ABSTRACT
Vision, in the social sciences, concerns system change and hope. In the engagement between client systems and social science systems, clients generally have some vision of a desirable future before they ever approach the social scientists. When a vision is relatively bounded, interventions are often successful in their own terms but the effects may be marginal, not extending in time or affecting much in the organization. Sometimes a client's vision is stronger than or different from that of the social scientist. A professional needs a reference group and needs to maintain contact with it. Situations frequently pull one away from the "pure" teaching of a discipline or methodology; it gets modified in collaborative action research. Most disciplines teach their particular research methods, at least at postgraduate level. Practice requires a repertoire of skills which have their own unique characteristics and are not simply, for example, research methods on the one hand or management consultancy on the other.
