ABSTRACT
In this Chapter Paul Stepney and Neil Thompson present a good case for ensuring that, as far as possible, our practice is informed by the best available research evidence. Drawing on ideas from Martyn Jones, the authors ask two simple, but fundamental, questions: What can research learn from social work? And, vice versa, what can social work learn from research? In exploring answers to these questions in some depth they go on to demonstrate the value of promoting research-informed and evidence-enriched practice. This underpins a key message of this book, namely that our practice needs to be informed practice – and that includes informed by the various ways in which research can provide us with important elements of understanding.
