ABSTRACT
As outlined in Chapter 1, for David Canter research is fundamentally about solving problems. To really do this, he argues researchers need to integrate their studies directly with the issues and the material as these present themselves in the real world. Susan Giles’ chapter provides an interesting example of working with the naturallyoccurring material central to many important IP studies (see Canter and Alison, 2003). She describes a study that drew directly upon coroner’s reports then used the methodological process David Canter innovated to make conceptually and statistically sophisticated empirical research with this sort of material possible. Susan shows how this process allowed the development of a sophisticated, multidimensional model of suicide precursors that nonetheless had the potential to feed directly into decision making. In so doing, Susan illustrates the potential that the Canter IP methodology opens up in broader domains. This certainly has always been David Canter’s position – that IP is not simply investigative because it pertains to criminal (or civil) investigations. IP is also investigative in the sense of being about problem-solving.
