ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on research issues relating to professional development within policing. It focuses on the challenges of doing research, given the extent to which political factors beyond the control of the researcher weigh so heavily in relation to matters of professional development in policing. The chapter draws upon comparisons from education where a similar emphasis of evidence based policy and practice has come to dominate research, identifying both similarities and points of distinction in the respective professionalisation agendas. It also considers often neglected aspects of research that we feel are particularly pertinent in taking forward the idea of professional development within contemporary policing contexts. These include normative research questions, the development of action research within policing and the utilisation of quantitative research methods other than randomised control trials. The aspect of action research can be perceived as unscientific in the context of an evidence based policy and practice agenda, but offers contributions to the development of police knowledge.
