Engagement research

This refers to research about engagement itself. There is quite a wide range of material available, although some areas of the field, notably those related to research ethics and research practice, are better covered than others. It may be that other examples - such as the participation of local communities in setting research agendas, in inviting the involvement of specialist NGOs in the research and in implementation of findings - may be more likely to appear in literature on participatory research or social development than in engagement. 

Published research and discussion about the practice and intellectual underpinnings of any field of activity contributes to its development both through the knowledge developed as a result and because of the visibility such research gives to the activity.