Good Practice in the Conduct and Reporting of Practitioner Research: Reflections from Social Work And Social Care

Abstract

This paper examines two distinct forms of practitioner research and makes tentative suggestions around what may constitute good practice in their conduct and reporting, and for the genre of practitioner research as a whole. We also explore their potential benefits and limitations within the wider set of research approaches. Discussion is informed primarily by an earlier review of practitioner research in adult social care and supplemented by knowledge and experience of wider activities related to practitioner research. Discussion is organised in three parts. First, we explore what are generic good practices around all forms of practitioner research. Second, we move to identify particular forms of good practice within what we call Type 1 and Type 2 practitioner research, situating them alongside a practitioner research matrix of stakeholder benefits. Third, we consider the implications of such discussion for how we best stimulate these types of practitioner research.