A short guide
to co-operative inquiry
Peter Reason and John Heron
What is co-operative inquiry?
Co-operative inquiry is a way of working with other people who have
similar concerns and interests to yourself, in order to
We usually
A short guide
to co-operative inquiry
Peter Reason and John Heron
What is co-operative inquiry?
Co-operative inquiry is a way of working with other people who have
similar concerns and interests to yourself, in order to
We usually think of inquiry and research as something done by people in
universities and research institutes. We think there is a researcher who
has all the ideas, and who then studies other people by observing them,
asking them questions, or by designing experiments. The trouble with this
kind of way of doing research is that there is often very little connection
between the researcher's thinking and the concerns and experiences of the
people who are actually involved. People are treated as passive subjects
rather than as active agents.
understand your world, make sense of your life and develop new and creative
ways of looking at things
learn how to act to change things you may want to change and find out how
to do things better
We believe that good research is research with people rather than on
people. We believe that ordinary people are quite capable of developing
their own ideas and can work together in a co-operative inquiry group to
see if these ideas make sense of their world and work in practice.A second
problem with traditional research is that the kind of thinking done by
researchers is often theoretical rather than practical. It doesn't help
people find how to act to change things in their lives. We believe that
the outcome of good research is not just books and academic papers, but
is also the creative action of people to address matters that are important
to them. Co-operative inquiry thus embraces what is called action research.
It is also concerned with revisioning our understanding of our world, as
well as transforming practice within it.
In co-operative inquiry a group of people come together to explore issues
of concern and interest. All members of the group contribute both to the
ideas that go into their work together, and also are part of the activity
that is being researched. Everyone has a say in deciding what questions
are to be addressed and what ideas may be of help; everyone contributes
to thinking about how to explore the questions; everyone gets involved
in the activity that is being researched; and finally everybody has a say
in whatever conclusions the co-operative inquiry group may reach. So in
co-operative inquiry the split between'researcher' and'subjects' is done
away with, and all those involved act together as 'co-researchers' and
Some examples of co-operative inquiry groups
A group of general medical practitioners formed a co-operative inquiry
group to develop the theory and practice of holistic medicine. They built
a simple model of holistic practice, and experimented with it in practice,
exploring a range of intervention skills, power sharing with patients,
concern for the spiritual dimensions of doctoring as well as attention
to their own needs as medical practitioners. The experience of this study
contributed to the formation of the British Holistic Medical Association.
This study was taken forward when a group of general and complementary
medical practitioners worked together to explore how they might effectively
work in an interdisciplinary fashion.
A group of obese and post-obese women explored their experience together,
looking in particular at how they were stereotyped in society, and how
it was difficult for them to obtain appropriate attention from doctors
and other medial people. This is one of several inquiries in which groups
of people with a particular physical or medical condition have worked together
to take charge of how their condition is defined and treated. Two black
social work teachers established inquiry groups of black social work students,
practitioners and managers to explore their experience. They looked at
relationships between black people at work, particularly the experience
of black managers and subordinates working together; and how a creative
black culture could be generated.
Several inquiry groups have met to explore ritual, mystical and subtle
experience in an attempt to create forms of spiritual practice which are
appropriate to present times.
Several groups have formed to explore questions of gender, in particular
experience of women and men at work. One inquiry looked at how black women
might learn to thrive, as well as survive in British organizations. Another
explored the experience of young women managers in primarily male organizations.
And another is looking at whether men in organizations need to explore
questions of their gender in the workplace.
How a co-operative inquiry group works
Co-operative Inquiry is a systematic approach to developing understanding
and action. And while every group is different, each one can be seen as
engaged in cycles of action and reflection which go something like this.
The first thi