Collaborative group inquiry-a blend of research and therapy

Abstract

This paper discusses the methodology and process of a collaborative group inquiry that successfully combined the separate goals of research and social work practice in the same project. It describes the collaborative group work approach used to explore the impact of meditation on the lives and health of six people diagnosed with cancer. It highlights how the inquiry members gained increased awareness, leading to insight and change, during the process of creating a rich and detailed body of knowledge offered to enhance the understanding of others. The paper does not report these research findings, but focuses on the group's use of a post-positivist, open-ended and empowering inquiry mode that participants reported as more relevant, supportive and stimulating than the other cancer support groups they had attended.