Presenting social science research methods within the context of human service practice, APPLIED SOCIAL RESEARCH is the ideal text for courses focused on applied research in human services, counseling, social work, sociology, criminal justice, and community planning. With in-depth coverage of all the topics taught in traditional social science research methods courses, APPLIED SOCIAL RESEARCH brings the subject to life by showing how research is increasingly used in practice today. In addition, this fully updated edition includes a thought-provoking Eye on Ethics feature and new and revised Research in Practice vignettes. Important Notice: Media content referenced within the product description or the product text may not be available in the ebook version.
Ethical Practice in the Human Services moves beyond addressing ethical issues and principles to helping readers actually practice ethical behavior through awareness of their personal morals, values, and choices. With coverage of ethical standards from six different associations, the text addresses ethical issues and principles in social work, counseling, psychology, and marriage and family therapy. Robust pedagogy includes case illustrations and guided exercises to give readers a deeper understanding of the underlying moral principles and values that serve as a foundation for the various ethical codes.
The traditional lines of demarcation between service providers and service users are shifting. Professionals in managed service organizations are working to incorporate the voices of service users into their missions and the way they function, and service users, with growing access to knowledge, have taken on the semblances of professional expertise. Additionally, the human services environment has been transformed by administrative imperatives. The drive toward greater efficiency and accountability has weakened the bond between users and providers. Reimagining the Human Service Relationship is informed by the premise that the helping relationship should be seen as developing in the interactive space between those who provide human services and those who receive them. The contributors to this volume redefine the contours, roles, institutional divisions, means, and aims of providing and receiving services in a range of settings, including child welfare, addiction treatment, social enterprise, doctoring, mental health, and palliative care. Though they advocate an experience-near approach, they remain sensitive to the ambiguities and competing rationalities of the service relationship. Taken together, these chapters reimagine the service relationship by making visible the working relevancies of service delivery.
For Research courses in Counseling, Social Work, and Human Services. This practical, clearly-written text helps readers understand the purposes of action research and guides them through the process of conducting their own action research studies. The book is appropriate for counselors, social workers, and other helping professionals, as examples and applications are all drawn from human services settings. Not only does the text help readers understand how to conduct research on their own practice, but it also helps them apply the results of their research to improve their effectiveness as helpers.
"This book provides an interdisciplinary approach summarising the key elements, issues, concepts, and procedures in developing and applying evidence-based practice. Discussions include programme evaluation, quality and operational improvement strategies, research grant applications, utilising statistical procedures, and more."--
Research Design for Social Work and the Human Services integrates a range of research techniques into a single epistemological framework and presents a balanced approach to the teaching of research methods in the "helping professions." Jeane W. Anastas begins with a discussion of the different philosophical perspectives within which social research occurs and continues with problem formulation, research design, and methodological issues influencing data collection, analysis, and dissemination. She presents both fixed (quantitative) and flexible (qualitative) methods of research, granting legitimacy, value, utility, and relevance to both styles of inquiry. Utilizing complete case studies to illustrate different methodological approaches, Research Design for Social Work and the Human Services integrates material on women and people of color, and draws attention to the ways racism, heterosexism, sexism, and classism affect the conceptualization and conduct of research. Anastas not only exposes these biases but actively addresses the experiences, needs, and concerns of clients of both genders and different races, ethnicities, sexual orientations, cultures, and classes.
Qualitative Methods in Social Work Research provides accessible, how-to instruction for carrying out rigorous qualitative research. Deborah K. Padgett’s thoroughly revised Third Edition offers a comprehensive introduction to qualitative methods based on six major approaches: ethnography, grounded theory, case study, narrative, phenomenological, and participatory action research. Readers will appreciate the book’s ease of use, friendly writing style, and helpful cases/examples that combine attention to methodological rigor with pragmatic concerns for real-world relevance.
This book offers a practical approach to conducting practice research in the field of human services. This evolving form of applied research seeks to understand practice in the context of the relationships between service providers and service users, between service providers and their managers, between agency-based service providers and community advocacy and support groups, and between agency managers and policy makers. Practice research represents a form of evidence-informed practice that involves a wide array of research designs and methods, in contrast to the narrower emphasis on experimental designs that characterizes evidence-based practice. The emerging principles and practices associated with practice research highlight: 1) including multiple, diverse stakeholders, 2) maximizing and negotiating participation, 3) promoting practitioner engagement in all phases of the research process, and 4) developing new identities for participants as research-minded practitioners and practice-minded researchers. The book is designed for researchers, practitioners, service users and students, and focuses on concrete experiences that illustrate the processes and activities involved in a specific, locally negotiated model of practice research. The book describes multiple practice research studies across an array of fields of practice in the human services, focusing on the research questions, designs, roles and relationships that have been developed in the context of a university-agency practice research partnership. These descriptions and stories are used to construct a comprehensive, detailed picture of the research process. Based upon these descriptions, the book synthesizes a set of broader principles and guidelines for practice researchers.
Delivers knowledge critical to understanding the multidimensional aspects of working with varied populations with disabilities This is the only introduction to disability book with an interdisciplinary perspective that offers cross-disability and intersectionality coverage, as well as a special emphasis on many unique populations. Comprehensive and reader-friendly, it provides current, evidence-based knowledge on the key principles and practice of disability, while addressing advocacy, the disability rights movement, disability legislation, public policy, and law. Focusing on significant trends, the book provides coverage on persistent and emerging avenues in disability studies that are anticipated to impact a growing proportion of individuals in need of disability services. Woven throughout is an emphasis on psychosocial adaptation to disability supported by case studies and field-based experiential exercises. The text addresses the roles and functions of disability service providers. It also examines ethics in service delivery, credentialing, career paths, cultural competency, poverty, infectious diseases, and family and lifespan perspectives. Reinforcing the need for an interdisciplinary stance, each chapter discusses how varied disciplines work together to provide services addressing the whole person. Active learning is promoted through discussion boxes, self-check questions, and learning exercises. Faculty support includes PowerPoints, model syllabi, test bank, and instructor manual. Purchase includes digital access for use on most mobile devices or computers. Key Features: Provides readers with key knowledge and skills needed to effectively practice in multidisciplinary settings Offers interdisciplinary perspectives on conceptualization, assessment, and intervention across a broad range of disabilities and client populations Underscores the intersectionality of disability to correspond with trends in education focusing on social justice and underrepresented populations Includes research and discussion boxes citing current research activities and excerpts from noted experts in various human service disciplines Promotes active learning with discussion boxes, multiple-choice questions, case studies with discussion questions, and field-based experiential exercises Includes instructor manual, sample syllabi, PowerPoint slides, and test bank Identifies key references at the end of chapters and provides resources for additional information Purchase includes digital access for use on most mobile devices or computers.
This is a revised edition of Theory and Practice in Health and Social Welfare which was well received on its first publication: "Throughout the book the writing is stimulating and thought provoking. The author repeatedly demonstrates a good capacity for synthesizing and summarizing in an accessible manner a range of material which is drawn from many sources ... encourages the critical questioning that is vitally necessary for those practitioners, educators and trainers who struggle with the elusive and demanding topic of linking theory and practice as a significant part of their working lives." - British Journal of Social Work "...a substantial contribution to the demystification of theoretical and practical issues surrounding health and social welfare" - Nursing Times Relating theory to practice is a long-standing concern in the human services. The first edition of this book helped readers appreciate the complexities of many of the key issues surrounding the integration of theory and practice. This revised and updated edition builds on that success, covering the latest developments in the relationship between theory and practice. The altered title reflects the widened focus of the book which now considers not just social work and social care, nursing and healthcare, but also areas such as probation and community justice, youth and community work, counselling, advocacy and advice work. Theory and Practice in Human Services argues a case for making theory relevant to practice and ensuring that practice is informed by theory in an open, non-dogmatic way. The book is critical of approaches to theory which create a mystique and barriers to understanding. Equally, approaches to practice which neglect the underpinning knowledge base and values are presented as fundamentally flawed and dangerous. The book offers an integrated approach to theory and practice geared towards improving practice, increasing job satisfaction and promoting an attitude of continuous learning and development. The new edition has been substantially re-worked to make it even more accessible to a wide readership. It now contains structural devices to aid learning, a glossary and self test questions. It will be invaluable to students and practitioners in social work, nursing and other human services.
