Empowerment Series: Essential Research Methods for Social Work

Allen Rubin has been doing and teaching research since 1976, when he received his Ph.D. from the University of Pittsburgh. He taught social work research at the University of Texas at Austin from 1979 through 2013 and at the University of Houston from 2013 through 2024. Renowned in social work, Dr. Rubin has written several research texts, published numerous research studies on social work practice and is a past president of the Society for Social Work and Research. Dr. Earl Babbie is the Campbell Professor Emeritus in Behavioral Sciences at Chapman University in Southern California. He taught sociology at the University of Hawaii from 1968 through 1979 and took time off from teaching and research to write full time for eight years. He then joined the Chapman University faculty in 1987. Credited with defining research methods for the social sciences, Dr. Babbie has written several texts, including THE PRACTICE OF SOCIAL RESEARCH, as well as numerous research articles and monographs. For 25 years he has been active in the American Sociological Association, where he served on the executive committee. He is also a past president of the Pacific Sociological Association and the California Sociological Association. Dr. Babbie received his A.B. from Harvard and his doctorate from the University of California, Berkeley.

• Part I: AN INTRODUCTION TO SCIENTIFIC INQUIRY IN SOCIAL WORK. 1. Why Study Research?2. Evidence-Based Practice.Part II: THE RESEARCH PROCESS. 3. Quantitative, Qualitative, and Mixed Methods of Inquiry.4. Factors Influencing the Research Process.Part III: ETHICAL AND CULTURAL ISSUES IN SOCIAL WORK RESEARCH. 5. Ethical Issues in Social Work Research.6. Culturally Competent Research.Part IV: PROBLEM FORMULATION AND MEASUREMENT. 7. Problem Formulation.8. Measurement in Quantitative and Qualitative Inquiry.9. Quantitative and Qualitative Measurement Instruments.Part V: SAMPLING AND SURVEYS. 10. Surveys.11. Sampling: Quantitative and Qualitative Approaches.Part VI: DESIGNS FOR EVALUATING PROGRAMS AND PRACTICE. 12. Experiments and Quasi-Experiments.13. Single-Case Evaluation Designs.14. Program Evaluation.Part VII: ADDITIONAL QUALITATIVE AND QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH METHODS. 15. Additional Methods in Qualitative Inquiry.16. Analyzing Available Records: Quantitative and Qualitative Methods.Part VIII: DATA ANALYSYS. 17. Quantitative Data Analysis.18. Qualitative Data Analysis.Appendix A: Using the Library. Appendix B: Writing Research Proposals.Appendix C: Writing Social Work Research Reports.Appendix D: Random Numbers.Appendix E: Using Effect Sizes to Bridge the Gap Between Research and Practice.Glossary. Bibliography. Index.

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