In 1981, TDR Associates, a private, independent research organization in Newton, Massachusetts, began a two and one-half year study of "Knowledge Utilization and School Improvement Through Staff Initiated Inservice Programs." This study was funded by a grant from the National Institute of Education and conducted under an arrangement with the Commonwealth Inservice Institute of the Massachusetts Department of Education. More than an attempt in bridging the gap between research and practice, this effort has resulted in an example of mutual adjustment, where application of practitioners' situational knowledge or social intelligence has improved and informed the research process. The central hypothesis of the study is that participant needs and engaging workshop process are important, but that alone they comprise an incomplete account of knowledge acquistion/use in staff inservice. In addition to participant and workshop characteristics, this research explores the role of such contextual factors as school and district climate, supervisor support, peer relations, student needs, and job satisfaction in inservice outcomes. The research combines quantitative and qualitative methods and has proceeded according to three interactive and interdependent phases. (JMK)