Applied Qualitative Research: what can we do with it?

I'm really looking forward to travelling up the Newcastle this week to speak that the BSA's Applied Qualitative Researcher's meeting hosted by Catherine Exley and Rose Barbour. It should be good fun. I'm not sure that I hold with the distinction between applied and 'pure' research, and I do think that the more applied my research has become, the more it has generated theory. In my talk I'm going to explore some of the reasons that this has happened. One thing that I might reflect on is how applied, problem-solving qualitative research can help us 'road-test' theories. his was just what I found when I visited the EU RESTORE group in Dublin led by Anne MacFarlane. The RESTORE group are working on improving primary care for migrant communities in Europe - they're using NPT as the basis for their work, and showing us how applied qualitative research can really make a difference.