Foundations of Social Work Research
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Foundations of Social Work Research FOUNDATIONS OF SOCIAL WORK RESEARCH REBECCA L. MAULDIN MAXINE DAVIS, GENEVIEVE GRAF, RICHARD HOEFER, CATHERINE LABRENZ, KATHY LEE, DIANE MITSCHKE, ERIN ROARK MURPHY, DIANA PADILLA-MEDINA, SARAH R. ROBINSON, HOLLI SLATER, BROOKE TROUTMAN, RACHEL VOTH SCHRAG, AND LING XU Mavs Open Press Arlington Foundations of Social Work Research by Rebecca L. Mauldin is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted. This open textbook is based on the open textbook Scientific Inquiry in Social orkW by Matthew DeCarlo. CONTENTS About the Publisher ix About This Project xi Acknowledgments xiii CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION TO RESEARCH 1.1 How do social workers know what to do? 3 1.2 Science and social work 12 1.3 Why should we care? 21 1.4 Understanding research 32 CHAPTER TWO: LINKING METHODS WITH THEORY 2.1 Micro, meso, and macro approaches 39 2.2 Paradigms, theories, and how they shape a researcher’s approach 42 2.3 Inductive and deductive reasoning 55 CHAPTER THREE: ETHICS IN SOCIAL WORK RESEARCH 3.1 Research on humans 65 3.2 Specific ethical issues to consider 75 3.3 Ethics at micro, meso, and macro levels 87 3.4 The practice of science versus the uses of science 90 CHAPTER FOUR: DESIGN AND CAUSALITY 4.1 Types of research 97 4.2 Causality 103 4.3 Unit of analysis and unit of observation 119 4.4 Mixed methods 125 CHAPTER FIVE: DEFINING AND MEASURING CONCEPTS 5.1 Measurement 133 5.2 Conceptualization 139 5.3 Levels of measurement 147 5.4 Operationalization 152 5.5 Measurement quality 165 5.6 Challenges in quantitative measurement 173 CHAPTER SIX: SAMPLING 6.1 Basic concepts of sampling 183 6.2 Nonprobability sampling 191 6.3 Probability sampling 198 6.4 Critical thinking about samples 211 CHAPTER SEVEN: SURVEY RESEARCH 7.1 Survey research: What is it and when should it be used? 219 7.2 Assessing survey research 223 7.3 Types of surveys 229 7.4 Designing effective questions and questionnaires 241 CHAPTER EIGHT: EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN 8.1 Experimental design: What is it and when should it be used? 257 8.2 Quasi-experimental and pre-experimental designs 265 8.3 The logic of experimental design 272 CHAPTER NINE: UNIQUE FEATURES OF QUALITATIVE RESEARCH 9.1 Qualitative research: What is it and when should it be used? 287 9.2 Qualitative interviews 290 9.3 Issues to consider for all interview types 303 9.4 Types of qualitative research designs 310 9.5 Spotlight on UTA School of Social Work 320 9.6 Analyzing qualitative data 322 CHAPTER TEN: UNOBTRUSIVE RESEARCH 10.1 Unobtrusive research: What is it and when should it be used? 333 10.2 Strengths and weaknesses of unobtrusive research 336 10.3 Unobtrusive data collected by the researcher 340 10.4 Secondary data analysis 345 CHAPTER ELEVEN: REAL-WORLD RESEARCH 11.1 Evaluation research 357 11.2 Single-subjects design 363 11.3 Action research 369 CHAPTER TWELVE: REPORTING RESEARCH 12.1 What to share and why we share 379 12.2 Disseminating your findings 385 12.3 The uniqueness of the social work perspective on science 394 Glossary 399 Practice behavior index 417 Bibliography 420 Derivative Notes 435 Links by Chapter 441 ABOUT THE PUBLISHER ABOUT MAVS OPEN PRESS Creation of this resource was supported by Mavs Open Press, operated by the University of Texas at Arlington Libraries (UTA Libraries). Mavs Open Press offers no-cost services for UTA faculty, staff, and students who wish to openly publish their scholarship. The Libraries’ program provides human and technological resources that empower our communities to publish new open access journals, to convert traditional print journals to open access publications, and to create or adapt open educational resources (OER). Resources published by Mavs Open Press are openly licensed using Creative Commons licenses and are offered in various e-book formats free of charge. Optional print copies may be available through the UTA Bookstore or can be purchased through print-on-demand services, such as Lulu.com. ABOUT OER OER are free teaching and learning materials that are licensed to allow for revision and reuse. They can be fully self-contained textbooks, videos, quizzes, learning modules, and more. OER are distinct from public resources in that they permit others to use, copy, distribute, modify, or reuse the content. The legal permission to modify and customize OER to meet the specific learning objectives of a particular course make them a useful pedagogical tool. ABOUT PRESSBOOKS Pressbooks is a web-based authoring tool based on WordPress, and it is the primary tool that Mavs Open Press (in addition to many other open textbook publishers) uses to create and adapt open textbooks. In May 2018, Pressbooks announced their Accessibility Policy, which outlines their efforts and commitment to making their software accessible. Please note that Pressbooks no longer supports use on Internet Explorer as there are important features in Pressbooks that Internet Explorer doesn’t support. FOUNDATIONS OF SOCIAL WORK RESEARCH ix The following browsers are best to use for Pressbooks: • Firefox • Chrome • Safari • Edge ABOUT THE PRINT VERSION This publication was designed to work best online and features a number of hyperlinks in the text. We have retained the blue font for hyperlinks in the print version to make it easier to find the URL in the “Links by Chapter” section at the back of the book. CONTACT US Information about open education at UTA is available online. If you are an instructor who is using this OER for a course, please let us know by filling out our OER Adoption Form. Contact us at [email protected] for other inquires related to UTA Libraries publishing services. x REBECCA L. MAULDIN ABOUT THIS PROJECT OVERVIEW This textbook was created to provide an introduction to research methods for BSW and MSW students, with particular emphasis on research and practice relevant to students at the University of Texas at Arlington. It provides an introduction to social work students to help evaluate research for evidence-based practice and design social work research projects. It can be used with its companion, A Guidebook for Social Work Literature Reviews and Research Questions by Rebecca L. Mauldin and Matthew DeCarlo, or as a stand alone textbook. CREATION PROCESS In the summer of 2019, Dr. Rebecca L. Mauldin of the University of Texas at Arlington’s School of Social Work coordinated a project to adopt an Open Educational Resource textbook for the School of Social Work’s Research Methods courses across the BSW and MSW programs. Scientific Inquiry in Social Work by Matthew DeCarlo was used as a primary source text. In the creation of this text, Dr. Mauldin worked with Amanda Steed, MSW Graduate Student Research Assistant, and Brooke Troutman, Assistant Librarian to incorporate and revise the source material, locate additional OER material for the book, solicit contributions from faculty members, and write additional material for the text book. ABOUT THE AUTHOR Rebecca L. Mauldin is an assistant professor at the University of Texas at Arlington’s School of Social Work. Dr. Mauldin’s research interests include social networks, social support, gerontology, and generosity. Her research focuses on the role of social relationships in the health and well-being of older adults. She examines the resources and benefits associated with relationships among residents of long-term care facilities, older immigrants, and older adults aging in place. Collaborative in nature, Dr. Mauldin enjoys community practice, program FOUNDATIONS OF SOCIAL WORK RESEARCH xi development, and coalition building. She thrives in teaching environments and brings forth others’ strengths in her practice, scholarship, and teaching. xii REBECCA L. MAULDIN ACKNOWLEDGMENTS UTA CARES GRANT PROGRAM Creation of this OER was funded by the UTA CARES Grant Program, which is sponsored by UTA Libraries. Under the auspices of UTA’s Coalition for Alternative Resources in Education for Students (CARES), the grant program supports educators interested in practicing open education through the adoption of OER and, when no suitable open resource is available, through the creation of new OER or the adoption of library-licensed or other free content. Additionally, the program promotes innovation in teaching and learning through the exploration of open educational practices, such as collaborating with students to produce educational content of value to a wider community. Information about the grant program and funded projects is available online. AUTHOR’S NOTE This guidebook to writing literature reviews would not be possible without the source material. Dr. DeCarlo’s textbook is a comprehensive introduction to social work research methods. I am grateful to him for his generosity and support. I would like to thank Michelle Reed of the UTA Libraries for sharing their extensive knowledge and their guidance in compiling this guide. Also from the UTA Libraries, Brooke Troutman also provided guidance and contributed material. Amanda Steed worked many hours to assist in this book’s creation and offered incisive insights to make this guide as useful to students as possible. My appreciation also goes out to Teresa McIntyre, Diane Mitschke, and Regina Praetorius, three faculty members at the UTA School of Social Work, who reviewed the original source material for this guidebook and offered their suggestions for this guide. I thank faculty contributors from the UTA School of Social Work: Maxine Davis, Genevieve Graf, Noelle Fields, Aaron Hagedorn, Richard Hoefer, Catherine LaBrenz, Kathy Lee, Diane Mitschke, Diana Padilla- Medina, Holli Slater, Rachel Voth Schrag, and Ling Xu for contributing material to the FOUNDATIONS OF SOCIAL WORK RESEARCH xiii guidebook. Finally, I wish to acknowledge Ruben Espricueta of the School of Social Work for his assistance with graphics and photography.