for a given situation. Michael Quinn Patton jokes in his book about qualitative research and evaluation methods "the only best practice in which I have complete confidence is avoiding the label 'best practice and elaborates further The allure and seduction of best-practice thinking poisons genuine dialogue about both what we know and the limitations of what we know. [...] That modeling of and nurturing deliberative, inclusive, and, yes, humble dialogue may make a greater contribution to societal welfare than the search for generalizable, "best-practice" findings – conclusions that risk becoming the latest rigid orthodoxies even as they are becoming outdated anyway. Quinn proposes avoiding asking or entertaining the question "Which is best?" and says that more nuanced questions related to conditions and contexts should be asked instead. He further suggests terms which "tend less toward overgeneralization" like better practices, effective practices, or promising practices. Eric Darling states it's not best practice it's common practice. Specifically relating to the field of projects based work Dr Darling asserts in the past work practices were pragmatic in order to get achieve the task, recent decades has seen rise in opinions with limited evidence of best. Further rather than best practice perhaps we should strive for evidence based practice. Scott Ambler challenges the assumptions that there can be a recommended practice that is best in all cases. Instead, he offers an alternative view, "contextual practice", in which the notion of what is "best" will vary with the context. Similarly, Cem Kaner and James Bach provide two scenarios to illustrate the contextual nature of "best practice" in their article. In essence, such critiques are consistent with the contingency theory, which was developed during the 1950s and 1960s. See also Anti-pattern – a commonly followed standard or practice which is in fact far from the best solution Benchmarking Best available technology Best coding practices Best current practice in engineering and information technology Best management practice for water pollution Best of all possible worlds Business rule Evidence-based practice Gold standard (test) Good clinical data management practice GxP Standard of Good Practice Strategic management References External links IETF Best Current Practice RFCs List – Internet Engineering Task Force The National Governors Association Center for Best Practices. "NGA Center for Best Practice" Quality management Software development philosophies Good practice