Social Work Research Resources

Modern Social Work Practice is an interactive book designed to provide readers with an opportunity to engage with key aspects of current social work practice. Each chapter is introduced with an activity or exercise designed to aid student learning in discrete aspects of practice, building up to a complete curriculum for practice learning. The book builds upon the success and style of Social Work Practice (1993) and The New Social Work Practice (1998). Mark Doel and Steven M. Shardlow have shaped the book to take account of the National Occupational Standards for Social Work, aiming to provide a creative, practical and up-to-date resource for teaching and learning in line with current practices.

In the first and second editions of the Social Workers' Desk Reference, the changes that were occurring in social work practice, education, and research were highlighted and focused upon. This third edition continues in the same tradition and continues to respond to the changes occurring in society and how they are impacting the education, research, and practice of social work as a whole.

Do you struggle to get your head around the application of theory and associated methods of intervention to social work practice? After exploring the expectations and limits of application of theory to practice, Phil Musson sets about describing theories of explanation and their associated methods of intervention in an accessible way. He follows this by looking at theoretically driven approaches and their associated methods of intervention.

The book centers itself on evidence-based practice (EBP), and Bellamy and Parrish provide readers with a clear understanding of the ways EBP can be used to make informed decisions about the selection of interventions and the evaluation of practice decisions. The book expands on the EBP process from the applied and practical lenses, beginning with an overview of the process of EBP and the relationship between EBP and implementation. Within the chapters, readers will find specialized insight, practical industry tips, and adaptable implementation frameworks and tools to use on their own.

Which Evidence-Based Practice Should I Use? A Social Worker's Handbook for Decision Making provides readers with a step-by-step guide for applying the original evidence-based practice (EBP) model to carefully select interventions from the research base for individual clients. Readers learn how to obtain and integrate information from three key components-the best available evidence; clinical expertise; and the client's characteristics, values, and preferences-to support their choice of an effective intervention for the client. The text employs problem-based learning and case method approaches to teach readers how to access intervention literature; how to evaluate what is "best evidence"; what the research endeavor represents and who it excludes; how to rely on the expertise of the practitioner community; and how to consider the client's view of the problem.

The Handbook for Policy Practice explores a wide range of topics that are critical tools in every social worker's policy practice repertoire:* Recognizing the various social justice theories and their role in social policy.* Understanding critical thinking as a practice skill.* Social media as a practice tool.* Preparing and presenting testimony to a legislative committee or group of people.* Formulating a clear, well-focused written policy brief for a Board of Directors or legislative committee.* Organizing policy specific advocacy activities including a public forum, social work day at the legislature, and voter registration projects.* The "30-second elevator speech."* Writing newspaper "op-eds" and "letters to the editor.

This book uniquely chronicles and analyzes the development of social work practice theory on two levels: from the top down, looking at the writings, conference presentations, and training course material developed by leaders of the profession; and from the bottom up, looking at case records for evidence of techniques that were actually applied by social workers in the field. Additionally, the author takes a careful and critical look at the development of social work methods, setting it apart from existing histories that generally accept the effectiveness of the field's work.

The Routledge Handbook of Social Work Ethics and Values is a comprehensive exploration and assessment of current and future issues facing social work practice and education. It is the first book to codify ethical practices for social workers from across the globe and in myriad workplace settings. Each section meaningfully captures this complex subject area:ethics writ large; visions of diverse values; abortion; relationship and gender issues; micro and mezzo practice settings; social work education; technological issues; spirituality; globalism; economic issues; special topics.

This invaluable guide helps social workers develop the writing skills necessary for a successful career. Actual examples drawn from all arenas of social work demonstrate strong and problematic writing. Organized around the core social work curriculum, the book's examples are applicable to every foundation course. Each example begins with field notes and proceeds through drafts to the final version, with explanations about corrections. Includes writing samples used in actual practice such as research reports, court documentation, grant applications, intake forms, progress notes, press releases, and case assessments that exemplify everyday challenges.Provides self-assessments and exercises to help readers identify their strengths and challenges.

"Rubin and Babbie's ESSENTIAL RESEARCH METHODS FOR SOCIAL WORK provides students with a concise introduction to research methods that offers illustrations and applications specific to the field, as well as a constant focus on the utility of social work research in social work practice. Outlines, introductions, boxes, chapter endings with main points, review questions and exercises, and Internet exercises help students easily find the information and practice they need to succeed in the course.

We designed our book to help graduate social work students through every step of the research process, from conceptualization to dissemination. Our textbook centers cultural humility, information literacy, pragmatism, and an equal emphasis on quantitative and qualitative methods. It includes extensive content on literature reviews, cultural bias and respectfulness, and qualitative methods, in contrast to traditionally used commercial textbooks in social work research

The book develops concrete guidelines for conducting inference to best explanation given incomplete information; no previous exposure to Bayesian analysis or specialized mathematical skills are needed. Topics covered include constructing rival hypotheses that are neither too simple nor overly complex, assessing the inferential weight of evidence, counteracting cognitive biases, selecting cases, and iterating between theory development, data collection, and analysis.

This textbook was created to provide an introduction to research methods for BSW and MSW students. It provides an introduction to social work students to help evaluate research for evidence-based practice and design social work research projects.

This short guidebook provides information about selecting a research topic and research questions, searching for literature, reading and understanding scholarly writing, and writing a literature review to synthesize what is known and what remains to be learned about a social problem.