Developing Research Based Social Work Practice

JOAN ORME is Emeritus Professor of Social Work in the Glasgow School of Social Work (GSSW), UK, where she was founder Head of School. She contributed to the development of social work research capacity by her involvement in the steering group that developed the JUC SWEC Research Strategy and in the steering group for the Research and Development Strategy for Social Services in Scotland. She also coordinated the first Researcher Development Initiative for social work. She is co-author of Social Work Practice and has published extensively in the areas of feminist social work, social work education and research.DAVID SHEMMINGS is Professor of Social Work at the University of Kent, where he is both Chair of Social Work and Deputy Head of the School of Sociology, Social Policy and Social Research. David has taught research methods to social workers for over 20 years in three different UK universities. Until recently, he was Project Coordinator for a UK-wide initiative to increase the confidence and capacity of social work researchers and academics to undertake publicly-funded medium- and large-scale research.

• IntroductionPART I: CONTEXT OF SOCIAL WORK RESEARCHWhat is Research for?Understanding Social ResearchPART II: PROCESS OF SOCIAL RESEARCHEthics and Ethical ApprovalReviewing the LiteratureMethodologies and MethodsStatistics and Quantification: How Numbers HelpSamples and SurveysTalk and DiscoursePART III: IMPLICATIONS OF SOCIAL WORK RESEARCHWho Owns the Research?Getting the Message AcrossConclusion