ABSTRACT

The ways in which researchers carry out their work convey messages about their beliefs concerning research methodology, their theoretical pre-suppositions and also their views of ‘how the world works’. These messages, however, are often implicit rather than explicit. Perhaps because we are aware of the limited word length of journals, manuscripts required of contributors, research articles rarely include extended explanations of the paradigm, or model, underpinning the research process, the assumptions underlying particular concepts being used, or the implicit view about the place and role of theory, though they may tell us the techniques used to gather data. Of course, we are keen to know about the focus, content, results, conclusions and implications of a piece of research and, during our reading, judgements are made about the methods used in the research, but usually this means we assess whether the techniques were appropriate and whether the researcher used them in a ‘rigorous’ way. As Robson (1993) has noted, however, whilst systematic enquiry calls for a set of skills in observing and interviewing, designing, analysing, interpreting and reporting, the development of these skills takes time. Psychology and the related social sciences also have a substantive content of theories, models and findings with which it is essential that the researcher is, at the very least, familiar.