The ‘so what’ of lifeworld research Steven Keen QMSH Symposium Linking qualitative research to practice am 20 th May 2006

‘So what’ The number of qualitative projects increases year on year, yet the implications of this work appear to remain on shelves and have little impact on practice, research, policy or citizens (Finfgeld 2003; Troman 2001)

Possible reasons Confinement Divorce Research funders Research assessors Obligation

Abstraction Those who had used empirical work as a foundation to their dissemination (16/62) and those who had not Those who had used non-traditional modes of dissemination to communicate their work (18/62) and those who had not Those who had evaluated the impact of their work (6/62) and those who had not

Non-traditional Drama Dance Poetry Workshops Unperformed performance texts Evocative writing Story-telling Internet websites CD/DVDs

From ‘relevance’ to ‘ownership’ Choosing appropriate and relevant research findings Formulating helpful strategies for communicating these findings Facilitating engagement with these findings