Consultant-Researchers in Public Sector Transformation: An Evolving Role

This paper analyses the changing role of consultant-researchers in the public sector, drawing empirically on a 12-year interventionist project. The investigation focuses on the heterogeneity of participants' contributions, and shows the researchers' actions to be closely entangled with participants' attitudes. Furthermore, the longitudinal study highlights the relevance of the changing reform and organisational setting in shaping these roles, such that the actors' actions can be regarded as institutionally embedded. From this perspective, the roles are analysed across three dimensions - purposes, participation and learning - representing polar types on a broad spectrum.