Social work research as a practice of transparency

Bibliographic Data

ID12606458
AuthorsRudi Roose (0000-0001-7508-4593, HOGENT University of Applied Sciences and Arts, corresponding author), G Roets (0000-0003-0746-998X, Ghent University), Tineke Schiettecat (0000-0003-3470-8528, HOGENT University of Applied Sciences and Arts), Barbara Pannecoucke (HOGENT University of Applied Sciences and Arts), An Piessens (Directorate-General Joint Research Centre), Jan Van Gils (Directorate-General Joint Research Centre), Hans Op de Beeck (0000-0002-2250-212X, Belgian Health Care Knowledge Centre (KCE)), Hanne Op de Beeck, Wouter Vandenhole (0000-0003-3566-2875, University of Antwerp), Kristel Driessens (0000-0001-8345-5462, Karel de Grote Hogeschool), Kristof Desair (KU Leuven), Koen Hermans (0000-0003-2992-8972, KU Leuven), Bea Van Robaeys (Karel de Grote Hogeschool), M Vandenbroeck (0000-0003-1448-1047, HOGENT University of Applied Sciences and Arts), Caroline Vandekinderen (HOGENT University of Applied Sciences and Arts)
Year2015
Volume19
Issue6
Pages1021-1034
Publication date2015-08-03
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueEuropean Journal of Social Work (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1369-1457 • E-ISSN: 1468-2664
PublisherTaylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/13691457.2015.1051950
OpenAlexW1591546648
LanguageEN
Citations received6
References cited24

Social work research is inherently normative and as such the assumptions about social problems in social work research should be open to scrutiny and contestation. But although researchers often face tussles and huge contradictions, they rarely articulate them. In this article, we report on a small research project in which a collective of social work researchers in Flanders (the Dutch speaking part of Belgium) tried to think critically through some of the questions and complexities they were confronted with in social work research, more specifically in research on poverty. Our research aim implied that we tried to discuss the choices that were made during a diversity of research projects, including making explicit the grounds on which this happened. We learned that the choices made, although they seem to be very obvious ones, often remained implicit during the different research processes. We conclude that social work research requires that researchers attempt to realize a practice of transparency. The pursuit of such a practice of transparency refers to the importance of the creation of reflexive space in research communities to collectively embrace and discuss the complexities of social work research

Diversity (politics · Engineering ethics · Face (sociological concept · Normative · Political science · Public relations · Reflexivity · Scrutiny · Social research · Social science · Sociology · Transparency (behavior · Work (physics · Homelessness and Social Issues · Law · Mental Health and Patient Involvement · Social Work Education and Practice · Social Work