This broader framework of research for coaches can be applied for three different purposes:  reflective learning from experience to improve professional practice; documenting impacts and outcomes; contributing to the development of the field through scholarly publication. In each case, the research process involves a systematic approach to collecting salient data and a meaning-making process using that data which recognizes distinctions between objective and subjective data, and draws conclusions based on the evidence in the documentation and relevant literature. Regardless of purpose, formal and informal research can be conducted by individuals or in a social contexts such as supervision relationships, action research groups or collaborative research partnerships.

Reflective Practice

All effective professionals–including coaches–are researchers reflecting on their work, building and testing assumptions about their practice. Reflective practitioners intentionally and systematically document and review their experiences in practice to refine and extend their knowledge and skills. The development of reflective practice has long been integral to the preparation of professionals in several fields which share with coaching a reliance on the integration of practice skills and theoretical foundations combined with some degree of artistry.  The learning potential of reflective practice is especially salient for coaches, practitioners in a relatively new field with a nascent body of theoretical literature.  Reflective practice invites the coaching practitioner to regard coaching engagements as opportunities for the development of judgment artistry.Coaching reflectively provides us with detailed information which enables us to: (1) better serve and assist our clients; (2) talk about what we do as coaches; and (3) document connections between coaching interventions and client change.