Research methods for social work / Allen Rubin, Earl Babbie.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Rubin, Allen.

Contributor:

Babbie, Earl R.

Harry E. Humphreys Book Fund.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Social service--Research--Methodology.

Social service.

Physical Description:

xxii, 693, G-9, B-8, I-13 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm

Edition:

Fourth edition.

Place of Publication:

Australia ; Belmont, CA : Wadsworth/Thomson Learning, [2001]

Contents:

Part 1 An Introduction to Inquiry 1

Chapter 1 Scientific Inquiry and Social Work 3

Two Realities 4

Natural Human Inquiry 12

Errors in Personal Inquiry 15

Chapter 2 Philosophical Issues in Science and Research 26

The Scientific Method 27

What's Really Real? 29

Paradigms 31

Determinism, Probability, and Causation 37

Quantitative and Qualitative Methods of Inquiry 44

Objectivity and Subjectivity in Scientific Inquiry 45

Chapter 3 Theory and Research 50

Two Logical Systems 58

The Links Between Theory and Research 66

Social Work Practice Models 66

Chapter 4 The Ethics and Politics of Social Work Research 72

Ethical Issues in Social Work Research 73

Weighing Benefits and Costs 78

NASW Code of Ethics 80

Four Ethical Controversies 81

Institutional Review Boards 89

Bias and Insensitivity Regarding Gender and Culture 91

The Politics of Social Work Research 93

Part 2 Problem Formulation and Measurement 103

Chapter 5 Problem Formulation 105

Overview of the Research Process 106

The Research Proposal 111

Problem Identification 115

Purposes of Research 123

The Time Dimension 126

Units of Analysis 129

Answers to Units of Analysis Exercise 138

Chapter 6 Conceptualization and Operationalization 139

Conceptual Explication 140

Operational Definitions 143

Measuring Anything That Exists 144

Definitions and Research Purposes 153

Operationalization Choices 156

Some Operationalization Illustrations 158

Operationalization Goes On and On 161

More Examples of Operationalization in Social Work 164

Existing Scales 167

Chapter 7 Measurement 171

Levels of Measurement 172

Single or Composite Indicators 177

Common Sources of Measurement Error 177

Avoiding Measurement Error 186

Reliability 189

Validity 193

An Illustration of Reliable and Valid Measurement in Social Work: The Clinical Measurement Package 197

Relationship Between Reliability and Validity 200

Who Decides What's Valid? 201

Reliability and Validity in Qualitative Research 202

Chapter 8 Constructing Measurement Instruments 208

Guidelines for Asking Questions 209

Questionnaire Construction 216

Constructing Composite Measures 228

Some Prominent Scaling Procedures 230

Constructing Culturally Sensitive Instruments 231

Constructing Qualitative Measures 235

Part 3 The Logic of Research Design 247

Chapter 9 The Logic of Sampling 249

The History of Sampling 251

Nonprobability Sampling 253

The Logic of Probability Sampling 256

Sampling Concepts and Terminology 259

Probability Sampling Theory and Sampling Distribution 261

Populations and Sampling Frames 269

Types of Samplign Designs 272

Multistage Cluster Sampling 280

Illustration: Sampling Social Work Students 285

Probability Sampling in Review 286

Gender Bias and Sampling 286

Special Challenges of Sampling with Minority and Oppressed Populations 287

Chapter 10 Causal Inference and Group Designs 292

Criteria for Inferring Causality 293

Internal Validity 296

Experimental Design 303

An Illustration of a Social Work Experiment 307

Quasi-Experimental Designs 310

Practical Pitfalls in Carrying Out Experiments and Quasi-Experiments in Social Work Agencies 316

External Validity 321

Chapter 11 Single-Case Evaluation Designs 326

Overview of the Logic of Single-Case Designs 327

Single-Case Designs in Social Work 329

Measurement Issues 332

Data Gathering 335

Alternative Single-Case Designs 342

Data Analysis 349

Part 4 Quantitative and Qualitative Modes of Observation 357

Chapter 12 Survey Research 359

Topics Appropriate to Survey Research 361

Self-Administered Questionnaires 363

Interview Surveys 370

Telephone Surveys 375

Comparison of the Three Methods 378

Strengths and Weaknesses of Survey Research 379

Secondary Analysis 383

Chapter 13 Qualitative Research Methods 387

Some Terminology of Qualitative Inquiry 389

Topics Appropriate to Field Research 393

The Various Roles of the Observer 394

Relations to Subjects 396

Preparing for the Field 398

Sampling in Field Research 399

Qualitative Interviewing 403

Recording Observations 409

Qualitative Data Processing 411

Qualitative Data Analysis 413

Drawing Conclusions: Some Logical Pitfalls 417

Illustrations of Qualitative Studies 421

The Strengths and Weaknesses of Field Research 428

Standards for Evaluating Qualitative Studies 431

Research Ethics in Field Research 432

Chapter 14 Unobtrusive Research: Quantitative and Qualitative Methods 437

A Comment on Unobtrusive Measures 438

Content Analysis 439

Sampling in Content Analysis 440

Coding in Content Analysis 442

Quantitative and Qualitative Examples of Content Analysis 445

Strengths and Weaknesses of Content Analysis 447

Analyzing Existing Statistics 448

Historical and Comparative Analysis 456

Part 5 Analysis of Data 465

Chapter 15 Processing Data 466

Computers in Social Research 468

Coding 470

Codebook Construction 472

Coding and Data Entry Options 473

Data Cleaning 475

Chapter 16 Interpreting Descriptive Statistics and Tables 479

Descriptive Statistics 480

Univariate Analysis 480

Numerical Descriptions in Qualitative Research 488

Subgroup Comparisons 489

Bivariate Analysis 489

Percentaging a Table 491

Constructing and Reading Tables 493

Bivariate Table Formats 494

Multivariate Analysis 494

The Elaboration Model 497

Chapter 17 Inferential Data Analysis: Part 1 511

Chance as a Rival Hypothesis 512

Statistical Significance 514

Measures of Association 523

Chapter 18 Inferential Data Analysis: Part 2 536

Statistical Power Analysis 537

Meta-Analysis 541

Selecting a Test of Statistical Significance 543

Common Misuses and Misinterpretations of Inferential Statistics 548

Controversies in the Use of Inferential Statistics 553

Part 6 The Social Context of Research 559

Chapter 19 Program Evaluation 560

Historical Overview 561

The Impact of Managed Care 562

The Politics of Program Evaluation 565

Purposes of Program Evaluation 573

Three Models of Program Evaluation Practice 591

An Illustration of a Qualitative Approach to Evaluation Research 592

Appendix A Using the Library 601

Using the Stacks 603

Computerized Library Files 605

Professional Journals 605

Appendix B Social Work Research and Cyberspace 609

E-Mail 609

Listservs 612

Gophers and FTP 614

World Wide Web 615

Appendix C The Research Report 620

Some Basic Considerations 620

Organization of the Report 622

Guidelines for Reporting Analyses 625

Appendix D A Consumer's Guide to Social Work Research 627

Problem Formulation and Research Design 627

Quantitative Measurement 628

Sampling in Quantitative Studies 628

Experiments 629

Survey Research 629

Analyzing Existing Statistics 630

Quantitative Data Analysis 630

Quantitative Data Reporting 630

Qualitative Research 630

Appendix E Commission on Aging Survey 632

Appendix F Random Numbers 640

Appendix G t Distribution of Chi-Square 642

Appendix H A Guide to SPSS 8.0 644

Opening a Data File 646

Frequency Distributions 651

Cross-Tabulations 654

Recoding Variables 658

Saving Changes 663

Multivariate Tables 663

Tests of Statistical Significance 665

Correlation and Regression 667

Creating Indexes 670

Graphics 676

Copying Results to a Paper 678

Shutting Down 680

Appendix I Inferential Statistics and Single-Case Designs 681

Statistical Significance in Single-Case Designs 681

Alternative Procedures for Calculating Statistical Significance 682

Substantive Significance 685

Limitations of Statistical Significance in Single-Case Designs 688

Effect Size 689

Appendix J Proportion Under Normal Curve Exceeded By Effect Size (ES) Values 692.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Local Notes:

Acquired for the Penn Libraries with assistance from the Harry E. Humphreys Book Fund.

ISBN:

0534362176

OCLC:

43953996