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| The Contexts of Knowledge Generation | |
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| Introduction to Research | |
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| How Do We Obtain Our Knowledge Base? | |
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| Definition of Research | |
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| The Social Worker's Roles in Research | |
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| Summary | |
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| Science, Society, and Research | |
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| Reasoning About the Social World | |
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| Questions and Answers About the Social World | |
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| Errors in Reasoning | |
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| The Research Approach | |
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| Motives for Doing Research | |
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| Types of Research Studies | |
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| Examples of Research Studies | |
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| Strengths and Limitations of the Research Method | |
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| Validity: The Research Method's Goal | |
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| Summary | |
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| Research Contexts | |
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| Factors Affecting Social Work Research | |
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| Summary | |
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| Research Ethics | |
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| Enforcing Ethical Practices | |
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| NASW Research Guidelines | |
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| Summary | |
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| Problem Formulation and Research Approaches | |
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| Formulating Research Questions | |
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| Researchable (Empirical) and Nonempirical Questions | |
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| Characteristics of Useful Questions | |
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| Sociocultural Origins of Research Questions | |
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| Question Formulation for Student Projects | |
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| Summary | |
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| Research Approaches | |
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| Philosophical Differences | |
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| Similar Features | |
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| The Quantitative Research Approach | |
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| The Qualitative Research Approach | |
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| Using Both Approaches in One Study | |
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| Summary | |
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| Utilization of Research Approaches | |
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| Epistemological Origins | |
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| Patterns of Utilization | |
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| Critiques of Quantitative Approaches | |
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| Myths Surrounding the Research Approaches | |
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| Utilization Guidelines | |
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| Summary | |
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| Measurement in Social Work Research | |
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| Measuring Variables | |
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| Definition and Functions of Measurement | |
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| Measurement Validity and Reliability | |
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| Validity of Measuring Instruments | |
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| Reliability of Measuring Instruments | |
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| The Validity-Reliability Relationship | |
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| Sources of Measurement Error | |
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| Summary | |
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| Measuring Instruments | |
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| Advantages of Standardized Measuring Instruments | |
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| Validity of Standardized Instruments | |
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| Construction of Standardized Instruments | |
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| Types of Standardized Instrument | |
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| Selection of a Standardized Instrument | |
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| Nonstandardized Measuring Instruments | |
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| Summary | |
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| Designing Measuring Instruments | |
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| Social Workers' Use of Survey Research | |
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| Validity Factors in Instrument Design | |
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| Open- and Closed-Ended Questions | |
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| Instrument Construction and Appearance | |
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| Evaluating and Pretesting the Instrument | |
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| Summary | |
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| The Logic of Research Design | |
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| Sampling | |
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| Sampling Theory | |
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| Probability Sampling | |
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| Nonprobability Sampling | |
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| Sample Size and Errors | |
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| Summary | |
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| Group Research Designs | |
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| Characteristics of "Ideal" Experiments | |
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| Internal and External Validity | |
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| Group Research Designs | |
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| Summary | |
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| Case Research Designs | |
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| The Case | |
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| The Case Study | |
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| Case Studies and the Three Components of Practice | |
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| Considerations When Doing Case Studies | |
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| Summary | |
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| Data Collection Methods | |
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| Participant Observation | |
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| Definition | |
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| Roles | |
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| Needed Strategies and Skills | |
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| Steps in Doing Participant Observation | |
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| Ethical Considerations | |
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| Summary | |
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| Survey Research | |
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| Survey Research Designs | |
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| Approaches to Data Collection for Surveys | |
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| Face-to-Face Interviews | |
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| Self-Administered Surveys: Group-Administered Questionnaires | |
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| Self-Administered Surveys: Mail Surveys | |
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| Telephone Surveys | |
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| Computerized Data Collection in Surveys | |
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| Emerging Data Collection Approaches | |
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| Summary | |
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| Secondary Analysis | |
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| Secondary Analysis: Past and Present | |
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| Types of Secondary Data | |
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| Locating Secondary Data Sets | |
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| Example: The Welfare State and Women's Employment | |
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| Steps in Secondary Analyses | |
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| Advantages and Disadvantages | |
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| Summary | |
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| Utilizing Existing Statistics | |
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| Locating Sources of Existing Statistics | |
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| Advantages and Disadvantages | |
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| Steps in Analyzing Existing Statistics | |
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| Summary | |
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| Content Analysis | |
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| Characteristics of Content Analyses | |
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| Steps in Doing a Content Analysis | |
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| Uses in Social Work Research | |
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| Advantages and Disadvantages | |
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| Summary | |
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| Selecting a Data Collection Method and Data Source | |
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| Data Collection Methods and Data Sources | |
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| Data Collection and the Research Process | |
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| Criteria for Selecting a Data Collection Method | |
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| Selection of a Data Collection Method | |
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| Trying Out the Selected Data Collection Method | |
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| Implementation and Evaluation | |
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| Summary | |
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| Writing and Evaluating Proposals and Reports | |
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| Writing Research Proposals | |
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| Characteristics of Research Proposals | |
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| Components of Proposals | |
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| Summary | |
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| Writing Research Reports | |
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| Research Reports for Professional Journals | |
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| Summaries and Longer Reports | |
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| Publication and Dissemination | |
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| Summary | |
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| Evaluating Research Reports | |
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| The Framework for Evaluation | |
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| Problem Criteria | |
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| Method Criteria | |
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| Findings Criteria | |
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| Discussion Criteria | |
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| Utilization Conclusions Criteria | |
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| Rating the Criteria | |
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| Summary | |
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| From Research to Evaluation | |
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| Single-System Designs | |
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| Concepts in Research Designs | |
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| Purpose of Single-System Designs | |
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| Requirements for Single-System Designs | |
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| Single-System Evaluative Designs | |
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| Single-System Experimental Designs | |
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| Summary | |
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| Program-Level Evaluation | |
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| Quality Improvement and the Delivery of Services | |
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| Myths About Quality Improvement and Evaluation | |
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| Why Should We Do Evaluations? | |
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| Five Types of Evaluations That Help Improve Client Services | |
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| Internal and External Evaluators | |
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| Scope of Evaluations | |
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| Two Approaches to Quality Improvement | |
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| Summary | |
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| Evaluation in Action | |
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| Principles Underlying the Design of Evaluations | |
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| Stakeholders | |
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| Case and Program Decision Making | |
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| The Monitoring Approach to Evaluation | |
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| Ethical Considerations | |
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| Evaluation in Action | |
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| Summary | |
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| Glossary | |
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| References and Further Readings | |
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| Credits | |
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| Index | |