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Paul P Freddolino - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.

Timothy J Stocks - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.

Mary E. Swigonski - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.

  • The Logic of Feminist Standpoint Theory for Social Work Research
    1994
    Co-Authors: Mary E. Swigonski
    Abstract:

    The dialectic of relevance and rigor symbolizes the tension between social Work practitioners and Researchers. Social Work practitioners want professional Research to be relevant, to contribute to the understanding of human behavior in the social environment, and to improve practice effectiveness. Social Work Researchers want professional Research to be rigorous and to meet the highest standards of science. And, of course, some social Workers want both. Yet definitions of "good science" seem to preclude that possibility. During the first half of this century, social Work embraced psychoanalysis and the scientific method of the natural sciences in an effort to achieve professional status and credibility. Social Work Research methods were adopted from the social and natural sciences. For many social Workers, the predominant paradigm in the definition of knowledge building and Research is descended from the logical positivism of the beginning of the 20th century (Wood, 1990). The positivist philosophy and its approach to scientific activity rest on several key philosophical assumptions. Three in particular are problematic for social Work: (1) the claim of value-free scientific activity, (2) the requirement of subject-object separation, and (3) definitions of scientific objectivity. It is time that social Work enact a commitment to the development of an epistemology and Research consonant with its unique professional character. This article presents feminist standpoint theory as an alternative epistemology for social Work practice and Research. Feminist standpoint theory provides a vehicle to move social Work Research and practice toward a synthesis of relevance and rigor. This theory provides an alternative approach to knowledge justification and "good science" and leads to a resolution of the seeming contradiction between the need for relevance and the commitment to rigor in professional practice and Research. The following discussion builds on the Work of social scientists Mary McCanney Gergen (1988), Kenneth J. Gergen (1988), Sandra Harding (1987, 1991), and Joyce McCarl Nielsen (1990). Beliefs and Conflicts Value-Free Scientific Activity Logical positivism asserts the possibility of value-free theory and science based on the use of the senses and reason. Knowledge for knowledge's sake is believed to be both desirable and possible. But in the 1960s, critics of science discovered that those in charge of the neutral sciences were overwhelmingly white, male, and privileged occupants of positions in advanced industrialized society (Rose, 1983). The sciences are inextricably part of the social order that supports them. Hubbard (1988) called our attention to the political, value-laden nature of scientific activity in her assertion that "the pretense that science is apolitical and value neutral is profoundly political because it obscures the political role that science and technology play in underwriting the existing distribution of power in society. . . . Science and technology always operate in somebody's interest". In societies where power is organized hierarchically (by class, culture, or gender), there is no possibility of an impartial, disinterested, value-neutral perspective. Social Work's commitment to value-directed actions stands in contrast to positivist commitments to value-free endeavors. A profession that prides itself on a humanitarian value base cannot rely on a Research grounded in the assertion that its methods can and should strip values from its Work and findings. From its inception, social Work Research has been an applied Research. The profession's commitment to practical ends requires that social Work Researchers possess an acute awareness of the value-laden potentials of the process and products of our science. Social Work practitioners more readily become involved with Research activities that honor the profession's commitment to client empowerment and social transformation. …

  • Feminist Standpoint Theory and the Questions of Social Work Research
    1993
    Co-Authors: Mary E. Swigonski
    Abstract:

    This article presents feminist standpoint theory as an alternative epistemology for social Work Research—an alternative theory of what makes knowledge possible and how to get it—and discusses the o...

Barbara E. Solt - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.

  • Developing Research Infrastructure: The Institute for the Advancement of Social Work Research
    2008
    Co-Authors: Joan Levy Zlotnik, Barbara E. Solt
    Abstract:

    This article reviews the 15 years of Research development efforts of the Institute for the Advancement of Social Work Research (IASWR); delineates IASWR's roles in relation to the social Work practice, education, and Research communities; presents the transdisciplinary and transorganizational partnerships in which IASWR engages to influence national-level policy; identifies markers that demonstrate increased capacity; and, finally, points toward opportunities for the profession to carry gains to the next level. Specifically discussed are IASWR's role in partnerships and coalitions to influence federal policy and Research resource development and IASWR's leadership Work in promoting evidence-based practices in social Work. KEY WORDS: collaboration; evidence-based practice; infrastructure; policy development; resource development; social Work Research ********** The Institute for the Advancement of Social Work Research (IASWR) was created in 1993 to be an infrastructure through which the profession's Research capacity and knowledge development could be both strengthened and demonstrated (Zlotnik, Biegel, & Solt, 2001; Zlotnik & Solt, 2006). IASWR HISTORY Despite the dual traditions of social Work Research and social Work practice, there have been few organized and sustained national efforts focused on developing social Work Researchers or building social Work Research resources. In 1988, National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) Director Lewis Judd funded the creation of the Task Force on Social Work Research (Task Force), recognizing that whereas 70% of mental health services are provided by social Workers, fewer than one-half of 1% of NASW members identified their primary professional activity as Research (Task Force, 1991). The Task Force met for three years and gathered input from a broad range of social Workers and other stakeholders to assess the current state of social Work Research. The culminating report, Building Social Work Knowledge for Effective Services and Policies: A Plan for Research Development (Task Force, 1991) stated the following: There is a crisis in the current development of Research resources in social Work.... This has serious consequences for individuals using social Work services, for professional practitioners, for the credibility of the profession, and for the American society. Billions of dollars are being spent for services to deal with critical social problems, including services provided by social Workers. Extremely little is being spent on Research to improve the effectiveness of such services. (p. viii) This report laid the groundWork for IASWR's creation. IASWR's founding organizations, NASW; the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE); the Association of Baccalaureate Social Work Program Directors (BPD); the National Association of Deans and Directors of Schools of Social Work (NADD); the Group for the Advancement of Doctoral Education (GADE); and, in 2000, the Society for Social Work and Research (SSWR) made a long-term commitment to the importance of social Work Research for the profession and for their organizations and constituents. IASWR's mission is to advance the profession's knowledge base by building Research capacity; by increasing support and opportunities for Research; by promoting linkages among social Work practice, Research, and education communities; and by representing the profession within the national scientific community. IASWR's Work follows two parallel paths: one focuses on building Research capacity and Research practice connections within social Work, and the other focuses on advocacy and increased social Work Research visibility with federal agencies, with legislators, and with sister scientific societies. SUPPORTING Research AND BUILDING Research CAPACITY Building capacity within schools of social Work required development of expertise in writing and reviewing federal Research grants. …

  • the institute for the advancement of social Work Research Working to increase our practice and policy evidence base
    2006
    Co-Authors: Joan Levy Zlotnik, Barbara E. Solt
    Abstract:

    This invitational update on the Institute for the Advancement of Social Work Research (IASWR) provides an overview of the Work and progress toward strengthening the evidence base for social Work pr...

  • The Institute for the Advancement of Social Work Research: Strengthening Social Work Research in Practice and Policy
    2002
    Co-Authors: Joan Levy Zlotnik, David E. Biegel, Barbara E. Solt
    Abstract:

    This article discusses efforts over the past decade to strengthen social Work Research; in particular, the role of the Institute for the Advancement of Social Work Research (IASWR) is highlighted. ...

Malcolm Carey - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.

  • qualitative Research skills for social Work theory and practice
    2012
    Co-Authors: Malcolm Carey
    Abstract:

    Contents: Part 1 Foundations of Qualitative Social Work Research: Introducing qualitative social Work Research The Research process Core social Work Research concepts The literature review Literature-based Research and methodologies Theoretical and philosophical perspectives Methodology Research ethics. Part 2 Qualitative Methodology and Methods: Interviews and questionnaires Focus groups Grounded theory and case studies Ethnography Life histories and biographical Research Narrative and discourse analysis Participative Research internet Research. Part 3 Analysis, Writing and Dissemination: Analysis Writing up and dissemination Glossary References Index.

  • should i stay or should i go practical ethical and political challenges to service user participation within social Work Research
    2011
    Co-Authors: Malcolm Carey
    Abstract:

    This article critically explores some implications of service user participation within qualitative social Work Research. There are three main sections which concentrate upon practical impediments,...

  • should i stay or should i go practical ethical and political challenges to service user participation within social Work Research
    2011
    Co-Authors: Malcolm Carey
    Abstract:

    This article critically explores some implications of service user participation within qualitative social Work Research. There are three main sections which concentrate upon practical impediments, ethical implications and political dilemmas attached to a participative hegemony. Among other arguments it is proposed that participation has become part of complex, yet deeply problematic, political and ethical processes; in which early drives for user emancipation have been compromised and supplanted by a fused market and liberal-humanistic or democratic discourse dominated by rhetoric, and government, institutional and professional interests. For more independent social Work Researchers, or potential Researchers including practitioners, the methodology is also often inaccessible and largely unattainable. The article encourages critical scepticism regarding participation, and suggests that it is unlikely it can counter inequitable relations between Researchers and participants; indeed it may substantiate or a...

  • the social Work dissertation using small scale qualitative methodology
    2009
    Co-Authors: Malcolm Carey
    Abstract:

    Social Work Research and the dissertation The Research process for a social Work dissertation Key concepts in social Work Research Theory and social Work Research The literature review and literature based dissertations Social Work methodology Traditional methods: Interviews, questionnaires and focus groups Alternative methodology: Narrative Research, discourse analysis and life histories Qualitative analysis Writing up and dissemination Appendix: Useful websites Bibliography

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