Social Work Department

Goals and Objectives

1. Knowledge
   1. To understand and appreciate social research as the basis for social work practice
   2. To understand the scientific, objective basis of qualitative and quantitative social research including deductive and inductive reasoning, causality, validity and reliability
   3. To develop an understanding of research design including hypotheses, testing, sampling and control groups
   4. To develop an understanding of qualitative and quantitative data analysis
   5. To understand research ethics and potential biases that influence research
   6. To understand the role of research in evaluation of practice, including single-subject designs
2. Values
   1. To demonstrate positive regard for individual worth and dignity, human diversity and client self-determination in the design of studies and the dissemination of findings
   2. To analyze personal values and beliefs in relation to research ethics and social work values
3. Skills
   1. To be able to conceptualize a research project that would inform some aspect of social work practice
   2. To be able to construct a basic research design that includes a literature review, theoretical statement and hypothesis
   3. To be able to conduct basic data manipulation using SPSS
   4. To be able to conduct a basic critical assessment of published research

SW 4000 Social Work Research

Statement—Directions

1. Read the goals and objectives for the social work research course.
2. Review the assignments you completed for this course, including in-class assignments.
3. Choose ONE assignment to add to your portfolio. Choose an assignment that you feel was most instrumental in your mastery of the sequence objectives.
4. Then, answer each of the following questions separately in a one to two page typed double-spaced response. Be sure to link your comments to the goals and objectives for this component of the social work curriculum.

Attach the original OR a copy of the assignment to the paper. (Your portfolio statements will not be returned to you until you are enrolled in SW 4550 Social Work Seminar.)

1. How did this assignment help you to understand social research design and methodologies?
2. How did this assignment help you to understand the relationship between social research and social work practice?
3. How did this assignment help you to understand the importance of research ethics and social work values in the research process?
4. Did you do your best with this assignment? If not, tell us why. If you did not do your best, how could you have improved your performance?
5. What areas of research methodology do you think you should focus on for future learning and skill development?