Research Methods for Social Workers

What's new?

We solicited extensive feedback from instructors who adopted the previous editions. From their comments, the following changes have been made in this edition.

• We expanded Chapter 2, Formulating Research Questions, by including an extensive discussion on how the literature is used in the research process.

• We added two new chapters, one on culturally competent research (Chapter 4) and another on program evaluation (Chapter 19).

• We expanded the ethics chapter (Chapter 3), which now includes the numerous ethical issues that confront social work researchers in every phase of the research process.

• We added a comprehensive glossary at the end of the book and an electronic one on this website under "For Students."

• This edition provides new study questions at the end of each chapter, as well as expanded ethical discussions and diversity integration throughout.

• This book is least expensive research methods text on the market today. We feel that requiring beginning social work students to purchase a higher-priced book is asking way too much of them, considering their tuition and textbook costs have been increasing faster than their income levels.

Table of contents 

PART I: The Contexts of Social Work Research

1  The Place of Research In Social Work
2  Formulating Research Questions
3  Research Ethics
4  Culturally Competent Research

PART II: Approaches to Knowledge Development

5  The Quantitative Research Approach   
6  The Qualitative Research Approach

PART III: Measuring Variables    

7  Measurement
8  Measuring Instruments

PART IV: Sampling and Research Designs

  9  Selecting Research Participants
10  Single-Subject Designs
11  Group Designs

PART V: Collecting Data    

12  Collecting Quantitative Data
13  Collecting Qualitative Data
14  Selecting a Data Collection Method

PART VI: Analyzing Data    

15  Analyzing Quantitative Data
16  Analyzing Qualitative Data

PART VII: Research Proposals and Reports    

17  Quantitative Proposals and Reports
18  Qualitative Proposals and Reports

PART VIII: Program Evaluation

19  Doing Program Evaluations

Book's objectives

Our book complies with the Council on Social Work Education’s (Council) research requirements.

• We include only the core material that is realistically needed in order for beginning students to appreciate and understand the role of research in social work; that is, our guiding philosophy is to include only material that students realistically need to know to function as entry-level workers. Information overload is avoided at all costs. After teaching social work research for decades, we asked ourselves a simple question: “What research methodology and statistical content can pragmatically be taught in a one-semester course?” The answer to our question is contained in the Content section of our book (pages viii-ix).

• We provide students with a solid foundation for more advanced social work research courses and texts.

• Our book prepares students to become beginning critical consumers of the professional research literature. It also provides them with an opportunity to see how social work research is actually carried out.

• We explain terms with social work examples that students will appreciate. Many of our examples center on women and minorities, in recognition of the need for social workers to be knowledgeable of their special needs and problems.

• We write in a crisp style and use direct language. It is easy to teach from and with.

• Our book has an extensive, student-oriented companion website that contains numerous student (and instructor) resources.

Like all introductory social work research books, ours had to include relevant and basic research content. Our problem here was not so much what content to include as what to leave out. The research methodology and statistical content that we touch on in passing is treated in depth elsewhere.

Our book is a primer, an introduction, a beginning. Our aim is to skim the surface of the research enterprise—to put a toe in the water, so to speak—and to give beginning social work students a taste of what it might be like to swim.