Building Empirical
Evidence for Practice
Chapter 3
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
1. Understand the nature of evidence in social
work practice
2. Understand the reasons for engaging in
empirically oriented social work
3. Understand the essential components of
building empirical evidence in practice
4.
Understand the different means of collecting
empirical information for practice
THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN
PRACTICE AND RESEARCH
• Clinical research
can only be
conducted as a
partnership between
research and
practice.
• The goal is a bidirectional system
with research
informing practice
and practice
informing research
THE RESEARCH-PRACTICE INTERFACE
Provides
•A foundation of basic science knowledge
•Collection of validated clinical tools
Supported by continuous infusion of
research knowledge and tools
RESEARCH
PRACTICE
Provides
•Clinical observations and outcome
evaluation
•Generation of hypotheses
Supported by ongoing communication
between social worker and clients
The General Method
• As beginning
generalist social
workers, you will
employ a practice
model/method, which
can be utilized when
working with
individuals, families,
groups, organizations,
communities and
nations.
• This problemsolving process
consists of six
sequential stages or
phases of treatment:
The General Method
4. Intervention
1. Engagement
2. Data Collection
3. Assessment and
Contract Planning
The General
Method
5. Evaluation
6. Termination
6 PHASES OF THE GENERAL METHOD
1. Engagement

Come up with plan to understand client’s
system’s problems, issues, needs, strengths, and
resources
2. Data Collection

Gather and prioritize information for
understanding the client system problem in social
context
3. Assessment and Contract Planning


Decide on pre-intervention data collection
activities necessary to provide a baseline for
evaluating change
Come up with a written contract that specifies the
goals and objectives
6 PHASES OF THE GENERAL METHOD
4. Intervention

Work toward identified goals and objectives; monitor
goal accomplishment, track changes, and consider
whether desired changes are occurring or whether the
contract needs to be renegotiated
5. Evaluation

Analyze the accomplishment of goals and objectives;
identify positive, negative, and unanticipated changes,
and consider plans for termination
6. Termination

Revisit the change process and goal accomplishments,
discuss maintenance of positive gains, plan an ending,
consider context of future contacts
The General Method is Founded Upon
EMPIRICISM
Social Work is EMPIRICAL in
the sense that its practice is
based on scientific inquiry,
observations and methods
Is everything
common sense
though?
Based on your common
sense of things…decide
whether the following
statements are TRUE or
FALSE
• People in a sad mood are less likely to help others than are
people in a neutral mood.
– False
• Simply having other people around tends to make individuals
perform better on easy tasks.
– True
• Male-to-female relationship violence is much more common
than female-to-male relationship violence.
– False
• Women "fall in love" more quickly than do men.
– False
• Women "fall out of love" more quickly than do men.
– True
• Focusing on a person’s voice is a better way to detect whether
someone is telling a lie than focusing on the person’s face.
– False
From Sensory Experience to Empirical Practice
• We use common sense regularly to
validate our observations and
experiences and the information we
obtain from the world through our sense
• Validating what our common sense tells
us however, requires more advanced
empirical inquiry
• This requires concerted effort on our
part
Historical Roots of Empirical Practice
in Social Work
Mary Richmond: Social Diagnosis
• For several decades, Richmond
attempted to turn the practical but
rough-hewn techniques and skills
known as casework into a more
systematic approach.
• After honing her ideas through
workshops, lectures and articles, she
put her ideas into a book; the first
definitive text on casework.
• Social Diagnosis, gave to the new field
of social work an anchor in its quest for
professionalism.
Ann Shyne 1948:
Can planned short-term intervention be effective?
Florence Hollis 1964:
Social Casework - A Psychosocial Therapy
Roots of Empirical Practice
Mullen & Dumpson 1972:
Evaluation of Social Intervention
Fisher 1973:
Measures for practice
Jayaratne & Levy 1979:
Document intervention outcomes
Gambrill 1999:
Importance of empirical evidence in practice
Rosen and Proctor 2003:
Defining the meaning of evidence and how
best to apply it in practice
Cornerstones of Empirical Practice
1.
2.
3.
4.
Research and theory
Practice wisdom and values
Person of the practitioner
What client systems bring to practice
situations
Gilgun, 2005
Gathering Evidence to Support
Theory and Research
Empiricism: Acquiring knowledge
through the senses
To see, hear, touch, taste
Components of Empiricism
 Conceptual definitions
 Tell us what a
concept means
 Cake: An edible
concoction
Operational definitions
Tell us how to
measure a concept
Cake: The recipe is
mixing 1 cup of flour,
¼ cup of butter, 1 cup
of milk, 2 eggs and
mixing and then
baking at 400 degrees
for 30 minutes
Components of Empiricism
Client system outcomes
Those conditions that best address change in client
system needs given the presenting problem and
resources
Interventions
Manipulations of an individual or societal
environment that are performed for research
purposes or physical procedures by which data are
gathered and.
Components of Empiricism
Program inputs
 Resources dedicated to
or consumed by the
intervention program and
client system
Money, staff and staff
time, volunteers and
volunteer time
• Activities
– What the program
intervention does with the
inputs to fulfill its mission
and achieve client system
goals and objectives
• Sheltering and feeding
homeless families
Program outputs
 Direct products of service activities
Counseling sessions conducted, interviews completed
Components of Empiricism
Use of logic models
– A systematic and visual way to present and
share your understanding of:
• The relationships among the resources you
have to operate your program,
• The activities you plan to do, and
• The changes or results you hope to achieve.
– Logic Models are quite variable ranging:
• From very simple to very complex
• In Variety and Scope
• Topic
Sample Logic Model: Simple
Sample Logic Models: Simple
Sample Logic Models: More Complex
Building Empirical Evidence in Practice
Tips to Help You Build Conduct Empirical Practice
 Seek effectiveness
information about
interventions
 Ground practice efforts
on prior findings that
show intervention
actions performed with
specific client systems
are beneficial and give
predictable results
 Evaluate individually to
prove results are a
consequence of
practitioner and client
system efforts
 Subject interventions to
rigorous, experimental
evaluations to
determine scientific
value and application
Building Empirical Practice in Social Work
• There are numerous online resources available to
help you develop your skills as they relate to
empirical practice
University of Michigan: :www.ssw.umich.edu/nimhcenter/
University of Tennessee: www.utcmhsrc.csw.utk.edu/
Portland State University: www.rri.pdx.edu/index.php
University of Washington www.depts.washington.edu/sswweb/ioe/
Fordham University : www.fordham.edu
IASWR www.iaswresearch.org/
SSWR sswr.org
NASW www.socialworkers.org/
Cochrane Collaboration www.cochrane.org
Campbell Collaboration: www.campbellcollaboration.org.
Steps to Building Empirical Evidence Practice
1. Identify the client system problems
2. Formulate answerable questions
3. Search, gather, and critically
examine the available evidence
4. Critically appraise the
evidence
Theory and Research
• An explanation or
model based on
observation,
experimentation, and
reasoning, especially
one that has been
tested and confirmed
• The social work
profession draws on
theories of human
development and
behaviour and social
systems to analyze
complex situations and
to facilitate individual,
organizational, social
and cultural changes.
Types of theory
Types of theory
Formal theory
Theories of what Nature and
social work is
Purposes of
Welfare
Theories of how Theories of
to do social work Practice
Theories of the
client world
Social science
Theories
Informal theory
Moral, political
cultural
objectives
Induction from
particular
situations
Use of
experience and
general social
meanings
Role of Theory in Social Work Practice
 All practice
interventions and their
evaluation processes
are enhanced when
based on explicit
conceptual or
theoretical frameworks
 All programs are based
on some idea about
which mechanisms
contribute to client
system change and
why.
 Articulating the
underpinning
conceptual framework
or theoretical beliefs
about how and in what
way the practice efforts
are meant to help client
system problems is
essential for gathering
and creating evidencebased best practice
knowledge.
Theories of Practice
Problem-Based Theories
Etiology of personal and
social problems and
factors that shape or
constrain them
Theories of Intervention or Processes, resources and
Service Delivery
activities used to achieve
desired outcomes
Theories of problemservice matching
Interactional fit between
client system needs and
interventions
Research
Scholarly or scientific investigation
or inquiry
Making Observations Using a
Scientific Method
Type of
Research
Typical Study
Question
Use of Theory
Use of Hypotheses
General Research
Methods
Descriptive
What are the
characteristics of
_____ e.g. a
population group?
No theoretical basis
required
Predicts expected
results, but not
hypothesized
relationships between
independent and
dependent variables
Often involves counting,
comparing
characteristics of
subjects
Explanatory
What effects do
____ one or more
independent
variables have on
____ a dependent
variable?
Tests theory by
applying it to
observations
deductive method:
how and why one or
more variables have
some effect on
another variable
Findings will either
support or not support
specific hypothesized
relationships between
independent and
dependent variables
Often involves finding
correlational or causal
relationships using
comparison groups
Exploratory
How do people in
the ____ population
view ____?
Otherwise known as
“Qualitative
Research”
Builds theory from
observations
inductive method
Usually avoids
hypothesizing results
Often involves openended interviews, “thick”
description, and finding
concepts within
responses
Evaluative
What effects did
this program or
intervention have?
Components of both
Explanatory and
Descriptive
Tests theory which
explains how and
why program or
intervention should
result in effects
Findings will either
support or not support
hypothesized program
or intervention effects
Often involves
comparing subjects preand post- intervention;
may also involve
qualitative methods and
multiple sources of data
to confirm findings.
Ten Questions to Help you Make Sense of
Research
1. Was there a clear statement of the aims of
the research?
2. Is qualitative methodology appropriate?
3. Was the research design appropriate to
address the aims of the research?
4. Was the recruitment strategy appropriate to
the aims of the research?
5. Were the data collected in a way that
addressed the research issue?
Ten Questions (cont)
6. Has the relationship between research and
participants been adequately considered?
7. Have ethical questions been taken into
consideration?
8. Was the data analysis sufficiently rigorous?
9. Is there a clear statement of findings?
10. How valuable is the research?
Critical Inquiry:
Question, Question, Question
Conduct and Evaluate Research
by ASKING CRITICAL
QUESTIONS OF IT
Popular Media Reports: Question it!
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Soda causes obesity, researchers assert
Daytime TV tied to poorer mental scores in elderly
Political bias affects brain activity, study finds
More creative = more sexually active?
Spanking children fuels aggression, anxiety
The long & short of it -- Tall women aim high
Stop global warming: Become a pirate
Eating breakfast makes girls thinner
Kids' TV habits tied to poorer test scores ; TV -- any TV -harms toddlers, study claims
ADHD treatment improves teens' grades, confidence
Eating pizza "cuts cancer risk"
Graffiti linked to obesity in city dwellers ; Researchers find
no obesity, sprawl link
Breastfeeding fights arthritis
Critical Analysis: Questions to Ask
 Is this information, claim, or evidence accurate?
 What critical tests have been performed?
 What biases are evident in results or to what extent are








the results free of any bias?
What values are supported by the interventive strategy?
Have the results been replicated; if so, how and with what
results?
How representative were the samples of participants
selected?
Who is presenting the results and for what purpose?
What measuring instruments were used? Are these
reliable and valid?
Are there vested interests apparent in presenting the
conclusions being drawn?
Have any facts been omitted?
Are there any alternative explanations for the findings?
Evaluation
An Essential Component of Social
Work Practice
EVALUATION RESEARCH
Evaluation is part of the continuous process of
service delivery throughout the six phases of the
General Method.
Thinking about evaluation begins during the general
method engagement phase when the social worker
and client system first meet and begin exploring client
system issues, problems, needs, strengths,
resources, and goals.
Quality Assurance
Accountability
Goal Attainment
Evaluation Research
1. Enables practice decisions based on empiricallyderived interventions that have documented their
level of effectiveness and have been subjected
to professional scrutiny.
2. Interventions are evaluated and subjected to
some level of professional peer scrutiny.
3. Subjects practice interventions to empiricallybased evaluation that documents progress and
outcomes.
Roberts, Yeager, & Regehr, 2006
Evaluation Research
• Social Work is involved in carrying out
evaluation research on a wide range of topics
• Examples of projects include:
– Follow-up evaluation of an alcohol service
– Evaluation of support services for black and
minority ethnic families
– Evaluation of services for those with learning
disabilities
– Evaluation of social work education
– Evaluation of a group for children whose parents
have substance misuse problems
Common Strategies
for Engaging in Practice Evaluation
 Rapid Assessment Instruments
 Standardized Measures
 Client Focused Measures:
 Client logs
 Rating Scales
 Goal Attainment Scaling System
 Single Subject Designs