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Canyon College

COURSE SYLLABUS: SOCIAL WORK RESEARCH

Course Title: Department: Instructor:

Social Work Research Social Work Alice Yick Flanagan, Ph.D., M.S.W. E-Mail - Vita

DESCRIPTION OF COURSE

This is a foundation course, introducing students to the basic elements of social work research methods. Although many social work students do not envision conducting research in their practice, it is important that social workers be good consumers of research. Ultimately, social work practice does not exist in a vacuum. Instead, research findings shape social work practice such as clinical practice, policy development, and social service delivery. Therefore, the goal of this class is to provide students information about the various phases of the scientific method -- from formulating the research problem to the point of data collection.

COURSE OBJECTIVES

At the completion of the course, students will:

1. Understand the scientific method as it relates to social work practice.
2. Acquire basic skills in research methodology from problem identification and formulation; formulation of research questions or hypotheses, conduct and write review of the literature, and formulate the research design, sampling design, select measurements, and procedures for data collection.
3. Become both informed consumers and producers of research in social work
4. Understand ethical issues in conducting research
5. Understand the effects and potential biases and confounds that can affect all stages of the research process and how these biases affect how social workers generalize the findings
6. Develop the skills and knowledge necessary to critically evaluate published research and utilize research findings in social work practice.
7. Develop a beginning knowledge in how issues of race, gender, socioeconomic status, and cultural diversity affect stages of the research process.
8. Develop an appreciation of the role of the social workers as knowledge seeker in enhancing the effectiveness of their social work practice.

COURSE FORMAT

** Lectures on the web. Students are expected to read the lectures on the web and to participate in any activities assigned.
** Periodic e-mail check-ins with the instructor.
** Weekly assignments from the Study Guide

REQUIRED TEXTS -- Online Bookstore

** Yegidis, B.L., Weinbach, R.W., and Morrison-Rodriguez, B. (1998). Research methods for social workers. (3rd edition). Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon. (ISBN #: 0205281605)

** Selected articles from Northernlight.com. This is a very unique database where you can search by topics. It contains articles on web-sites and in academic journals. Articles from academic journals are in their Special Collections, and the cost is very reasonable ($3.95 for a long article). Some articles for this course are in Northernlight. Visit www.northernlight.com. Type in the title of article, and place quotation marks around the title in the search engine. You will have to establish an account by using your credit card.

** There are also selected articles from non-profit, commercial, and government web-sites. These are free.

COURSE ASSIGNMENTS AND BASIS FOR GRADING

** Weekly responses to exercises from the Study Guide. (30 points). Students will post their responses in the online discussion forums.

** Literature Review (30 points). Please review this at the end of the course outline.

** Final Paper. (40 points). Please review the final paper at the end of the course outline.

There are a total of 100 points in the class. The following points determine the final grade for the class:

97-100 points = A+
96-92 points = A
91-89 points = A-
88-85 points = B+
84-81 points = B
80-74 points = B-
73-70 points = C+
69-65 points = C
Below 65 points = Failing Grade

VIRTUAL OFFICE HOURS

I check my e-mail several times during the day throughout the week. Therefore, feel free to drop me an e-mail with questions about lectures, questions/exercises in the study guide, or just to say hello.

If students want to contact me via the telephone to discuss any issue, please e-mail me and we can schedule a telephone meeting.

COURSE OUTLINE

Unit 1: Unit 2: Unit 3: Unit 4: Unit 5: Unit 6: Unit 7: Unit 8:

Introductions to Class: Roles, Expectations, and other Logistics What is Science? What does it have to do with me? Yegidis and Weinbach, Chapter1 The Beginning of the Scientific Process -- Problem Identification Yegidis and Weinbach, Chapter 3 and 5 Ethical Issues in Conducting Research Conducting Literature Reviews Yegidis and Weinbach, Chapters 2 and 4 Measurement Issues: Validity and Reliability Yegidis and Weinbach, Chapter 10 Overview of Research Designs Quantitative Designs Part 1: Experimental and Quasi Experimental Designs Yegidis and Weinbach, Chapters 6 and 8 (Focus on Experiments) Survey Design and Instrument Construction Yegidis and Weinbach, Chapter 11 (Review Chapters 8 and 10) Qualitative Research Designs Yegidis and Weinbach, Chapter 7 Sampling and Developing Data Collection Procedures Yegidis and Weinbach, Chapter 9 (Review Chapter 11)

Literature Review (Due after completion of Unit 5)

You are a social work researcher. You have been awarded $1M to conduct a study of your choosing. The only requirement is that you select a topic that is relevant to social work. Please follow the instructions below:

a) On a separate cover page, indicate your topic and specify your research study's goal(s). Then identify your research questions or hypotheses. Feel free to e-mail me this page prior to the due date of this assignment. Sometimes, it takes several tries to narrow down your topic and research questions/hypotheses.

b) Conduct a literature search on this topic, and write a literature review on your topic, particularly as it pertains to your research goal(s) and questions(s) or hypotheses. Your literature review should be 5-7 pages (double space, not including references). It should also follow the American Psychological Association (APA) format.

This is due after completion of Unit 5 of the course. You may not go on to Unit 6 until you have completed and submitted the Literature Review. You can send your assignment via attachment in Microsoft Word 7.0.


Final Project (Due one week after the last unit of the course)

Remember, how in the mid-term assignment, you were awarded $1M to conduct a study of your choosing. Now, the funders want a proposal on how you will carry out the research. In other words, you will need to write a "Methodology" paper. Using the same topic and research goals and question(s)/hypotheses you generated, write a Methodology paper. Follow the instructions below:

a) On a separate cover page, indicate your topic and specify your research study's goals and research questions/hypotheses. If on the mid-term assignment, I had suggested you making modifications, please incorporate those changes.

b) On this same cover page, identify the research study's independent and dependent variable. Indicate how you plan to operationally define these variables.

c) Now, you can begin writing the "Methodology" paper. The Methodology paper should be 8-10 pages (double space, not including references). It should follow APA format.

d) On a separate page, after the Methodology, please highlight any ethical concerns that might arise from this research study. (This should be 3-4 pages, double space).

** If you want to read some research studies that have been written up, visit: www.northernlight.com. Search for a particular topic (maybe yours) and purchase an article from their Special Collections section. My recommendation is that you select an article from a social work, psychology, or psychiatry academic journal.

This final assignment is due one week after completion of Unit 8. You will not be able to receive a passing grade if this assignment is not completed and submitted. You may submit your assignment via e-mail attachment in Microsoft Word 7.0.