Making social work research count: researchers’ perceptions of using research in practice

The purpose of this investigation was to explore the experiences and motivations of researchers in social work, in engaging with social work practitioners for the purpose of facilitating the use of research knowledge. It sought to examine how researchers conceived, explained and experienced the research utilisation process and the factors that may impact on this process, with the central aim of identifying how interaction can best lead to research use in social work. A mixed methodology grounded in Bhaskar’s critical realist paradigm was employed. This approach included both a fixed and flexible design, whereby quantitative data was gathered to determine regularities and patterns, and qualitative data to ascertain participants’ meanings, intentions, motivations, and reasons. Data was initially collected from 60 participants who were Australian researchers publishing in social work journals. A follow up semi-structured interview was conducted with 26 of the survey’s participants. A comprehensive review of the literature revealed that the knowledge utilisation field is complex and lacks conceptual depth and clarity. Consequently, the literature reflected a tendency toward superficial understandings of research use and the processes by which it might be achieved. This study offered a rich description of research knowledge utilisation in social work. Participants experienced research use as a socially engaged and relational process, rather than a unilinear event whereby research knowledge moves neatly from the context of production to that of application. The nature of the communication and the characteristics of the relationships between researchers and practitioners affected research use in practice. The power of interaction, as an influential factor in research use lies in the particular way in which it is combined with the characteristics of the individual, the organisation and the research content.