Introduction

This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book aims to serve as a guide for researchers, practitioners, commissioners and consumers of research who are interested in research with children, families and communities conducted in real world contexts. It presents the Irish experience in the international context. The book describes the aims of the Research, Evaluation, Policy and Practice Project, which has produced this text, and how it grew out of this context. It shows that span the full range of methodological approaches available in the health and social sciences and focuses on the process of conducting research. The chapter aims to make the material accessible to a broad range of stakeholders, though some topics will be more relevant to different groups working within the broad area of community, health and social care.