and further education providers as well as international universities. Tabetha remains involved at a strategic level and is currently carrying out secondary depth analysis and the creation of further short reports using the UK data set. Read more about this at Jisc Digital Insights.
We The Curious (formerly @Bristol) asked us to carry out some market and user experience research to identify attitudes to travel in and around central Bristol, in particular relating to parking cars near to the visitor attraction. This work involved a team of eight Timmus Limited researchers who collected data from passers-by at peak travel times via our custom-designed ball-o-meter (which was hugely successful in achieving over 90% response rate, thus avoiding a biased sample) as well as f2f chats with those willing to provide further information. This research was used to create a process and pricing strategy for the attraction’s car park, and to assist with branding links. We collaborated with Point Creative, who used our data to create effective marketing materials and signage.
In 2020 we successfully bid to design, build and run what became DASH, the 'Digital Attitudes and Skills in Heritage’ survey. This national initiative, funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund, collected data from over 4,000 people working across heritage relating to their attitudes towards digital attitudes and skills, and organisational support for using software, apps, hardware, and networks. The survey provided a voice to everyone in the heritage sector regardless of role, and provided organisations with access to their data so they could compare themselves to the national dataset and identify improvement opportunities. We won the tender to repeat this in 2021, collecting another 4,500 responses.
Tabetha co-designed surveys for three age groups of looked-after children in the UK care system, working together with Professor Julie Selwyn from The Hadley Centre for Adoption and Foster Care Studies and the charity Coram Voice. Tabetha was responsible for managing the survey design, build, edits and management of live surveys, before training a dedicated team at Coram Voice to take the service forwards. Data were used to improve the care experience for children and young people in local authorities, were summarised in academic papers, and discussed at national policy level. Tabetha assisted with the design of an interactive, dynamic web-based infographic to trial ways to better present data graphically, and is currently helping with a literature review of the mental health of children in care.
We helped design an online interactive diagnostic tool that measures the digital potential of schools across the European Union, now known as SELFIE. We designed questions for senior managers, teachers and children regarding various aspects of digital in their school, so allowing them to track their progress through time and compare viewpoints. The system is well explained via this YouTube video. We were tasked with the initial scoping research (including a user consultation survey across five countries) and the question design for adults and children. We provided strategic feedback on the design, build and management of the tool itself. In the first six months since it launched in October 2018, 400,000+ people from over 4,000 schools in 38 countries have used SELFIE.
Health Education England (HEE) asked us to investigate the potential for a digital diagnostic tool for NHS staff. Our initial survey analysis suggested that such a tool was unlikely to appeal to those who were neutral or negatively minded about ‘digital in the workplace’. We recommended the development of a new lightweight self-diagnostic as an introduction. We carried out a review of alternative tools and user-tested them against our prototype. We visited hospital wards and interviewed staff to measure digital confidence, experience and motivation. Multivariate analysis revealed specific persona types and potential digital champions. Our report identified the most appropriate diagnostic tool design, and suggested ways in which a volume of anonymous data might also be useful to local managers.
Tabetha is a social and educational researcher, online survey designer, statistician and Behavioural Scientist based in Bristol, UK, who has a specific interest in researching people in digital spaces. Tabetha has a degree and Ph.D. in Animal Behaviour. She is a Company Partner with the Market Research Society (MRS), a Fellow at The Royal Statistical Society, an associate at The University of Bristol, a member of the Social Research Association, and the Alliance for Useful Evidence. She is a trustee and previous Chair of Governors for a local Primary School Academy. She is an expert in online survey design and build, and quantitative statistical analysis. A catalogue of her academic publications are available via her ResearchGate site.
We're based in the lovely city of Bristol, UK, but we work with clients across the UK and beyond.
If you have a query, please contact Tabetha Newman
Email: tn [at] timmuslimited [dot] co [dot] uk
