The practice of research

This book has been concerned not simply with the technical problems and issues associated with a range of research methods, but also with the relationship between social research and social power, with the ethical dilemmas raised by social investigation, the need for reflexivity and the relevance of social research to our daily lives. This chapter aims to reiterate these themes and spell out their implications for the practice of research. It does so primarily through reference to a piece of research which is currently being undertaken by one of the authors, Julia O’Connell Davidson, into prostitution.