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Evidence in policy and practice: what kinds of research designs?
- Author:
- QURESHI Hazel
- Journal article citation:
- Journal of Social Work, 4(1), April 2004, pp.7-23.
- Publisher:
- Sage
Over-generalization of the ‘effectiveness hierarchy’, and echoes of past paradigm wars about methodology, persist in generating conflicting judgements about the value of different research designs for evidence-based practice. A range of ways in which the worth of research is actually judged, and might be judged, are elaborated. The article then focuses on specific examples of the use of research, considering the kinds of evidence which could usefully support practice with carers, and the evidence which has been used to justify policy (the National Service Framework) for older people. The article concludes by using ideas about complex adaptive systems to illustrate similarities between uses of evidence in policy and individual practice. Fundamentally, considerations which affect our judgements about the worth of research relate to the values expressed in the process of conducting the research, and the likely usefulness of the results. In both policy and practice, a whole range of research evidence can be, and is, used to support values, identify and understand problems, inform negotiations, and suggest solutions, without necessarily determining action to be taken in particular cases.
Consulting older community care clients about their services: some lessons for researchers and service managers
- Authors:
- PATMORE Charles, QURESHI Hazel, NICHOLAS Elinor
- Journal article citation:
- Research Policy and Planning, 18(1), 2000, pp.4-11.
- Publisher:
- Social Services Research Group
For purposes like Best Value reviews, social services needs methods for consulting frail older people. This article presents the results of research with 88 older users of social services community care, who were interviewed in groups, individually, or through a telephone conference about how they would like to be consulted about their services. They expressed a clear overall preference for individual interviews at home, which proved clearly more suitable than focus groups for people aged over 80. Written questionnaires were consistently criticised. Opinions were varied about individual telephone interviews. Senior service managers were favoured as interviewers.