ABSTRACT
Practice research can be included under the newest paradigm in qualitative research: the action-oriented participatory paradigm. The epistemology of pragmatism and practical features of social work have much in common and therefore the adaptation of pragmatism could be convenient for social workers when researching and developing their own work. This chapter examines what pragmatism can offer to knowledge production in current social work and what it can offer to developing practice research both theoretically and practically. Because pragmatism has proved to be a creative and fruitful philosophical basis in developing practice research in the Heikki Waris Institute. It is characteristic of the institute’s practice research that the research topics arise from practical needs for information and that the research is connected to developing service practices.
