ABSTRACT
This paper is based on the proposition that a research base is necessary for the development and improvement of practice in social work, but that concerns about epistemology and methodology have influenced responses to research by practitioners. It argues that social work can benefit from the contribution that feminist writing has made to the research debate, and that the issues for social work might be pertinent to other areas of study, or disciplines. Therefore, it has to be read as complementary to a number of others in the reader, particularly the papers by David Avison, Jackie Powell and Pat Usher.
