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Social Work Research Methods Guest Speaker
- 1. WEEK 8 – HOUSEKEEPING • Study Guide is in Canvas Due Date are Oct 10th and Oct 12th * • Literature review Draft one was graded • Formatting Reference Page • APA Version 7 • A literature review is not an annotated bibliography
- 2. WEEK 8 – HOUSEKEEPING • Guest Speaker Oct 10, 2023, • Professor Stamp is the guest speaker. She will present her understanding of Social Worker Research and answer your questions about Social Work. • Midterm Review Oct 12, 2023 • Please bring laptops to class practice exam. We will continue with an in-class review of Chapter 3 and Chapter 4, M&B • Midterm examination Oct 19, 2023 • Chapters 1 - 4, M&B
- 3. SOCIAL WORK RESEARCH METHODS Professor Stamp MSW
- 4. SOCIAL WORKERS RESEARCH • How do social workers know what interventions are needed to help an individual? • How do they assess whether a treatment plan is working? • What do social workers use to write evidence-based policy?
- 5. SOCIAL WORKERS NEED TO KNOW • the populations they serve • the efficacy of their interventions • and the likelihood that their policies will improve lives
- 6. DATA-DRIVEN WORK • a collection of facts used for reference and analysis
- 7. QUANTITATIVE VS. QUALITATIVE • Quantitative Research • How many students currently receive reduced-price school lunches in the local school district? • How many hours per week does a specific individual consume digital media? • How frequently did community members access a specific medical service last year?
- 8. QUANTITATIVE VS. QUALITATIVE • Qualitative Research • What attitudes do students have toward the reduced-price school lunch program? • What strategies do individuals use to moderate their weekly digital media consumption? • What factors made community members more or less likely to access a specific medical service last year?
- 9. THE IMPORTANCE OF RESEARCH DESIGN • Unlike philanthropists and altruistic volunteers, social workers are obligated to operate from a scientific knowledge base. • Social workers must conduct research to determine results, aggregate those results into comprehensible data, analyze and interpret their findings, and use evidence to justify next steps.
- 10. RESEARCH METHODS IN SOCIAL WORK • Surveys • Program Evaluations • Needs Assessments • Program Evaluations
- 11. MORE ABOUT SOCIAL WORK RESEARCH METHODS • Social workers have the opportunity to improve the social environment by advocating for • children, • older adults • and people with disabilities
Editor's Notes
- Social workers advocate for the well-being of individuals, families and communities. But how do social workers know what interventions are needed to help an individual? How do they assess whether a treatment plan is working? What do social workers use to write evidence-based policy?
- Social work involves research-informed practice and practice-informed research Social Workers need to know objective facts about Social work involves research-informed practice and practice-informed research. At every level, social workers need to know objective facts about the populations they serve, the efficacy of their interventions and the likelihood that their policies will improve lives. A variety of social work research methods make that possible.
- Data is a collection of facts used for reference and analysis. In a field as broad as social work, data comes in many forms. As with any research, social work research involves both quantitative and qualitative studies.
- As with any research, social work research involves both quantitative and qualitative studies. Quantitative Research Answers to questions like these can help social workers know about the populations they serve — or hope to serve in the future. How many students currently receive reduced-price school lunches in the local school district? How many hours per week does a specific individual consume digital media? How frequently did community members access a specific medical service last year?
- Qualitative Research Qualitative data — facts that cannot be measured or expressed in terms of mere numbers or counts — offer rich insights into individuals, groups and societies. It can be collected via interviews and observations. What attitudes do students have toward the reduced-price school lunch program? What strategies do individuals use to moderate their weekly digital media consumption? What factors made community members more or less likely to access a specific medical service last year? Qualitative research can thereby provide a textured view of social contexts and systems that may not have been possible with quantitative methods. Plus, it may even suggest new lines of inquiry for social work research.
- The Importance of Research Design Data-driven practice plays an essential role in social work. Unlike philanthropists and altruistic volunteers, social workers are obligated to operate from a scientific knowledge base. To know whether their programs are effective, social workers must conduct research to determine results, aggregate those results into comprehensible data, analyze and interpret their findings, and use evidence to justify next steps. Employing the proper design ensures that any evidence obtained during research enables social workers to reliably answer their research questions.
- The various social work research methods have specific benefits and limitations determined by context. Common research methods include surveys, program evaluations, needs assessments, randomized controlled trials, descriptive studies and single-system designs. Surveys Surveys involve a hypothesis and a series of questions in order to test that hypothesis. Social work researchers will send out a survey, receive responses, aggregate the results, analyze the data, and form conclusions based on trends. Surveys are one of the most common research methods social workers use — and for good reason. They tend to be relatively simple and are usually affordable. However, surveys generally require large participant groups, and self-reports from survey respondents are not always reliable. Program Evaluations Social workers ally with all sorts of programs: after-school programs, government initiatives, nonprofit projects and private programs, for example. Crucially, social workers must evaluate a program’s effectiveness in order to determine whether the program is meeting its goals and what improvements can be made to better serve the program’s target population. Evidence-based programming helps everyone save money and time, and comparing programs with one another can help social workers make decisions about how to structure new initiatives. Evaluating programs becomes complicated, however, when programs have multiple goal metrics, some of which may be vague or difficult to assess (e.g., “we aim to promote the well-being of our community”). Needs Assessments Social workers use needs assessments to identify services and necessities that a population lacks access to. Common social work populations that researchers may perform needs assessments on include: People in a specific income group Everyone in a specific geographic region A specific ethnic group People in a specific age group In the field, a social worker may use a combination of methods (e.g., surveys and descriptive studies) to learn more about a specific population or program. Social workers look for gaps between the actual context and a population’s or individual’s “wants” or desires. For example, a social worker could conduct a needs assessment with an individual with cancer trying to navigate the complex medical-industrial system. The social worker may ask the client questions about the number of hours they spend scheduling doctor’s appointments, commuting and managing their many medications. After learning more about the specific client needs, the social worker can identify opportunities for improvements in an updated care plan. In policy and program development, social workers conduct needs assessments to determine where and how to effect change on a much larger scale. Integral to social work at all levels, needs assessments reveal crucial information about a population’s needs to researchers, policymakers and other stakeholders. Needs assessments may fall short, however, in revealing the root causes of those needs (e.g., structural racism).
- Social workers have the opportunity to improve the social environment by advocating for the vulnerable — including children, older adults and people with disabilities — and facilitating and developing resources and programs.