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Book Details
Abstract
This handy book is a one-stop introduction to research and evaluation for social workers. Including unique project examples, exercises, discussion points and extensive signposting to further reading, and drawing on the author's many years of teaching experience, it is essential reading for students who may be unfamiliar with research methods.
Linda Bell is Associate Professor in the School of Health & Education at Middlesex University, UK. She has extensive experience of teaching research methods to professional students, particularly social workers. She has also successfully supervised many doctoral and master's dissertations. Linda is an anthropologist who has researched and published on various aspects of health, social care, gender issues and parenting. She has specific expertise in feminist research, and in research ethics.
Table of Contents
| Section Title | Page | Action | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cover | Cover | ||
| Contents | v | ||
| List of exercises | viii | ||
| List of figures | ix | ||
| Preface | x | ||
| Acknowledgements | xii | ||
| 1 From social work skills to research skills: what is ‘being research minded’? | 1 | ||
| Introduction | 1 | ||
| Working towards research mindedness | 5 | ||
| Applying and defining approaches to enquiry in practice | 12 | ||
| Linking research and evaluation to professional development | 14 | ||
| Chapter summary | 15 | ||
| Further reading | 16 | ||
| 2 Understanding published research and research design: scoping and summarising | 17 | ||
| Introduction: Media and information | 17 | ||
| Assessing knowledge: Thinking about ontology and epistemology | 20 | ||
| Ways of thinking about research design (methodology) | 23 | ||
| Finding appropriate knowledge and publications for reviews | 27 | ||
| Different kinds of review: Scoping studies, systematic reviews, meta-analyses and ‘academic’ literature reviews | 29 | ||
| Skills involved in critiquing research literature (critical appraisal) | 35 | ||
| Chapter summary | 40 | ||
| Further reading | 40 | ||
| 3 Dealing with ethics and maintaining professional values during research | 41 | ||
| Introduction: Principles, professional and theoretical issues | 41 | ||
| What is ‘research ethics’? | 42 | ||
| Research governance for social work and health researchers (including students) in the UK | 44 | ||
| Research processes: Ethical aspects | 47 | ||
| Ethical issues in research practice | 49 | ||
| Chapter summary | 58 | ||
| Further reading | 59 | ||
| 4 Talking and listening: using ‘qualitative’ methods to develop relationship based approaches to research | 60 | ||
| Introduction: The importance of relationships in research and social work | 60 | ||
| Underpinning approaches in qualitative research:\rGrounded theory, ethnography, feminist approaches,\rphenomenology, case studies and ‘practice-near’\rresearch | 62 | ||
| Key qualitative methods – interviews, observation, focus groups, vignettes/scenarios | 74 | ||
| Chapter summary | 85 | ||
| Further reading | 86 | ||
| 5 Working with documentary sources and analysing qualitative data in social work research | 87 | ||
| Introduction | 87 | ||
| Using documents | 87 | ||
| Obtaining documentary data from observational methods | 92 | ||
| Preparing to analyse your material – some practical issues | 94 | ||
| Dealing with ‘qualitative’ comments produced by respondents on questionnaires | 97 | ||
| Analysing text taken from documents | 97 | ||
| Selecting, organising and analysing qualitative data: Interviews and focus group material | 100 | ||
| Chapter summary | 105 | ||
| Further reading | 105 | ||
| 6 It’s all about attitude: ways of capturing and understanding measurable data | 106 | ||
| Introduction | 106 | ||
| Descriptive survey design (methodology) and methods | 108 | ||
| Developing and using a questionnaire/attitude measure on ‘attitudes to research’ | 115 | ||
| Building explanations from quantitative data | 117 | ||
| ‘Pre’ and ‘Post’ test design – showing whether or not there are changes before and after an intervention | 120 | ||
| Gathering and analysing data from randomised controlled trials (RCTs) – a form of experimental design | 121 | ||
| Chapter summary | 125 | ||
| Further reading | 126 | ||
| 7 Mixing it up: how to combine research approaches without getting into a muddle | 127 | ||
| Introduction | 127 | ||
| Some key theoretical issues in relation to ‘mixing methods’ | 128 | ||
| Mixing methods during the research process | 130 | ||
| Examples of research using ‘mixed’ methods in different ways | 132 | ||
| Practical considerations when deciding whether or not to mix methods in a project | 137 | ||
| Chapter summary | 139 | ||
| Further reading | 140 | ||
| 8 Can you innovate? developing arts-based and visual methods for social work research | 141 | ||
| Introduction | 141 | ||
| Researching and using arts-based methods in social work education | 143 | ||
| Methods of data collection, analysis and interpretation in art-based research: discussion | 150 | ||
| Chapter summary | 152 | ||
| Further reading | 153 | ||
| 9 What’s out there? using the internet and social media for research | 154 | ||
| Introduction | 154 | ||
| Using online methods in social work research | 155 | ||
| Ethical issues in online/digital contexts | 156 | ||
| Examples of online/digital social work research | 158 | ||
| Chapter summary | 162 | ||
| Further reading | 163 | ||
| 10 Becoming a social work researcher: building confidence as well as skills | 164 | ||
| Introduction/Summary | 164 | ||
| Producing a research proposal | 166 | ||
| Outline of headings for a research proposal | 169 | ||
| My final suggestions | 172 | ||
| Glossary of key terms | 174 | ||
| Appendices | 183 | ||
| Notes | 206 | ||
| References | 209 | ||
| Index | 224 |