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Organisational Supports

The Practice Research Collaborative on Organisational Supports is designed for those who are interested in sharing their experience and approaches to acquiring organisation support in both practice and university settings. The focus includes research funding, senior management support, access to research respondents and participants, and finally, finding ways to engage practitioners and service users in research project design.

The Collaborative is currently chaired by Michael J. Austin, Professor Emeritus in the School of Social Welfare at the University of California, Berkeley who draws upon twenty-five years of experience engaging in practice research, primarily in the areas of client-centered agency management, community organising, policy implementation, and strategic planning.

Meeting Times and Resources

The PRC meets three times a year via ZOOM.

For more information please email Michael J AUSTIN mjaustin@berkeley.edu

Rolling Minutes are linked here.

Recent Presentations

Bowen McBeath

How do we build a definition of “organizational support” for practice research that features the key stakeholders of practitioners, service users, and researchers?

Discussion for clarifying and suggesting basic aspects of “organizational support” using illustrative definitions, especially with service users

Bowen McBeath & Heidi Muurinen

How can we build an archive of cases based upon organizational storytelling that features the launching of practice research projects with organizational supports?

Researcher-initiated practice research (China)
Practitioner-initiated practice research (Finland)

Sidsel Natland

How do we support each other in developing research that advances the basic theme of organizational supports for practice research based on ideas generated in previous sessions, especially the involvement of service users?

Publications

Austin, M.J. & McBeath, B. (2022). Connecting Practice Research with the Process of Theorizing. Research on Social Work Practice. 32(7), 731-742.

Austin, M.J. & McBeath, B. (2022). Conducting Practice Research. China Journal of Social Work. 15(3), 270-286

Austin, M.J., McBeath, B., Xu, Bin, Muurinen, H., Natland, S., & Roose, R. (2024). Organizational supports for practice research: Illustrations from an international practice research collaborative. Research on Social WorkPractice.0/0, 1-15. https://doi.org/10.1177/10497315231225138

McBeath, B., Austin, M. J., Carnochan, S., & Chuang, E. (2022). Practice research methods in social work:Processes, applications and implications for social service organizations. The British Journal of Social Work, 52(6), 3328-3346.

Publications in progress

Practice Research Collaboratives within the International Practice Research Community: Promising Communities of Practice? (Aalborg Conference)
Practice Research Platforms: International Perspectives (Aalborg Conference)
(for possible special issue in combination with the Aalborg Statement on Practice Research)
Challenges & Opportunities Related to Launching Practice Research Projects
Implementing Practice Research: Challenges and Opportunities from an International Perspective
Dissemination and Utilization of Practice Research: International Perspectives