Questioning design and method: is the tail wagging the dog?

Abstract

This paper aims to address three broad themes. An outline of the current UK primary/community health care research and development (R&D) agenda is presented and it is argued that in addressing this agenda greater diversity of research designs and methods to generate knowledge for policy and practice is needed. It is proposed that philosophical and disciplinary entrenchment, particularly within nursing, has led to over preoccupation with arguments about the epistemological basis of research approaches and methods as an end in itself and the research priorities and questions for health and health care that should drive such debates are often side lined or altogether ignored. The remainder of the paper addresses Meyer's proposition for the need for more participative practitioner-centred research within the context of community/primary health care. It is argued that while action research and other participative research methods have much to offer we need to understand and use the full range of research approaches and methods at our disposal, and where appropriate, develop new ones if we are to tackle the research priorities relevant to a large and diverse community/primary care R&D agenda.