Bridging Research and Practice: Using Article Analysis to Prepare Practitioners for Research-Informed Practice

Abstract

Research Question (RQ): Could a critical analysis of a few relevant research articles prepare practitioners for designing a research-informed improvement of own practice? Purpose: The purpose of the paper was to both explore and test whether a critical analysis of a few relevant research articles could prepare a practitioner for designing a research-informed improvement of own practice. The critical analysis of two articles was carried out on the topic relevant for the author's professional practice i.e. on developing researching professionals enrolled in the Professional Doctorate in Education (EdD) at a UK-based university. Method: Some of the features of a systematic literature review were applied to a light version of literature search for relevant articles. The search was limited to social science and educational research databases ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), NFER (National Foundation for Educational Research) own bibliographic databases and CERUK (Current Educational Research in the UK) database to narrow the focus both on educational field and on English-speaking countries thus matching the author's workplace cultural embeddedness. Results:The critical analysis of the chosen articles showed how important (a) alignment between research aims and design is, as well as (b) between presented evidence and claims/interpretations. Of particular importance is an insight that, in order to (c) avoid circular arguments, (d) data coding and analysis need to be written and presented more elaborately with (e) careful selection of the illustrative examples. This is even more important when aiming to use published work to support a research-informed improvement of own professional practice within the same field. Furthermore, for the research findings' trustworthiness and transferability into similar professional practices, (f) ethical considerations of insider's research need to be thoroughly explored and transparently presented. Organization: Organisations with organisational culture which supports and values research could benefit from their employees' engagement in designing and carrying out research-informed improvements of own professional practice. Society: The contribution to society is achieved through practitioners' application of critical frame to firstly analysing previosuly published work in their field and secondly to designing researchinformed improvements of own profesional practice. Originality: The paper's originality lies in its format as it both explores and tests whether a critical analysis of a few relevant research articles could prepare a practitioner for designing a researchinformed improvement of own practice. The author, in her role of educational practitioner, tests whether a critical analysis of two articles could provide her with reflective learning about what to consider when designing and carrying out a research-informed evaluation of her own professional practice.Limitations / further research: The paper's scope was limited to a crticial analysis of only two articles with ...