Cutting Edge Issues in Social Work Research

Taking the panel report on social work submissions to the British 2001 Research Assessment Exercise as a starting point, I comment on some of the central questions facing social work research. These include social work research methodology; social work's relationship to science; the relationship between social work practice and research; governance and research ethics; building research capacity; and establishing research quality. I outline action that is needed by social work academics and researchers, social work agencies and government departments.