Critical friends

The critical friend is someone who acts as a discussant for a researcher, asking questions and commenting in order to help reflection. They will not accept every idea without criticism but will ask, 'why did you do that?' or 'have you thought of doing it this way?' or 'what would happen if you did it like this?' In some ways, the critical friend is like a supervisor or mentor. They make sure that they know what you are doing and why and they take time to find out about the context in which you are working. You may choose an existing friend or colleague to perform this role. Alternatively, you may invite someone you have not worked with before but who you think you will be able to work with in this way.

If you are interested in Practitioner Research, we recommend the following book:
Robson, C. (2002) Real World Research. London: Routledge. 2nd Edition

In pages 534-538 in Appendix B of Real World Research, Robson gives his views of practitioner research, setting out the advantages and disadvantages of this type of inquiry and giving advice to those who wish to embark on practitioner-research.