Transcript Practice Research – a new winning concept with old and solid roots Ilse Julkunen Helsinki University Växjö University.

Practice Research – a new
winning concept with old and
solid roots
Ilse Julkunen
Helsinki University
Växjö University
Introduction to the theme
• What is practice research specific, what
are the critical elements?
• Why practice research right now?
• And what are the old and solid roots?
The phenomenon: practice research
Practice based research is the use of
research inspired principles, designs och
data collection methods in practice to be
able to answer questions that derive from
practice and to be able to answer in such
a way that it informs the practice
(Epstein 2001: Mining for silver while dreaming of gold: Clinical
data-mining in practice-based research)
• There is a diversity of terminology, many authors
place the practitioner (particularly UK, Sweden,
Denmark) at the centre, but they still define limits
• Practice research does not entail any particular
method or strategy of research (McCrystal 2000)
• Key components? : change, collaboration, focus
on vulnerable , theoretical understanding,
dissemination, the role of researcher (Pain 2008,
literature review)
• But no emphasis on empowerment or social
capital?
The core? An open discussion
The concept of practice (research) is an assemblage
comprising a variety of processes
(Alexander Styhre, Göteborg universitet)
1) Problem-solving is connected to social practices
2) The research process is characterized by its
orientation to change, that is to say that the function
of research is to find different ways and answers to
develop the practices.
3) The research is conducted in an interactive manner
with many different parties involved in the research
process.
4) The roles of the researcher and the practitioner
overlap and the researcher is both the subject and the
object.
5) The production and implementation of knowledge
overlap.
The virtue of having method-driven,
objective, systematically produced general
knowledge becomes a vice when we are
led to mistakenly believe that such
knowledge is sovereign with respect to
practice.
(Thomas A Scwandt 2002, 198: Evaluation practice reconsidered)
• The main aim is to create scientific
knowledge that has practical value
• Another aim is to generate practical
knowledge through empirical studies on a
local level
Cf Göran Goldkuhl, Linköping university (What does it mean to
serve the citizens in e-services?)
The Finnish concept
1) Research, which problem formulation and
themes are closely related to social work
practice (applied research, basic research,
transdisciplinary?)
2) Reflective relation and redefining dimension
3) Methodological innovation between different
actors and reserachers
4) Aims at shared knowledge and shared
knowledge production
5) Special focus on individual circumstances of
disadvantage
(Satka & Karvinen-Niinikoski et al 2005: Sosiaalityön
käytäntötutkimus)
The status of practice research
• Practice as a concept gained new interest within
sociology, organisation research, technology and
pedagogy at the end of 1990s
• Some talk about the practice turn in the social
sciences (Schatzki & Knorr-Cetina & Savigny 2001)
• Traditionally, practice has been in the core of
ethographical and antropological studies, also in
evaluation
• Now there is interest in a more integrative concept
that could assemble a variety of methodologies and
research processes with a focus on practice
and the old and solid roots?
John Dewey´s practical inquiry
• John Dewey’s ”pattern of inquiry” (1938);
It is based on a pragmatic paradigm that
sees commonsense as well as scientific
knowledge as means to improve human
practices. It emphasises that the scientific
goal is to create knowledge of the practical
that is practical to the practical.
Mead’s practice model
1. Trying to work out the possibilities of
acting – reflection and hypotheses
2. Descriptions of practice – in order to
achieve patterns
3. Interventions in practice
4. Evaluation
Back to Basics: Pragmatism
• Created and developed at the same time
and same place as the fundamental
elements of social work tradition
• Both have roots in the beginning of the
20th century Chicago
• Human being in the particular situation
• Priority to practice in the knowledge
production.
• Proof-testing by praxis, critical reflections
To do research is a practical activity
 Even though the practice is uncertain, chaotic and
changing, it is still the reality where we must solve
central problems that appear.
 The process is analogical whether we talk about
everyday activities or research. In both situations it
is a question of problemsolvingprocesses.
 It is time to raise the value of the practical needs in
knowledge production
said John Dewey already in 1929
Edith Abbott and Sophonisba Breckinridge
emphasized in the work of the Hull House
–settlement in 1920’s Chicago that social
workers hold significant scientific abilities
and that the research should not be solely
conducted by the social scientists
(see further Shaw & Bryderup 2008).
Critical stepping stonesco-development
1. Conceptualising – making sense of the
complexities of practice
2. Pattern descriptions of practice
3. Normative assesments, what are the
ethical criterias?
4. What are the hypotheses and program
theories, what do we assume?
5. Analytical principles
and more concretely
• At the current stage the demand for making
social work visible is largely accepted.
• To reform the practices entails an
understanding of what takes place in the
practice field.
• When the practices are verbalized, they
present themselves for critical reflection.
• Is it already a step to the direction of creating
theory when you find nearly right words?
References
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Dewey, J (1922) Human Nature and Conduct: An Introduction to
Social Psychology. Henry Holt, New York.
Dewey, J (1929) The Quest for Certainty. A Study of the Relations of
Knowledge and Action
Grey, M, Lovat T (2008) Practical mysticism, Habermas and social
work praxis. Journal of Social Work 8; 149
Habermas, Jürgen (1987) The Theory of Communicative Action. Vol
2. Life World and System: A Critique of Functionalist Reason.
Cambridge: Polity Press.
Kilpinen, E, Kivinen, O, Pihlström, S (2008) Pragmatismi filosofiassa
ja yhteiskuntatatieteissä. Gaudeamus, Helsinki
Mead, G (1938) Philosophy of the Present, University of Chicago.
Pain, Helen (2008) Practice research literature review, draft
Schatzki, T R, Knorr-Cetina, K, Savigny E (2001) The practice turn in
contemporary theory. Routledge, London and New York.
Strauss, A L (1993) Continual Permutations of action. Aldine
Transaction, New Brunswick and London.
Styhre, A (2003) Book review: Schatzki et al The practice turn..
Scandinavian Journal of Management 19 (2003); 395-398.
Thomas, N, O,Kane C (2000) Discovering what children think:
Connections between research and practice. British Journal of Social
Work 30 (6); 819-835.