Discusses the value of a multi-method approach for studying violence against professionals. It is based on a project currently conducted by the authors on the extent and impact of violence against three professions working in the community (General Practitioners, Probation Officers and Anglican Clergy). Starts by making some general points about the nature of the chosen occupations' professional discourses on violence and then discusses how quantitative and qualitative methods can be used to establish the extent to which the definitions of violence embedded in these discourses are meaningful for individual professionals. It is argued that both kinds of method are necessary to understand fully individual professionals' experiences of violence against them.