Epilogue

Abstract

Research outside of academia differs from academic research in many respects. Even if they are intertwined and often overlap, extra-mural research engages different stakeholders, it is disseminated using different channels, and the knowledge that is made in extra-academic contexts is often produced for different purposes than those within academic research. The chapters of the volume on research outside of academia highlight the need to understand what research means in different situations and that there tends to be a reason why knowledge making differs from one context to another. A comprehensive understanding of what research is and how and why it is conducted with different intra- and extra-mural conditions is a necessary premise to be able to evaluate and understand different types of knowledge, their premises, rationale and implications without ending up in uninhibited relativization or lack of understanding of how research can and cannot help people to know.