Practice research: a “virtue friendship” with ever-changing definitions

ABSTRACT Inspired by the writings of Aristotle as interpreted by the living philosopher Alexander Nehamas on the nature of friendship, this paper conceptualises practice research in social work as a “virtue friendship”. In so doing, it considers the fate of Clinical Data-Mining as a practice research methodology. It concludes with a recommendation that we ask Cicero’s ever-relevant question “Cui Bono?” in assessing practice research’s contribution to social work practice and policy.