The Global Research Story

Global Research delivers innovative applied market research and social research based on experience with, and in-depth knowledge of, quantitative and qualitative research methods.

We deliver high quality results, often working with tight time pressures. Our recent work includes some significant projects for New Zealand and Australia. Much of our work we can’t share due to commercial sensitivity, but here are some projects that we can:

— Future Melbourne 2026 public engagement analysis for the City of Melbourne.  This 10-yearly project sets the vision for the most liveable city in the world.

— Christchurch’s Land Use Recovery Plan rezoned greater Christchurch, so residential, commercial and industrial land could be identified to develop, following the 2010/11 earthquakes. This massive planning project, which Global Research completed the public engagement analysis for, was completed in 12 months. We received glowing praise.

— Lincoln University is New Zealand’s specialist land base university – delivering the skills and research that drives New Zealand’s prosperity and place in the world.  When Lincoln was forced to rebuild over half its campus because of earthquake damage, Global Research prepared the strategic case which secured $107.5 million from the New Zealand government.

We also deliver research internationally, for some of the world’s leading public planning and urban design agencies:

— Oslo City completed its third Gehl Architects’ Public Space Public Life survey in 2014. Gehl engaged Global Research to crunch the numbers, to inform their plan to guide the continued development of this historic city, as it plans for growth of 30% over the next 15 years.

— Red Deer, Canada, is a growing Alberta city. It is grappling with growth and providing quality transportation options for its citizens. Gehl Architects and 8-80 Cities collaborated to develop the Mobility Playbook. They called on Global Research’s services to analyse the extensive public engagement, which provided the public’s perspective on the initial planning stages.

The skills and experience we use to deliver projects were honed working under the unique challenge, of the aftermath of the 2010/11 Christchurch earthquakes. During this time, a new approach to written information analysis was required in order to quickly gain insight from the thousands of ideas that were submitted to inform the city’s future.

Our success was a result of good systems, application of appropriate analysis techniques, working as an integrated client and research team, and using quality software. This is the formula we continue to use for all of our projects.

The Share an Idea initiative was the first large post-earthquake Christchurch city engagement project. It generated 106,000 city rebuild ideas in eight weeks to inform The Central City Plan. Patrick O’Neill, the co-founder of Global Research, worked with colleagues at Christchurch City Council to produce informative analysis quickly enough to inform the plan.

Global Research applies its skills and experience to respond to many research challenges. For example, we find insight in information captured directly from customers/citizens through surveys, as well as through social media channels, such as tripAdvisor, facebook and Twitter.

Our location at the bottom of the globe, provides significant advantages for our international clients who seek quick, in-depth insights from their data. Based in New Zealand, our day is ending when much of the world is just getting started, so we can work through the rest of the world’s night to deliver results that inform the new working day.

So if you have research questions you need answers to, customers or products you want to understand, or copious written information that you want to make sense of, please contact us, we would love to turn your Information into Insight.

Testimonials

“Global Research undertook the large piece of work in a professional and collaborative manner. Members of the Citizens Jury have found the products produced by Global Research integral to their deliberations.

The speed and quality at which Global Research produced its work reflected the quality of their capabilities.”
— Anthony Cussen, Senior Project Officer, City of Melbourne - Future Melbourne 2026
“Global Research came highly recommended because of the work they completed for the Christchurch public engagement campaign, following the earthquake in 2011. Although our project was far smaller, the expertise, timeliness and thoroughness that Global Research brought to our project was of a high quality.

Patrick and his team were able to analyse, qualify and quantify all of our public comments in a very quick manner, presenting a final product that was well received and easy to understand by senior management, the public and decision makers.

Public input into major visioning projects is critically important. Global Research was able to take the input receive and situate it as a valuable component in the decision making process.
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— Jeremy Bouw, Divisional Strategist, City of Red Deer, (Alberta, Canada) - Integrated Movement Study, Mobility Playbook
“Patrick and the team at Global Research provided valuable early advice when we were designing the best approach to consultation, engagement and communication, provided further valuable advice as engagement and communication progressed and provided a quality product at the end to capture everything that was said at workshops and through consultation.

This information was utilised by the planners to further inform decision making, and was very useful given the compressed timeframes for the project.

The processes followed and information gathered was extremely valuable, and has since been tested in the High Court and found to be robust. Under challenge from a land developer, the High Court recently held that “the Minister and UDS partners made admirable efforts to consult, engage and communicate widely as part of the preparation of the LURP”, the work from GR formed a key component of that consultation.”
— Stephen Timms , Land Use Recovery Plan - Project Lead, Principal Advisor - Planning, Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority (CERA) , (Formerly with Environment Canterbury)
“The $107.5mil Better Business Case for the rebuild of our scientific facilities was a critical milestone in the restoration of the University following the Canterbury earthquakes. It comes at a time when we look to increase our contribution to New Zealand’s land based industries through establishing the Lincoln Hub. Patrick was part of the multi-disciplinary expert team which prepared our business case. This case was rated one of the best ever received by Government. He delivered a broad range of contributions in research, analysis, coordination and writing, which he adapted to the changing needs of the project. Patrick’s contribution significantly contributed to the success of our case.”
— Dr Andrew West, Vice-Chancellor, Lincoln University
“…Patrick’s relaxed personal style and communication skills ensured that the work progressed with the minimum of delays and with the full support of those involved. …They have added considerably to the Department’s understanding of visitors to the areas it manages.”
— Mike Edginton, Director, Partnerships, Historic & Visitor - Kaihautū Ao Tuku Iho/Ao Manuhiri, Department of Conservation
“GR were engaged to help CERA gather and synthesize public feedback on a draft residential chapter for the Christchurch Central Recovery Plan. Given the volume and breadth of public comments, GRs service proved to be invaluable. All GRs advice, tasks and reporting were delivered in a timely manner and to a high standard.”
— Tim Walsh, Senior Advisor, Christchurch Central Development Unit , Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority (CERA)
“Gehl Architects found Global Research to be very professional and dedicated in investigating the survey material. Global Research was flexible and accommodating in terms of deliveries and deadlines, and provided valuable interpretation of the data. The output was well formulated and responded to all our questions, and Global Research were even able to translate replies from Norwegian into English. We are happy to recommend Global Research to others in need of data and survey processing, and look forward to the continued collaboration.”
— Camilla van Deurs, Director, Partner, Gehl Architects
“Global Research has introduced a system that has allowed us to collate our online feedback along with our written feedback and produce one meaningful report. The satisfaction report allows us to make strategic decisions on how we can continue to improve our guests’ experience. Since engaging Global Research’s services we have been able to listen to our guests in a timely manner and have importantly seen an improvement in our tripadvisor ranking.”
— Thomas Patterson, Assistant Manager, Commodore Airport Hotel
“GR was a key enabler in assisting the hub partners with the delivery and documentation of a Plan to set the vision and foundation for the Lincoln Hub. Key attributes they displayed were the ability to synthesise a significant volume of inputs from the five organisations, to organise and structure into an effective framework, in a short timeframe, and to add value to content generation and format, and a real ability to work closely with the customer, all of which added to the quality of the Plan.”
— Andrew McSweeney, Shared services director AgResearch
“Global Research provided a wealth of knowledge and ideas around the evaluation process that led to the development and implementation of an effective and efficient survey and interview format to gauge the impact of the project across the target audiences. The research report has been shared with key funders such as the Ministry of Justice and ACC as well as being used to help us enhance the SAY Now programme. We look forward to continuing to work with Global Research with the SAY Now project over the coming months.”
— Jonny Kirkpatrick, Business Manager, Sport Canterbury
“Global Research presented a thoroughly professional and quality report which enabled decision makers to understand the range of complex issues. The information was presented graphically and in written form and was turned around extremely quickly under tight deadlines. Patrick has a great understanding of local government processes and was able to accurately portray this in the report. I would not hesitate to use and recommend Global Research services in the future.”
— Simon Battrick, Major Facilities Unit Development Manager, Christchurch City Council

The Global Research Team

The Global Research team is a collective of academically qualified, highly skilled, passionate qualitative and quantitative researchers. We are grounded in a diversity of social science disciplines which ensures rigor and enables our global perspective approach to problem solving and project delivery. We are devoted to staying up to date with new technology and research techniques.

Global Research team members have diverse personal experiences and backgrounds, with travel being a common interest. That diversity and enjoyment of life and people enhances our research.

Patrick's leadership style has been refined by successfully executing a broad range of research projects, sometimes in uniquely challenging circumstances. The Global Research team is driven by integrity and delivering high quality ethical research.

For each Global Research project we form the most appropriate team, based on the needs of the project and the skills and experience of our personnel.

Patrick O’Neill

Managing Director

Patrick Manages the Global Research team. Over the last 15 years he has completed a vast range of projects and gained broad experience, with large fast moving public engagement projects being the most prominent in recent times.

Recent projects Patrick has completed with the GR team have included Christchurch post earthquake and international projects for organisations such as: City of Melbourne; Copenhagen based Gehl Architects; Toronto’s 8-80 Cities; Christchurch’s City Council; Christchurch’s Copthorne Hotel Commodore; The New Zealand Government’s Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority (CERA); and Lincoln University.

Patrick has worked in private business, university and government (central, local) research roles and has managed projects for a diverse range of organisations. Patrick’s undergraduate degree was in English Literature and his sociology based Masters was in Parks, Recreation and Tourism Management.

Jeanine Marriott-O’Neill

Director

Jeanine is our highly qualified and experienced company director. She draws from her undergraduate double major in psychology and sociology and post graduate qualifications in teaching, commerce, career and life counselling along with professional experience in Asia, Europe and Australasia.

Jeanine’s vast experience and holistic world view brings new insights and guidance to project planning and execution. She also has significant input into Global Research’s strategic direction and internal management and culture.

Michelle Marquet

Senior Researcher

Michelle has a colourful academic and professional background with a double degree in Law and Science and a Masters in Resource Studies with first class honours. A common thread through her studies as well as her interests is social wellbeing. Michelle works on a broad range of projects including the large post-quake citizen engagement analysis as well as evaluations and social media analysis.

Michelle leads a very full life away from Global Research, she is a fitness instructor and has recently become a new Mum.

Kathy Kise

Researcher

Kathy brings twenty years’ of contract negotiation experience for large US companies and with that a wealth of business and organisational knowledge, and a focus on precision and accountability.

Kathy has been a part of many Global Research projects over the last couple of years and specialises in applying her attention to detail and ear for participants’ voices to ensuring contributors are heard throughout our qualitative reports.

Currently Kathy, our multi-talented and highly skilled painter, has turned her attention to completing her PhD researching post-earthquake relationships within government, community and education at Lincoln University. This follow’s Kathy’s undergraduate English degree with Honours and Post Graduate Diploma in Social Science.

Megan Apse

Researcher

Megan is currently in the research phase of a Master's degree in Applied Science at Lincoln University, which complements her professional interest in qualitative research and in writing. Megan has experience as a content-writer, in assistant teaching roles at a tertiary level, as an Employment Consultant and in a number of volunteer and community roles. 

Megan previously enjoyed learning about people and the world by directly experiencing it through independent travel. Recently, a more theoretical approach to learning has seen Megan develop an interest in social theory, which she has undertaken in an academic setting. She has a bachelors degree from the University of Canterbury, and a Post-graduate Diploma in Social Sciences (with distinction) from Lincoln University.

Elizabeth Hayman

Researcher

Elizabeth has a commerce background having completed her Bachelor of Commerce degree with a double major in marketing and supply chain management. She has an interest in marketing and is soon to complete her post graduate study with a Masters of global business and marketing. Elizabeth has recently joined the team and her management and marketing knowledge will be put to good use on future business projects.

Elizabeth is a highly successful sportswoman, having represented provincial netball teams and was a member of the New Zealand’s Under 21 world youth cup squad.

Turning information into insight.