Research Skills for Social Work

by Andrew Whittaker

• ISBN13: 9780857259271
• ISBN10: 085725927X
• Edition: 2nd
• Format: Paperback
• Publisher: Learning Matters

Summary

Since launching in 2003, Transforming Social Work Practice has become the market-leading series for student social workers. Now the books have been updated to include the Professional Capabilities Framework for Social Work, making them more relevant to students and more integrated into social work practice. These books have a greater emphasis on-current thinking and policy, and include more opportunities for students to reflect on their own practice and study.

Author Biography

Andrew Whittaker is a Senior Lecturer in the Faculty of Health and Social Care at London South Bank University and, until recently, was based on secondment at the Tavistock and Portman NHS Trust, undertaking research into child protection social work. Andrew has taught nursing students since the early-nineties and teaches research skills to undergraduate and postgraduate students. He has worked in adult and child mental health and was the director of a mental health voluntary organisation. Professor Jonathan Parker is Deputy Dean for Research and Enterprise and Director of the Centre for Social Work and Social Policy at Bournemouth University. With colleagues, he developed the Centre of Social Work and Social Care Research and is former vice-chair of the Joint University Council Social Work Education Committee. Greta Bradley was a senior lecturer in social work at the universities of York and Hull. Her academic interests continue to be in community care, workforce studies and international social work. Her most recent research was on aspects of sustainable practice in social work, with particular reference to supervision. Her current interests are also in sustainable environmental developments and related issues. Greta is a former Editor of Practice and is a board member of the European Journal of Social Work.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements	p. vii
Introduction	p. ix
Planning your research	p. 1
Key terms in research
Planning your research
The six stages of research
Choosing your research topic and formulating your research design
Why formulate an overall research question?
Choosing your research approach and design - quantitative and qualitative research
Quantitative research
Some examples of student projects using a quantitative approach
Qualitative research
Some examples of student projects using a qualitative approach
Do I really have to discuss epistemology?
Research designs from particular traditions
Clinical data mining (CDM)
Ethnography
Practice-near research
Addressing ethical issues and research governance
A research attitude
Undertaking a literature review	p. 23
What is a literature review?
Moving from a research topic to a specific research question
Conducting your literature search
How do I start my literature search?
Effective reading and note taking
What if I find too much or too little material?
Critically analysing the literature
Writing up your literature review
Some common challenges when writing a literature review
Interviews	p. 36
When should interviews be used?
Types of interview
Recruiting and selecting participants
Ensuring that your data can be analysed
Developing an interview schedule
Types of interview question
Using vignette questions
What questions should I avoid?
Advantages and disadvantages of interviews
Conducting the interview
Recording the interview
Transcribing audio recording of interviews
Ethical data management
Focus groups	p. 50
Defining focus groups
Combining focus groups with other research methods
Advantages of focus groups
Disadvantages of focus groups
When not to use focus groups
Selecting and recruiting participants
'Naturally occurringÆ and 'strangerÆ groups
Recruiting and selecting participants
Homogeneous or heterogeneous group?
Planning your focus group
Developing a discussion guide
Role of the group moderator
Managing the group
Recording and transcribing
Data analysis issues
Questionnaires	p. 65
When is it appropriate to use questionnaires?
The five stages of completing a questionnaire study
Stage 1 Deciding your research question and design
Stage 2 Developing your questionnaire
Stage 3 Sampling
Stage 4 Data collection
Stage 5 Analysing your data and presenting your findings
Strengths and limitations of questionnaires
Documentary analysis	p. 79
Common pitfalls
Stage 1 Deciding your research question and designing your research
Stage 2 Deciding which documents to analyse and what to include in your sample
Stage 3 Collecting and analysing your data
Analysing your data	p. 92
Analysing qualitative data
Analysing quantitative data
Avoiding common mistakes in data analysis
Writing up your dissertation	p. 109
The process of writing
Structuring your dissertation
Writing your abstract
Writing your introduction
Writing your literature review
Writing your methodology section
Presenting and discussing your qualitative data
Presenting and discussing your quantitative data
Writing your conclusion
Some general points
Referencing and proofreading your work
Disseminating and publishing your work
Conclusion	p. 122
Professional Capabilities Framework	p. 124
Subject Benchmark for Social Work	p. 125
Glossary	p. 128
References	p. 132
Index	p. 139
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