The importance of a rights-based approach and critical reflection in research has been considered in respect of outcomes for educational services, fieldwork in Bangladesh, children’s special mobility and citizenship education on social inclusion and children’s rights education and teacher burnout amongst many other topics. Critical reflection has been used within teaching, for example, using a variety of methods including dialogue, writing experiences and action research. Quantitative research can also prioritise process, children’s rights, critical reflection and playfulness in the same way that rights-based, playfulness, process and critical reflection four pillars can be applied to qualitative research. This would enable the playwork field to develop new knowledge that cannot be created solely by qualitative research, drawing on existing data to gain more reliable insights into play and playwork.