Social Work Research Methods: Qualitative and
Quantitative Approaches
Topic 2: The Basics of Social Work Research
Learn How to Search the Internet:
http://www.brightplanet.com/deepcontent/tutorials/
search/index.asp
•
This multimedia product and its contents are protected under copyright law. The following are prohibited by law:any
public performance or display, including transmission of any image over a network; preparation of any derivative
work, including the extraction, in whole or in part, of any images; any rental, lease, or lending of the program
Copyright @ Allyn & Bacon 2003
Topic 2: The Basics of Social Work Research
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
What are the Purposes of research studies?
What are the goals of Exploratory research?
What are the goals of Descriptive research?
What are the goals of Explanatory research?
What Basic Social Work Research?
What is Applied Social Work Research?
What is the Time Dimension in Social Work Research?
How are Quantitative Data Obtained?
How are Qualitative Data Obtained?
What is the Role of Technology in Social Work Research?
Copyright @ Allyn & Bacon 2003
What are the purposes of social work research
studies?
• To Explore: social work research is done via case
studies and learning the names of variables.
• To Describe: social work research is done via
surveys and learning how variables are distributed.
• To Explain: social work research is done via
experiments and learning how variables can be
explained
Copyright @ Allyn & Bacon 2003
What are the Goals of Exploratory Research?
•
•
•
•
•
•
To become familiar with the setting.
To create a general mental picture of the setting.
To formulate and focus questions about the
setting.
To generate one or more hypotheses.
To determine the feasibility of the hypotheses.
To decide what to measure within the setting.
Copyright @ Allyn & Bacon 2003
What are the Goals of Descriptive Research?
•
•
•
•
•
•
To provide a detailed, accurate picture.
To locate new data.
To create a set of categories.
To clarify the sequence of steps.
To document causal processes.
To report background and context.
Copyright @ Allyn & Bacon 2003
What are the Goals of Explanatory Research?
•
•
•
•
•
•
To test a theory’s predictions.
To elaborate or enrich the theory.
To extend the theory to new issues.
To support or refute an explanation.
To link the causes with general principles.
To determine which explanations work best.
Copyright @ Allyn & Bacon 2003
What is Basic Social Work Research?
• While it is ordinarily intrinsically satisfying to the
investigator, judgments are made by other
professional researchers.
• Problems and subjects are selected with less outside
interference.
• The research is judged by absolute standards.
• Internal logic and rigor are the key to this research.
• The goal is to contribute to basic or theoretical
knowledge.
• Success comes via publication in scholarly journals.
Copyright @ Allyn & Bacon 2003
What is Applied Social Work Research?
• Research is part of a job, and is judged by
sponsors or outsiders.
• The problems and subjects studied are narrowly
constrained.
• The research standards depend on the results.
• Generalizing results for sponsors is key to applied
research.
• The goal is to develop practical payoffs or results.
• Success is defined by results that can used by the
sponsors and others.
Copyright @ Allyn & Bacon 2003
What is the Time Dimension in Social Work
Research?
• Cross Sectional research is like a snapshot;
gathering data at one point in time.
• Longitudinal research analogous to a
movie or video; investigations gather data at
multiple points in time.
• Time Series are multiple studies of
different samples over some period of time
(e.g. opinion surveys).
Copyright @ Allyn & Bacon 2003
Time Dimension in Research continued…
• Cohort research involves multiple studies of
different samples of similar categories or groups
(e.g. students entering college this year).
• Panel research involves multiple studies of the
same sample over an extended period of time.
Copyright @ Allyn & Bacon 2003
How are Quantitative Data Obtained?
•
•
•
•
Experiments – explanatory research involving group
comparisons
Surveys – descriptive research asks many people
numerous questions.
Content Analysis – assessment of written, pictorial or
symbolic material (text).
Existing statistics - using previously collected
information to examine old or create new findings.
Copyright @ Allyn & Bacon 2003
How are Qualitative Data Obtained?
•
•
•
•
Field research - case studies of specific
settings or contexts
Historical comparative analysis – examining
aspects of social life in a past historical era or
across different cultures today.
Phenomenological investigation – examining
how people socially construct their lives.
Feminist and Postmodern studies – examining
critically how scare resources are distributed and
justified in terms of traditional Western thought.
Copyright @ Allyn & Bacon 2003
What is the Role of Technology in Social
Work Research?
• On the upside, the speed of communication, the
ability to easily store and compute, and the rapid
searches for information available via the Internet
are very helpful.
• On the downside, technology causes decreased
intimacy, rewards impersonal communication, and
Internet searches tend to be shallow and avoid indepth analysis.
Copyright @ Allyn & Bacon 2003