SWP538 – 701E: Social Work Research Part
1
Week 1
Course Notes





Colin Philips is the professor
o V is Colin’s academic facilitator
Lecture slides will be up before class starts
Required readings and any content from slideshows and lectures is testable material
Textbooks
o Faulkner, S., & Faulkner, C. (2019). Research methods for social workers: A
practice-based approach (3rd ed.). Oxford University Press.
o Parada, H., & Wehbi, S. (Eds.). Reimagining anti-oppression research. Canadian
Scholars’ Press
 This is used more in swp638
o All textbooks are available through the library and as a free ebook however can be
purchased if the student wants
Assessments
o 3 quizzes
 20% of total mark each
 The quiz with the highest mark will weigh 30% rather then 20%
o Group assignment
 30% of total mark
 Group project has no assigned groups
Lecture
Accountability is Reconciliation





Being open to new ways of knowing and to sources of knowledge that may be new and
unfamiliar (p.10)
Sitting through uncomfortable experiences of not-knowing (p.10)
Relational accountability - At every stage, we have to ask ourselves, am I fulfilling my
responsibilities to my relationships? Is this of benefit to the community? Am I being true
to my values? Am I being true to the values and wishes of the communities with whom
I’m working? Is this research approach enacting an ethics of care? (p. 13)
Research questions matter, and part of relational accountability is ensuring that research
questions are genuinely aligned with community priorities and … are going to “lead to
some change out there in that community.” (p.14)
Research as reconciliation is the practice of restoring accountability and relationships – to
family, to Nation, to environment, to ideas, to ancestors, to cosmo/universe (p. 17)
Reconciliation is Action

What does reconciliation look like in research
o “Reconciliation is all about action” (p.6)
o “We have to recognize that as researchers we have power. We have to use our
power and knowledge responsibly. We have to act. That might be acting to resolve
differences or acting to ensure accuracy or acting by refusing to follow the status
quo. It requires us to use our power as researchers to change ourselves as
individuals, but also all of humankind.” (p. 7)*
o Research can be a powerful strategy for transformative change
Knowledge - How we know what we know




From our own experiences and common sense
o Experiential authority
o Our client contact continues to shape what we find in research and how we find
research
Rely on knowledge of others
o Experts, media and authority
o Expert authority
Values & beliefs
o Tradition
Through research:
o Scientific inquiry - a process to produce new knowledge
o Evidence-based approach
Defining Research




Research is a systematic and methodological approach to creating knowledge.” (Faulkner
& Faulkner, 2019, p.1)
o However Social Work often constitutes situations that must defy systems and
methods for the better of clients
“Evidence-based practices are practices whose efficiency is supported by evidence.”
(Faulkner & Faulkner, 2019, p.1)
“Research is … the assimilation of knowledge and the gathering of data in a logical
manner in order to become informed about something.” (Faulkner & Faulkner, 2019, p.3)
Note: These definitions are often flexible guidelines in social work research
Importance of Social Work Research

We have an obligation to produce knowledge relevant to our discipline (SW Code of
Ethics)
o To evaluate practices and interventions
o To be accountable to funders
o To inform policy, decision-makers
o To highlight oppression, injustice
o To explore new areas of concern
Context of Social Work Research



Neoliberalism
o And the obsession with evidence-based practice
Settler colonialism
o Exploitation, extraction, control
White supremacy
o Reified in the research process
Defining Critical Research


“Research is all about unanswered questions, but it also reveals our unquestioned
answers” (Wilson, 2008, p. 6)
“… knowledge production has long been organized … so that only certain information
generated by certain people in certain ways is accepted or can qualify as truth” (Brown &
Strega, 2005, p. 7)
Researching Whiteness





Research as a strategy to identify and challenge the operation of white supremacy in
social service agencies
White supremacy measures/judges all knowledge in comparison to White dominant
knowledge (assumed to be neutral and value-free)
Research can expose the “oft hidden ideas, beliefs and values of the dominant culture”
(p.67) which are the root causes of inequality that operate at the institutional level
Select research questions that examine these hidden assumptions and values
Research can make whiteness visible
Factors influencing the Research Process









Categories of Research
Research Purpose and Methods
Characteristics of Quantitative Research
Researcher’s Positionality
Paradigms and Theories
Inductive and Deductive Use of Theory
Time Dimension
Ethical Considerations
Organizational and Political Context
Categories of Research

Qualitative
o To understand characteristics, meaning and lived experiences (deep dive type of
research)


Quantitative
o To describe (e.g., Statistics Canada survey)
o To explain and predict a relationship between two or more variables/factors
(hypothesis-testing)
o To provide evidence of effectiveness (experimental-type designs)
Mixed-method
o Elements of both qualitative and quantitative methods are used in one study
Researcher Positionality and Bias


Quantitative research
o Assumed to be a neutral process of discovering “the truth”
o No acknowledgement of researcher bias/subjectivity
Qualitative research
o Assumes that research is impacted by the researcher’s values and biases
o Researchers identify and “bracket” their values so that the process remains neutral
Research Designs





Exploratory
Descriptive
Explanatory
Evaluative
Constructing Measurement Instruments
Research Design Details

Exploratory
o Used when there is limited knowledge/understanding
o Pilot studies, smaller samples, tends to be qualitative

Descriptive
o Used to describe detailed characteristics of a population, community or any
artifacts
o Large samples, tends to be quantitative
Explanatory
o To explain cause and effect, to explain relationships between variables, to predict
outcomes
o Hypothesis testing
o Most often these types of studies are quantitative
Evaluative
o To assess the degree to which goals have been met
o Goals can be related to practice processes and outcomes
o Mixed method designs, using a combination of qualitative and quantitative
methods, are often used



Constructing Measurement Instruments
o To develop standardized measurement instruments
o To assess validity and reliability of existing measurement tools
o Quantitative
Characteristics of Quantitative Research






Numerical representation of data - empirical
Language of variables and types of relationships
Focus on measurement, standardization, validity and reliability
Hypothesis-driven
Large samples sizes
Fixed, predetermined methods and process to facilitate replication
Inductive and Deductive Approaches


Inductive approach
o We start with a set of observations (e.g. from our practice) and induce/develop
tentative conclusions or theories that can become hypotheses for future research
o Often qualitative
Deductive approach
o We start with a theory or a hypothesis and then test these in the research process
o Often quantitative
Time Dimension


Cross-sectional studies
o Data collected at one point in time
o Analyse a cross section
Longitudinal studies
o Data collected over time - at more than one point in time
o Analyse processes/trends occurring over an extended period of time
 Trend (Time Series) – data collected on different people, over multiple
time intervals from the same overall population
 Cohort – data collected on groups that share a common experience, but
members are different every time period
 Panel – data collected on the same people over multiple time periods
Longitudinal studies: Data collected over time


Retrospective studies
o Collect data on events that have already taken place
o Looks back, data already exists in some form (census, case records)
Prospective studies
o Data to be collected on events that will happen (survey to be administered in 3
months, 6 months, etc.)
o Looks forward, data to be collected and not available at the time of developing
research proposal
Canada Census Example: Rates of Unemployment


Cross Sectional
o Using one year of census data to examine the rates of unemployment by age
group
Longitudinal retrospective (Census is done every 5 years)
o Tend study - examine existing unemployment rates for Canadians for the past 15
years
o Cohort Study - examine existing unemployment rates for workers, 16-24, for the
past 15 years
o Panel Study – selecting a group of workers, 16–24, and assessing each of their
un/employment rates, annually, for the past 15 years