Communicating Results

There are a number of issues to keep in mind when disseminating the results of a research project.

1. Protocols with partner denominations and ministry partners
2. Ownership of data
3. Give credit to whom credit is due
4. Confidentiality of Interviewees
5. Potential uses of the information that could cause harm
6. Requests for information by third parties
7. Security issues

1. Follow the protocol with partner denominations and ministry partners

This article describes three types of church growth data analysis: the Population to Church Ratio, The Number of New Congregations Needed and The Number of Evangelicals per New Church Needed. Examples are provided from Eastern Europe of how church growth data can be interpreted and results communicated using graphs and maps. Step by step instruction is provided for certain calculations, graphing and mapping tasks.

Outline:
A. Church Growth Data Analysis

Research done by busy missionaries often gets bogged down at the reporting stage. The results are in. The findings have been found. The implications for the decision have been communicated informally. The job of writing up the results looms laborious and long. Actually, it is not necessary to write up a full report on every project undertaken. But certainly the bigger projects, and the projects which are likely to have wide appeal need to be written up so that others can benefit from the research too.

Submitting a case study of your research project is a great way to share your results with others and provide a model that others might use to do a similar research project.

Research has been a part of Protestant Missionary work since its inception. It will be seen that research has been a significant factor in launching each new wave of Protestant Missions.

Outline:

1. William Carey
2. Hudson Taylor
3. Early 20th Century
4. 1964-Present

William Carey

The following outline provides the essential steps for conducting a field survey.

The work of research is not done until the results are effectively communicated.
These are some of the "products" of research:

• Church Growth Reports
• Strategic Maps
• Church Directories
• People Profiles
• Case Studies
• Growth Projections
• Charts, Graphs, Data tables, Lists
• Articles
• Websites
• Prophetic message