ABSTRACT
Social work has always had an uneasy relationship with research. It is therefore to be welcomed that the various important issues involved have recently received so much attention, particularly in the UK, where during 1999-2000 the ESRC for the first time sponsored a series of seminars on Theorising Social Work Research. Undoubtedly, taking research findings and above all taking the debate about research methodology seriously contributes to the social status of the profession - an area of considerable uncertainty for British social work. Reviewing these developments in their wider social and political context reveals that the options being debated with regard to the research methodology most appropriate to social work do not just represent technical or instrumental possibilities for the achievement of given goals; rather, these controversies are closely linked to the issue of the identity of social work. Moreover, it is suggested here that these debates do not coincide accidentally but that there is in fact an intricate and historical connection between them. Thus an adequately comprehensive answer to the question of how to engage in social work research requires a clearer account and understanding of the formation of social work identities than has generally been evident.
