SocW 390
INTRODUCTION TO SOCIAL WELFARE RESEARCH

Description:

This course provides an introduction to the research methods in social welfare. The course provides students with the basic principles and skills for evaluating their social work practice and prepares students to be effective consumers of published research. Emphasis will be placed on the logic of the scientific method, understanding the interrelated stages of the research process, understanding and critiquing the research literature (both quantitative and qualitative studies), learning strategies for gathering information and approaches to the analysis of data. The course will build on many of the concepts and ideas that were covered in the statistics class you have completed prior to taking Soc Wf 390.

Throughout this course, students will learn about the interrelationship of research and social work practice. Students will learn how to better use scientific inquiry to inform & evaluate their social work practice. This course will also provide students with an understanding of, and ability to use, empirically-based strategies to improve social work practice, policy & service delivery.

Objectives:

Upon completion of this course, students will:

1. be knowledgeable about the role and rationale of research in generalist social work practice.
   
2. have a working knowledge of the basic language and process of social welfare research
   
3. understand the purposes of research as central to generalist social work practice (including the evaluation of that practice) and social policy development.
   
4. be knowledgeable about the research-related professional roles of: 1) critical consumer of research reports; 2) participant in agency research; 3) evaluator of one's own practice.
   
5. be able to understand and critique published social work research.
   
6. be able use methods of scientific inquiry to inform & evaluate their social work practice.
   
7. have an understanding of, and ability to use, empirically-based strategies to improve social work practice, policy & service delivery.
   have developed sensitivity to the ethics and politics of research and to the issues of gender, age, race, class, and sexual orientation in practice research.
   
8. be knowledgeable about the variety of quantitative and qualitative strategies available for answering specific research questions.
   
9. have basic data analysis skills

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