This best-selling text that has empowered more than 100,000 students just like you! Considered the best social work research methods resource, RESEARCH METHODS FOR SOCIAL WORK balances essential content with enlightening examples, consistently revealing the important connections between real research and true-to-life social work practice.

Table of Contents

Part 1. AN INTRODUCTION TO SCIENTIFIC INQUIRY IN SOCIAL WORK. 1. Why Study Research? 2. Evidence-Based Practice. 3. Philosophy and Theory in Science and Research. Part 2. THE ETHICAL, POLITICAL AND CULTURAL CONTEXT OF SOCIAL WORK RESEARCH. 4. The Ethics and Politics of Social Work Research. 5. Culturally Competent Research. PART 3. PROBLEM FORMULATION AND MEASUREMENT. 6. Problem Formulation. 7. Conceptualization and Operationalization. 8. Measurement. 9. Constructing Measurement Instruments. Part 4. DESIGNS FOR EVALUATING PROGRAMS AND PRACTICE. 10. Causal Inference and Correlational Designs. 11. Experimental Designs. 12. Single-Case Evaluation Designs. 13. Program Evaluation. Part 5. DATA COLLECTION METHODS WITH LARGE SOURCES OF DATA. 14. Sampling. 15. Survey Research. 16. Analyzing Available Records: Quantitative and Qualitative Methods. Part 6. QUALITATIVE RESEARCH METHODS. 17. Qualitative Research: General Principles. 18. Qualitative Research: Specific Methods. 19. Qualitative Data Analysis. Part 7. ANALYSIS OF QUANTITATIVE DATA. 20.Quantitative Data Analysis. 21.Inferential Data Analysis: Part 1. 22.Inferential Data Analysis: Part 2. Part 8. WRITING RESEARCH PROPOSALS AND REPORTS. 23. Writing Research Proposals and Reports. Appendix A. Using the Library. Appendix B. STATISTICS FOR ESTIMATING SAMPLING ERROR. Appendix C. Proportion under Normal Curve Exceeded by Effect Size (ES) Values. Appendix D. Learner's Guide to SPSS 11.0 for Windows. Glossary. Bibliography. Index.