Forschungen zur Berufsidentität – Bemerkungen und Reflexionen

In the paper the attention is paid on the fact that findings of empirical research focusing on professional identity of Polish social workers are not coherent. The explanation of this, the paper offers, is as follows: differences in descriptions of professional identity of social workers are basically result of distinct “languages” that have emerged as a product of theoretical and methodological assumptions and choices made by researchers during a research process. The thesis is illustrated by two cases: /1/ the approach based on the sociological concept of “social role” in understanding, defining and operationalizing the term “professional identity” and the survey as the preferred research method and /2/ the approach that invokes metaphore in searching the answer who a social worker is. Even short analysis of them reveals that the lack of coherence in research on professional identity of social workers is also the result of its multidimensionality. It means that this lack might rather be a matter of reality and not only of a matter research.