Network for Comparative Research on Professions (N-CORP)

Research project The main objective of the network is to initiate, plan and coordinate comparative research on social workers’ and doctors’ use of knowledge, in seven countries in Europe.

The main question concerns how knowledge is used in practice, by social workers and doctors, as well as by students in social work and medicine, in different countries. Some specific research questions are: What kind of knowledge is used in practice?, In which situations are different kinds of knowledge used?, How is knowledge use conditioned by different contextual contingencies, e.g. culture, social policy, laws and work organizations? The research is carried out within a network of research teams in seven countries in Europe.

Head of project

Björn Blom Professor

+46 90 786 93 46

Project overview

Project period:

2010-01-01 – 2015-12-31

Funding

Finansår , 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

huvudman: Björn Blom, finansiar: Riksbankens Jubileumsfond, y2010: 125, y2011: 125, y2012: , y2013: , y2014: ,

huvudman: Björn Blom, finansiar: FAS, y2010: 7, y2011: , y2012: , y2013: , y2014: ,

huvudman: Björn Blom, finansiar: FAS, y2010: , y2011: , y2012: 200, y2013: 200, y2014: 200,

Participating departments and units at Umeå University

Department of Social Work, Faculty of Social Sciences

Research area

Social work

Project description

The main objective of the network is to initiate, plan and coordinate comparative research on social workers’ and doctors’ use of knowledge, in seven countries in Europe. The research will primarily be conducted within the overarching project ”How do social workers and doctors use knowledge in practice? A comparison between two professions”, which will be constituted by seven identical projects in the participating countries.
The network is essential in order to plan and conduct the comparative research on a European level. Research carried out by the network are expected to produce knowledge about how the studied professions use of knowledge are influenced by factors such as: education, organizational and cultural contexts, laws, treatment doctrines and professional relationships with clients/patients.
The research project and the network is managed by a steering group at the Department of Social Work at Umeå University, Sweden. Head of the steering group is Björn Blom, professor in social work. The following organizations/countries participates in the network:
Faculty of Social Sciences and History, Volda University College
Department of Public Health and Clinical Medicine, Umeå University
Department of Sociology, Social Work and Organisation, Aalborg University
Danish Institute of Governmental Research (AKF), Copenhagen
Department of Social Policy, University of Helsinki
Department of Social work, University of Iceland
Department of Family Medicine, University of Iceland
Department of Health and Social Science, Lillehammer University College
Centre for the study of professions (CSP), Oslo University College.
Department of Social Work, Institute of Sociology, University of Silesia
UEL Business School, University of East London
Department of Governance & Social Sciences, Katowice University of Economics