A Quaker Approach To Research (QIF #7)

A Quaker Approach to Research: Collaborative Practice and Communal Discernment This booklet grows out of a decade of experiments by Quaker Institute for the Future (QIF). During said time, the Institute has employed Quaker processes of communal discernment in research in the context of public policy, academic study, and community-based research. The guiding hypothesis has been that the methods developed by Quakers for Spirit-led governance could be adapted for Spirit-led research. Just as Quaker organizations seek to govern their activities through Meetings for Worship for the Conduct of Business, so too, the Institute and its associates have sought to plan and guide their investigations through Meetings for Worship for the Conduct of Research. See the full series here. The aim of this booklet is to describe 1) the vision, theory, and traditions of practice inspiring a Quaker approach to research; 2) experiments with specific methods used; 3) initial results and findings; and 4) the ke