Building In Research and Evaluation

Book excerpt: Yoland Wadsworth’s ground-breaking proposition is that the act of inquiry is the way by which every living organism and all collective human life goes about continuously learning, improving and changing. Building in Research and Evaluation explores this new approach, a basic theory of human understanding and action. By deepening our understanding about the cyclical processes of acting, observing, questioning, feeling, reflecting, thinking, planning and acting again, Wadsworth identifies how new life might be brought to what we do, both professionally, and personally. Far from being dry academic theory, she shows how this practice-derived evaluative inquiry process can drive progress toward social justice and human betterment. This book will open new vistas of thought and new methods of inquiry for the reflective practitioner in health, human services, education, social sciences. It is the theoretical capstone of a trilogy of best-selling books by Wadsworth, which also includes Everyday Evaluation on the Run and Do-it-Yourself Social Research.