Turning Ideas into Research. Barbara Fawcett
target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="#u491ef80f-47a8-5795-8253-b1f96bd80e5f">Chapter 5 is concerned with how to carry out research projects and we review and appraise qualitative orientations and the kinds of research approaches, data collection methods and data analysis techniques that can be adopted. In Chapter 6, we continue this emphasis and concentrate on quantitative orientations and the use of mixed methods. Chapter 7 highlights the importance of forms of evaluative researching. We recognize that whilst similar methodologies are used for evaluative researching and other forms of research, ‘evaluation’ is often seen to lack status. In this chapter, we review definitions of evaluation and the various ways in which evaluative research can be carried out. We also promote evaluation as a key method of research and highlight its importance as a legitimate research approach.
In Chapter 8 we turn our attention towards how to read research, how to take account of language and context and how to ascertain rigour and relevance. This chapter concentrates on how the context of the writing determines what is included and how this needs to be interpreted. This involves researchers locating themselves as critical readers and ascertaining the links made between purpose, analysis, findings and action. This critical interrogation is accompanied by a review of commonly used ways of producing research reports, and the chapter draws from relevant international examples to produce signposts and markers. We also look at evidence-based practice and the ways in which this broad concept has been put forward as the panacea for all problems experienced in social work and health services. Accordingly, we look at different conceptualizations of what constitutes evidence, the various types of evidence, its relationship with research, research rigour in relation to evidence and overall the utility of evidence in the arena of health and social work.
In Part III we look at the impact of research. Chapter 9 takes up this theme by looking at how all research carried out can make a difference. We explore ways in which this can be achieved, how research cultures can be sustained, and we examine strategies for the promotion and dissemination of research findings. We also discuss writing for publication and look at some practical steps and achievable goals for early-career researchers. Chapter 10 attends to impact by exploring the common pitfalls associated with carrying out research. It also focuses on ways of overcoming these by developing effective research supervisory relationships and building effective research infrastructures.
One Why do research?
In this chapter we look at the many underlying reasons for carrying out research. We explore different ways of researching and start to map out the connections among ideas, conceptual frameworks, the formulation of research questions and methodology. We also develop and take forward our key themes relating to the importance of world-views or ontological and epistemological frames, inclusivity and participation and how research can inform policy and practice.
Research and researching often acquire a certain mystery. Research activity can be viewed as requiring particular training, elevated skills or a proven academic track record. However, we want to start out by looking at research in its broadest sense in order to both simplify and emphasize ‘doability’. We all can be seen to employ research skills in our daily lives as part of exploring an area where we need to gain more information, to check out something we are presented with or to question a statement or a position that has been adopted. Research is about wanting to know more, about working out how to do this and about exploring how action can follow from investigation. This is not to appear to dismiss research knowledge or training. It would be pointless to keep reinventing the wheel, but it is important to emphasize that we all, in various ways, engage in research as part of our daily lives and that we are all eminently capable of undertaking a variety of research projects.
Devising and carrying out a research project is often a question of confidence. If we believe we can do something then invariably we do it. If we doubt ourselves then it is all too easy to place research in the ‘too hard’ basket. There has also been an apparently impermeable barrier erected between researchers and students, between researchers and practitioners, and between researchers and consumers. If we do not feel able to carry out research generally or to look at those areas that we know about and have an interest in then we lose a significant dimension and leave room for others to constitute ‘evidence’ for us.
Developing research ideas from practice
Context features significantly in relation to the undertaking of research. Politics, at national and local levels, exerts influence in terms of funding priorities, budgetary constraints, areas that are being targeted for investigation as well as a host of other aspects operating at a range of levels. Wherever a researcher or student is placed within an organization, the networking and resource opportunities available will feature significantly, as will the commitment of the university or organization. All of these factors can serve to govern the orientation of a research project, but whether there is a strong element of direction or whether there is more flexibility, research questions flow from the generation of good ideas.
In turn, good ideas flow from moments of inspiration, from detailed work in specific areas, from big-picture scenarios and from making links and connections.
It is also important to note that context incorporates current knowledge location in terms of contemporaneous influencing factors. Students, for example, will draw from previous experience, academic input and their discipline or interdisciplinary base to generate ideas for research. Those operating in fields of practice will have ideas associated with areas that are proving problematic or those which are working well. Coming up with a good idea initiates the research process and triggers commitment, enthusiasm and determination. A good idea may need considerable refinement to translate into a viable research question, as we see in Chapter 4, but without a good idea a research project will not get off the ground.
Inclusive knowledge building in practice
Research can be undertaken as an individual activity and for many students resources and regulations can make inclusive and collaborative projects difficult. However, inclusion can now be seen to be featuring significantly in the arena of social research. Indeed, in terms of research making a difference to policy and practice, it makes sense to involve those in the change area, be they professionals, those who use services or, as is increasingly being acknowledged, those who wear multiple hats, in the process. Ensuring that ‘end users’ are included and participate in research is increasingly being recognized as a means of building capacity, and although, clearly, not everyone can be involved to the same extent, incorporating inclusivity as a matter of course into the design of a research project is now being taken on board by research funders as well as by those carrying out research projects.
However, it also has to be recognized that ‘inclusivity’ can be variously interpreted and it is not just a question of inviting everybody along; a great deal of thought has to go into making inclusion and participation work. This is an area we refer to throughout this book and specifically focus on in Chapter 2, where we look at partnerships in research, Chapter 4, where we explore turning ideas into viable research projects, and Chapter 7, where we consider forms of evaluative researching.
Ideas and theory building
In order to make sense of what is around us, we all develop theories. It is about posing ‘why’ questions, such as ‘why is that person being responded to in that way?’ or ‘why are older people portrayed as “vulnerable”?’.