Geoff Nichols’s research while affiliated with The University of Sheffield and other places

This article argues that the ‘classical experimental’ approach to researching adventure education has inherent weaknesses which have prevented it progressing towards understanding the process, rather than just describing the outcomes. Drawing on an approach to evaluation of crime reduction programs, an alternative research paradigm is offered for adventure education. Within this paradigm causality is understood as the interaction between the participant and the program. One implication is the use of a broader range of research methods, including participants’ accounts of their experiences, which Barrett and Greenaway (1995, p.54) noted were ‘almost entirely absent’ from the research they examined in their review.