A critical perspective on research and knowledge development in health promotion

The paper addresses four issues that pervaded conference deliberations: the relevance of qualitative approaches to research, the importance of community participation in the research process, the need to broaden the disciplinary base of health promotion, and the possibilities for a critical research perspective. The paper suggests why the idea of qualitative methods is so appealing to health promotion researchers, and what may prevent such methods from living up to the expectations held of them. The emphasis on community participation in research expresses an attempt to make research more relevant and accountable, but it also may inhibit the theoretical grounding of research, and create strain between pragmatic and scientific interests. The field of health promotion is inherently multidisciplinary, but it remains unclear if and how different disciplines can be effectively combined or integrated. The relative absence of critical thought at the conference is noted, and the authors argue that a critical perspective is needed in both "research of" and "research for" health promotion.