Quantitative Research Methods for Social Work: Making Social Work Count

ISBN-13: 9781137400260 / Angielski / Miękka / 2017 / 276 str.

Teater, Barbra

Opis

Quantitative research makes a very important contribution to both understanding and responding effectively to the problems that social work service users face. In this unique and authoritative text, a group of expert authors explore the key areas of data collection, analysis and evaluation and outline in detail how they can be applied to practice.

Spis treści

Chapter 1 Introduction Chapter 2 Why numbers matter in social work Chapter 3 Who is being studied? Chapter 4 What is being studied? Chapter 5 How to describe issues using numbers Chapter 6 How to know if a service makes a difference Chapter 7 How to use numbers to describe a sample Chapter 8 How to make a decision with confidence Chapter 9 How to know if two variables are related Chapter 10 What is the effect of one or more variables on another variable? Chapter 11 What are the key elements of ethical quantitative research? Chapter 12 How to do quantitative research without collecting new data Chapter 13 How to combine qualitative and quantitative methods in social work research.

O autorze

Barbra Teater is Associate Professor in Social Work at the College of Staten Island, City University of New York, USA.

John Devaney is Senior Lecturer in Social Work at Queen’s University Belfast, UK.

Donald Forrester is Professor of Child and Family Social Work at Cardiff University, UK.

Jonathan Scourfield is Professor of Social Work at Cardiff University, UK.

John Carpenter is Professor of Social Work & Applied Social Sciences at the University of Bristol, UK.

Blurb

Social work knowledge and understanding draws heavily on research, and the ability to critically analyse research findings is a core skill for social workers. However, while many social work students are confident in reading qualitative data, a lack of understanding in some basic statistical concepts means that this same confidence does not always apply to quantitative data.

In this authoritative text, a collection of leading names in social work research and academia unpack the basic concepts of quantitative research methods – including reliability, validity, probability, variables and hypothesis testing – and explore key areas of data collection, analysis and evaluation, providing a detailed examination of their application to social work practice.

Packed with activities and practice examples, this comprehensive text will equip students and practitioners with the essential knowledge and skills in undertaking and applying quantitative research in everyday practice.