Decide Whether to Commission External Research or Do It In-House

You need research done and the choice is an agency or your own team. This works through it: whether you have the method skills, time and access to do it properly, how much independence matters for the findings to be believed, and the real cost of each. You decide where the research goes rather than defaulting to whoever is free.

<context>
You need research on {RESEARCH_TOPIC} and are deciding whether to commission it from a specialist agency or conduct it using internal resources.
</context>

<task>
**Step 1: Assess the internal capability**
Do you have the methodological expertise, time, and access to participants or data to conduct this research to a standard that will actually inform decisions?

**Step 2: Assess the value of independence**
Would the research findings be more credible, to internal or external audiences, if they came from an independent third party?

**Step 3: Compare cost and timeline**
The true cost of doing it in-house (including staff time opportunity cost) vs the cost of commissioning, and the timeline for each.

**Step 4: Make a recommendation**
Commission externally / Conduct in-house / Hybrid (in-house design, external fieldwork), with the key reason.
</task>

<output_format>
- A capability and independence assessment
- A cost and timeline comparison
- A recommendation with the key reason
</output_format>