ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses three important and divergent approaches (evidence approach, critical normative approach and social constructivist approach) in Danish social work research. It shows how international traditions have found their way into a specific Danish welfare context and have been the source of controversies about the general aim of social work research, what kind of research questions should be asked and what kind of methodological strategies should be chosen. 'Hermeneutics' comes from Greek and means 'interpretation' or 'the art of interpretation'. Interpretations are, by definition, uncertain and open to objections and criticism, and already here it differs from the idea of evidence-based knowledge, especially in its positivist variant. Constructivists and discourse theorists reject the criticism. According to them, the relevance of social science does not consist in finding the truth about reality or appear to the most probable interpretation.
