Full Description
Research is as critical to social work practice as individual and group counseling skills, policy analysis, or community development. Using an approach similar to those adopted in direct practice courses, this book integrates research with social work practice and in so doing, promotes an understanding and appreciation of the research process to social work students. Sixteen case studies adapted from actual events and case files illustrate different research approaches, including quantitative, qualitative, single subject, and mixed methods. Through these real-life examples, the authors demonstrate the processes of conceptualization, operationalization, sampling, data collection and processing, and implementation. Designed to help the student and practitioner become more comfortable with the research process, Practising Social Work Research uses a student-centered approach that capitalizes on the strengths that social work students bring to assessment and problem solving.
Contents
List of Tables List of Figures Preface Acknowledgments About the Authors 1. INTRODUCTION The Case Study Method The Research Process 2. PROBLEM SOLVING: BRIEF CASE STUDIES Introduction: Steps in the Process of Research CASE STUDIES 1: Research and the Media: What Are You Being Told? 2: A Question of Ethics: Willowbrook 3: Another Question of Ethics: Studying HIV 4: Understanding Ideas and Counting Them 5: Implementing a Pilot Project: A Question of Sampling 6: Who Do You Ask? Sampling in a Qualitative Context 7: Criminal Justice Issues in Social Work Research: The Search for Causality 8: Psychometric Properties: How Should We Measure? 9: The Validity of Research 10: The Application of Quasi-Experimental Design in Social Work Research 11: The Power of One : Single-Case Study Design 12: One More: Another Example of Single-Case Study Design 13: Asking Questions Properly: An Examination of Questionnaire Design 14: Asking Questions in Child Advocacy: Which Approach Is Best For Children? 15: Q & Q: Employing Both a Qualitative and a Quantitative Approach 16: On PAR: Engaging and Empowering Clients through Participatory Action Research 17: Measuring Client Satisfaction: Do They Like Me? 3. CRITIQUING RESEARCH Introduction Critical Analysis of Quantitative Research Critical Analysis of Qualitative Research 1. A Qualitative Design. Surviving the Tornado: Psychiatric Survivor Experiences of Getting, Losing, and Keeping Housing Critique 2. A Quantitative Design. An Examination of Two Different Approaches to Visitation-Based Disputes in Child Custody Matters Critique Index
