ABSTRACT
This chapter concerns whether practice research might offer a solution to this conundrum at its most basic level–what should be researched and how? It concerns the way the problem or issue is conceptualised and what methods of research flow from these initial decisions. The chapter adopts a deliberately pragmatic and concrete stance, attempting to reflect the predominantly practical concerns of practitioners. Social workers address inherently complex problems – how to ensure children are safe but have the freedom to explore, how to respect a client’s autonomy in the face of demands that ‘something should be done’, how to support communities to oppose harmful development without destroying economic opportunity. The technology of systematic reviews is evolving rapidly, and now offers alternatives to the lengthy prescriptions of classical methods.
