What Types of Designs are We Using in Social Work Research and Evaluation

Bibliographic Data

ID12384591
AuthorsMichael J Holosko (0000-0002-1610-0079, University of Georgia School of Social Work, corresponding author)
Year2009
Volume20
Issue6
Pages665-673
Publication date2009-06-26
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueResearch on Social Work Practice (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1049-7315 • E-ISSN: 1552-7581
PublisherSAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/1049731509339586
OpenAlexW2071535590
LanguageEN
Citations received16
References cited23

This article addresses a void in the literature about social work research and evaluation (R&E) designs, in particular related to the quality of its published work. Data were collected by reviewing three empirically oriented journals, Research on Social Work Practice, Journal of Social Service Research, and Social Work Research over three publication years 2005, 2006, and 2007. A total of N = 329 articles were content analyzed accordingly: research versus nonresearch, designs used, design objectives, sample sizes, primary statistics used, and outcomes. Main findings were (a) social work’s R&E is uniquely characterized by a cohort of nonresearch studies, which assist in understanding our empirically published work; (b) the most frequently used designs were preexperimental (82.2%) and least frequently used were experimental (2.3%); (c) design objectives were equally dispersed across exploration, variable relationships, instrument development, and program/evaluation; (d) primary statistics used were parametric (82.2%); and (e) 96.7% of the studies specified outcomes within them. Implications are directed to better understanding the context of where social work R&E is conducted, not apologizing for the designs the author uses, and how one can and should strengthen our study designs to offset their concerns

Context (archaeology · Political science · Research design · Social research · Social science · Sociology · Computer Science · Geriatric Care and Nursing Homes · Interprofessional Education and Collaboration · Psychology · Social Work Education and Practice · Social Work