Disability

Research is of fundamental importance to practising social workers and social work students for numerous reasons – from the requirement of students to conduct small scale projects to the general pursuit of evidence-based practice. In this chapter we focus on a shift of thinking in research that is centrally concerned with the relations between those who conduct research and those who are research subjects. The crucial shift is from doing research on people to doing research with people. This is not to suggest that participatory research (research with people) is the only approach that is of value within social work. It is rather a shift within social science research generally that challenges thinking within social work research and offers possible alternatives to more traditional approaches. In this chapter we will concentrate specifically on research in the field of disability while recognizing that the general principles have a wider application