Research as Social Change

This book is dedicated to the notion that social research should become an integral part of the contemporary workplace. Its principal concern is with integrating different forms of qualitative research, action research and case study methods within the ambit of professional practice. In pursuit of the demystification of research it turns towards the investigation of memories and personal perceptions, drawings, journal writing and photographs as sources, with the aim of developing new directions and new possibilities for research that bring together theory and practice, method and message, social organisations and their clients. lt is a vital source for all who are interested in doing research but who find themselves sceptical, critical or alienated from the research they encounter.

Michael Schratz teaches methodology and curriculum innovation at the University of Innsbruck and his research interests in management and leadership in the context of educational change have recently taken him to communides in Estonia, Croada and Australia. Rob Walker teaches classroom research by distance education at Deakin University, his students being located in various parts of Australia and elsewhere around the Pacific rim.