The idea for Metanoia’s ‘Research Forum’ has emerged from a series of conversations about our own developing research project work and the possibility of seeking funding for these ideas. In discussions at the Metanoia Academic Committee there appeared to be a wider interest in these developing ideas and we have consequently formed the Research Forum, with the aim of meeting on a regular basis, sharing information about our own project work, talking about ways of disseminating ideas and results more widely, and generally making the subject and outcomes of research more visible at Metanoia.
Our Philosophy
At present we are in the process of formulating a philosophy for the group, as a kind of ‘unifying force’ in relation to the outside world. Our interest is in a philosophy that is inclusive of all types of research methodology across the quantitative and qualitative domains, but which maintains a key focus on the ‘so what’ question in relation to project work. This frames our research philosophy within the wider context of action research, defined by Reason and Bradbury (2001) as a worldview, encompassing a wide ranging set of qualitative and quantitative methods emerging from the interplay between researchers, contexts and ideas.
Our wish is to support development and change; therefore, projects associated with this forum would need to address matters of practice, seeking to develop and support the practising field of the psychological therapies. We aim to develop the ideas of action science (Argyris et al, 1985) within the psychological therapies using the key features of this approach: the development of communities of enquiry within communities of practice; building theories of practice; and developing rigour in the process of interpretation (Friedman, 2001). We envisage that this philosophy would support the development of expert clinical practice, bring important clinical knowledge into the research field, and support the articulation of professional knowledge carried through the interplay of theory and practice.
Dr Patricia Moran (Research Forum Convenor), Dr Simon du Plock, Professor Vanja Orlans, Dr Biljana van Rijn
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