INESAN (Institute of Evaluations and Social Analyzes) is the first private scientific research organization in the field of social sciences founded in the Czech Republic. It was established in accordance with the rules set by the European Union (Community Framework for State Aid for Research, Development and Innovation, 2014/C/198/01) and Act No. 130/2002 Coll., On the Support of Research, Experimental Development and Innovation. It is registered in the List of Research Organizations maintained by the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports (MŠMT).

Our main activity is to carry out basic research, applied research and experimental development and disseminate their results through teaching, publishing, education and knowledge transfer, while all profits are reinvested in these activities. A secondary activity is the contract research and consulting.

Individual departments focus on solving societal issues:

• The research Department of Sensitive Topics focuses on, for example, ethically responsible behavior, population aging, the issue of healthy aging and senior issues;
• The Environmental Research Department is dedicated to research in the areas of fisheries, waste management, air protection and household water consumption;
• The research Department of Social and Health Topics focuses, among other things, on the issue of population aging and its effects on social and health services, employment of the elderly, social housing and health awareness.

The Research unit covers the extensive background of the organization in the field of methodology of applied social science research. Thanks to that we can realize quantitative and qualitative primary research, secondary data analysis, content analysis of various documents or reanalysis and as a specific area – the development and validation of research and evaluation instruments.

The Administrative unit provides complete administrative and support activities for individual departments of the research organization and has long been dedicated to cultivating its internal environment.

We continuously publish the results of INESAN’s research and evaluation activities in the professional press and present them at professional conferences. We also cooperate with selected academic workplaces and with public administration bodies in their decision-making and management activities. The publications, expertise, expert opinions and opinions we issue contain the independent view of our experts and are not influenced by the attitudes of donors or clients.

Our employees are researchers with long-term experience in the fields of social science research methodology, evaluation, social work, economics, public policy and social geography and they follow the INESAN´s Code of Ethics.

We have our own network of more than 800 interviewers throughout the Czech Republic; a research laboratory, which includes, among other things, specialized world-leading software for testing and validation of scales, eye camera or equipment monitoring individual reactions through sensors (galvanic skin response), polygraph and other instrumentation needed for successful project implementation; modern computer technology, including adequate SW equipment; a library of several thousand books and more than 25,000 papers focused mainly on research methodology, management studies, organizational culture, evaluation and other thematic areas developed at INESAN. We are a subscriber to a number of peer-reviewed Czech and foreign journals (eg Evaluation, New Directions for Evaluations, International Journal of Public Opinion Research, Survey Methodology); we also have our own range of working papers and we are the publisher of a professional journal focused on evaluation theory and practice, which is included in the List of peer-reviewed non-impact journals published in the Czech Republic.

Within our organizational structure, we have established a Knowledge Transfer Unit, the scope of which includes support for the applicability of results achieved within individual basic and applied research projects, knowledge transfer administration and cross-sectoral cooperation. The activities of the Unit are proactively focused on the ex-ante specification of individual project plans (so that their setting and form does not create unnecessary obstacles to possible transfer in the future) and the results themselves. The unit also actively establishes partnerships of the research organization with relevant subjects from the application practice and seeks opportunities for the application of already achieved knowledge.

We also hold the HR Excellence in Research Award (HRS4R), which was received in 2020; at the same time, we hold a certificate of successful completion of the Gender Audit (obtained in 2017 and renewed in 2021).

INESAN is thus one of the institutions that supports the career growth of its employees, takes care of work-life balance, prevents any form of discrimination and creates a suitable environment and working conditions for all its employees.

Mission and Vision

The field of evaluation has developed worldwide only in recent decades. It is therefore a relatively young and dynamic field. The importance of evaluation is also growing rapidly in the Czech Republic, and with regard to what value evaluation brings, this trend will continue in the coming years.

INESAN’s aim is to provide useful methodology, background information and expert opinions to external and internal evaluators, evaluation sponsors and other interested parties so that these entities can increase the reliability and validity of survey conducted evaluations. Given that INESAN personnel are not systematically involved in routine projects we can devote our attention to principled methodology and methodological issues, solving non-trivial task and provide feedback to stakeholders enriched with useful insight.

The purpose of our work is most relevant to potential sponsors for stimulating practical evaluation use and including “evaluation of thought” in the implementation of projects and measures; to implementer evaluations for supporting their pursuit of obtaining reliable and valid data; and in relation to other stakeholders, for working to spread knowledge and positive experiences resulting from evaluations performed.