Doing Practitioner Research

Citation

Hannabuss, S. (2007), "Doing Practitioner Research", Library Review, Vol. 56 No. 7, pp. 627-629. https://doi.org/10.1108/00242530710776042

The case that was traditionally made was that practice was practice and research was research: recent years have proved the central role of practitioner research, something which rightly cuts across that artificial dichotomy. Practitioner research not only has the advantage of getting practitioners doing it (with all the value‐added externalities of that in fields like education, the health sciences, social and information work and much else): it is usually research carried out with a pragmatic eye on ethical and political and organizational factors that operate in the workplace. Power, personal ambition, inducing change, getting champions, facing up to bureaucracy, establishing credibility, reassuring people about confidentiality – all these, and more, are in play with practitioner research.

This often makes such research “really useful” and “real”, and in an environment where publish‐for‐publication's‐sake is the common wisdom, and where more reverence (based on ignorance) than scepticism for purely “academic” research is all too commonplace, a case for practitioner research, above all for talented professionals who want to climb ladders and be more reflexive practitioners (rather than have lists of papers and post‐nominals to their names), needs to be made. The authors of this new book work in the department of health and human sciences at the University of Essex, and target their book at readers in the fields of education, the health sciences and social work. However, their advice about practitioner research extends beyond these fields to anyone doing, or thinking of doing, it, making the book (hardback for libraries, paperback also for student purchase) an excellent addition to the academic or professional library.

It is a well‐ordered practical book based clearly on experience of doing such research and running courses about it. The authors are right to say that practitioner research is more necessary now than ever, particularly in the public sector, where change is endemic or needs to be. They are able to present and discuss research methods topics as if they are fresh, no small achievement given how jaded courses such as this can get. Examples and small case‐studies sprinkle the book and offer tangible instances of what teachers, health care practitioners and social workers have done and can do: nurse W sets out to do this, teacher X wants to examine exclusion in schools, researcher Y considers randomized controlled sampling, practitioner Z fears that line managers, already over‐burdened with compliance regulations, might oppose research that threatens to rock the boat. These are issues familiar to any practitioner, if not most of them, if they work and want also to do research, or if they embark on post‐experience study that involves research, say for a dissertation.

The authors are intuitively aware of the challenges faced by practitioners, both external (like from their very own workplace) and internal (persistence, life‐changes, self‐esteem and ambition, finding time, being ethical). Practitioner research sets up potential conflicts of interest – researcher or employee? – over matters like confidentiality and privacy, eliciting information from clients and patients and colleagues, carrying out covert research. For these reasons, in chapter 4, the authors speak about examining the shadow side of the organization, a good phrase that captures the hidden and tacit levels of the culture of an organization, and not only things it prefers to keep under wraps. Practitioner research deals with stakeholder dynamics and power politics, often implicating the researcher in terms of the other hats he or she wears. Research is also seen by many observers as being a trigger for disturbing change, making collaboration or cooperation sometimes problematic, especially in a public sector suspicious of privatization. In their discussion about the impact of such research, the authors make these points clear.

For readers who want, more literally, advice and guidance on research methods, the book contains plenty of it. Early chapters deal with researchable areas and questions, research paradigms (positivistic/experimental, social constructionist/phenomenological and so forth), returning cleverly from time to time to these rather abstract ideas to demonstrate their relevance. Practitioner research, you see, adds to knowledge – of process, of values and culture – and personally and propositionally (e.g. what research is there, or could there be, to help me understand this patient's problem or the difficulty this child has with reading?). Chapter 5 explores the research – researcher relationship itself, its intentions and personal consequences, and their link with research validity. Other chapters examine research design, dealing with clients and patients in practice‐ or action‐based research, writing up the research and disseminating it.

Throughout the authors keep theory in its place, make a good case for practice as opposed to mere theory, acknowledge the hierarchies of power within which such research must weave its diplomatic way, alert potential researchers to the challenges of getting client consent and facing bureaucratic resistance, and provide sensible (without being trite) advice on research ethics. They refer to a wide range of books and articles as they go along (a bibliography at the back) and recommend key works with each chapter. It is good to have such a sensible and unpretentious introduction to this field – true readers here would tolerate no others – and the Kolbian cycle (concept, experience, practice, etc) makes sense on a meta‐level, and even the sermonizing about reflexive professionals at the end is acceptable as a tail‐piece. Far too many books do this at the start – the case for practitioner research is, ironically, self‐evident and yet, catch‐22‐like, every time you make it people's eyes glaze over. Thank goodness this is a book with a sharp and clear vision.

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