«Evidensbasert» – praksis og ideologi

Abstract

The concept of evidence based practices and research are diffusing into the social work discourse. The concept operates in politics as well as within science and practice. There seem to be an urgent need for clarification of the content. The author traces the concept back to its origin in medicine and show how different meanings are attached depending on the interest of the agent using it. By discussing the relation between the critique of positivism versus phenomenology the author illustrates how different interpretations of evidence-based mirror competing epistemological positions. The author discusses the dissemination of knowledge within the evidence based school and questions its heavy reliance on web-databases. May be there is a need to merge the idea of evidence based practices and research with the ideas of learning organizations, and that this may evolve into a mind for learning rather than a mind for research?