Key messages There is a lack of work on quality use and practitioner perspectives; This paper explores educators’ views on ‘using research well’ and compares them to a conceptual framework of quality research use; Educators’ views align with most components of the framework, and provide nuanced insights into using research well in practice; The findings can inform future capacity building and research to improve and understand quality research use. Introduction Internationally, there are widespread efforts to improve the use of research
Avoiding both over-simplification and jargon-riddled complexity, this book is an invaluable, straightforward guide to participatory research for you and your fellow practitioners working with community groups and organisations.
The book offers a blueprint for your research project, taking you through each stage of the process, from planning your project to disseminating your findings. Keeping in mind imperatives such as engagement, involvement and voice, the book explores how best to conduct your research in ways which are meaningful for the participants.
The book includes valuable resources such as reflection points, chapter summaries and further reading lists. It will encourage and empower practitioners to plan and execute participatory research projects with confidence.
Research doesn’t exist in a bubble but co-exists with a multitude of other tasks and commitments, yet there is more need for people to save time than ever before.
Brilliantly attuned to the demands placed on researchers, this book considers how students, academics and professionals alike can save time and stress without compromising the quality of their research or its outcomes. This third edition:
- is fully revised with new chapters on research and evaluation ethics, creative methods of collecting data and how research can make a positive difference;
-includes illustrative case studies throughout the book and each chapter concludes with exercises, discussion questions and a debate topic;
- is accompanied by a fully updated companion website.
This supportive book is designed for any student or practitioner who wants to know how to do research on top of their main job and still have a life.
Introduction This chapter and the one that follows present the findings of the empirical component of the study. This chapter focuses on the interviews conducted with 159 practitioners working in and around a number of court and tribunal settings: predominantly the criminal courts (both Crown and magistrates’), Family Court, Employment Tribunal (ET) and Immigration and Asylum Chamber (IAC). As will be discussed, the interview findings point to a range of ways in which the practitioners understood the meaning and functions of participation by lay witnesses
Research doesn’t exist in a bubble but co-exists with a multitude of other tasks and commitments, yet there is more need for people to save time than ever before. Brilliantly attuned to the demands placed on researchers, this book considers how students, academics and professionals alike can save time and stress without compromising the quality of their research or its outcomes.
187 Commentary from a practitioner perspective Sigurd Reimers Within the family therapy field these days one tends to talk more about systemic thinking and less about systems theory. This could be an important shift for those social workers who are interested in developing a more systemic practice. Systems theory originated in the physical sciences, and claimed that systems could be measured accurately, and that the parts of any system behaved in a predictable, and rather mechanistic way. At that time (1950s to 1970s) this was a useful development in that it
87 Commentary from a practitioner perspective Rosemary Gordon Introduction Before providing a commentary from a practitioner perspective, it may be helpful briefly to describe my own background and approach to direct work with children. I shall also describe how I approached the task of providing a commentary on these five case studies. My professional background is in probation, where latterly I worked as a divorce court welfare officer during the early 1980s. This experience had a profound impact on me, coming at a time when a fresh approach to family
53 Part Two: Practitioner perspectives The four chapters that comprise Part Two each draw on research conducted to examine, in turn, the experiences of transnational social workers in Canada, England, Australia, and Aotearoa New Zealand. While the different studies varied in their designs, the numbers of participants involved, and the methods of analysis used to interpret the data, the stories told in each chapter reveal some fundamental consistencies across the four countries. Transnational social workers have been, and continue to be, drawn from
Risk in practice: systems and practitioner judgement Kerry Baker Introduction This chapter considers how practitioners in criminal justice agencies make complex decisions about risk within the current highly charged climate of political and media concern about public protection. The aim is not to look simply at questions of procedure, for example whether practitioners complete assessments within the required timescales, as these are investigated elsewhere (HMIP, 2006c and 2006d), but to develop a richer discussion of how practitioners make difficult
133 Becoming critical: developing the community practitioner EIGHT Becoming critical: developing the community practitioner Sarah Banks Introduction The last three chapters have examined aspects of critical community practice in relation to direct work in and with community groups and organisations (Chapter Five); managing practitioners, programmes and organisations (Chapter Six); and developing policy in the context of the current political climate (Chapter Seven). The focus of attention has been on the processes and activities of groups and organisations
