Designing research for improvement

Abstract

The guidance needs of disadvantaged groups are many and various, so ways of responding to them are unsurprisingly varied too. The diversity of clients and the organisations that work with them is reflected in the pages of this journal, as are the differing perspectives of the providers, the clients and the practitioners. The editors have provided the unusual opportunity to set out the wider context of a research project designed explicitly to influence the practical and political world. The nature of this design process is the subject of this article.