Research Methods for Social Workers - Coursework Example

Research Methods Name Institution Date This paper illustrates two research methods quantitative and qualitative, employed in social-research. Qualitative and quantitative methods can both be used by social researchers to study and acquire knowledge (Alston & Bowles, 2003, p.9) which can be descriptive, prescriptive, or predictive in decision-making for social problems (Yegedis, Weinbach, & Morrison-Rodriguez, 1999, p. 10, 17). Every social work research begins with a research problem (Mark, 1996, p.81). This is formulated through exploratory, descriptive, or explanatory research questions (Williams, Tutty, & Grinnell, 1995, p.64). Views on how social research should be considered in either qualitative or quantitative research can be epistemological, or ontological, but the ultimate focus is to solve social problems affecting individuals and society (Bryman, 2012, p. 39.40). Research designs utilized for both methods include cross-sectional, experimental, case study, longitudinal, and comparative designs and choice depends with the nature of the problem (Bryman, 2012, p. 76). Both methods require that researchers adhere to ethics standards established for research methods (Cherry, 2000, p. 33). The differences in quantitative and qualitative approaches will be highlighted using examples of articles published for either method. Qualitative research method has drifted away from conventional models of scientific inquiry, in preference to understanding the meanings given by people as they attempt to interpret their social-world (Bryman, 2012, p. 36). It embodies a perspective of social-reality as a constantly changing occurring phenomenon as given meaning by an individual (Bryman, 2012, p.36; Yegedis, et al, 1999, p. 17). Qualitative researchers maintain that it is impossible for the researcher to detach from the research process, as maintained in quantitative method, and thus need to acknowledge their own values, biases, and position in the process (Alston & Bowles, 2003, p.13). It is more suited to explore an unfamiliar territory where social phenomenon is at stage of unfolding or little theory development has taken place, and is based on theories like ethnography, constructivism, symbolic interactionism, hermeneutics, and critical theory (Alston & Bowles, 2003, p.14). Data collection utilizes informal procedures such as in-depth interview using semi-structured or unstructured strategy, participant or non-participant observation, content analysis of documents, ethnographic-inquiry, and focus groups to give open-minded approach to discovery of concepts and theories that emerge from the data (Bryman, 2012, p.12; Tutty, Rothery, & Grinnell, 1996, p. 55; Yegedis, et al, 1999, p. 17). In dealing with human participants, ethics should be observed. Research-ethics involves attainment of informed consent from the participants prior to commencement of research, assurance of confidentiality, anonymity and protection from harm (Cherry, 2000, p.37). Non-probability sampling is used in selection of respondents for a study group because it enables a significant sample to be generated within a short time and also because of the exploratory nature of qualitative research (Alston & Bowles, 2003, p.88). Data gathered is checked for emerging concepts and theories that can be utilized as grounded-theory, ethnography, or story-telling by observing reoccurring themes and issues. Data analysis in qualitative research is based on interpretivism to seek the meaning for people’s actions in their social world (Wadsworth, 1997, p.83). This information should be tested for validity and reliability which help to judge the quality of the study (Golafshani, 2003, p.601). In qualitative research, reliability is ensured by the study’s trustworthiness, while validity goes hand in hand with rigor, quality, and also trustworthiness which if maximized produces more “credible and defensible result” leading to generalizability, a desired aspect of quality (Golafshani, 2003, p.601, 603). Validity and reliability in a qualitative study can be improved by triangulation which is a test tailored for naturalistic approaches of study to control bias and establish valid propositions. Triangulation refers to mixing of approaches to get multiple perspectives on the data (Olsen, 2004, p. 4). A research article titled ‘Violence against women in rural context’; (Alston, M. 1997) is a good example of how qualitative research approaches social issues. This is by finding out the perceptions of people towards occurring social events (Atkinson, Tilse, & Schlecht, 2000, p.9). The social event explored in the report concerns perceptions of domestic-role and role of social workers in linking human services for protection of affected women in rural New South Wales (Alston, 1997, p. 15). Information is gathered by use of semi-structured interviews which were taped, transcribed, and analyzed as common in qualitative research. Ethics was observed as exemplified in respecting some respondents’ wish not to have their responses taped (Alston, 1997, p.17). Respondents selected for the interview include health-workers, General-Practitioners, police, court-staff, a DOCS worker, refuge workers, the rural counsellor and several members of the clergy (Alston, 1997, p.17) showing non-probability sampling where participants selected are linked to the research problem and are convenient to generate the needed data. Knowledge on violence against women in the rural contexts such as need for more AVOs, and challenges facing social-service delivery, such as unawareness by some key members of the society (Alston, 1997, p.18; Hyden, 1994, p.109) are highlighted just from description of respondents’ experiences on the social problem. Getting to the depth of a problem as represented by personal perspective marks a unique characteristic of qualitative-research (Hough, 1967, p.46). On the other hand, quantitative research is unique in its giving meanings to social events by quantification or statistics. Practices and norms of the natural scientific model, especially logical positivism are utilized (Yegedis, et al, 1999, p. 18). Principal orientation to deductive reasoning is used in testing the theory-research relationship (Bryman, 2012, p.36). Quantitative method embodies a perspective of social reality, as an external, objective reality (Bryman, 2012, p.36). Utilization of method is in controlled trials, experimental tests, surveys, large opinion polls, market research, cross-benefit analysis, and evaluation studies which allow the researcher to detach from the process and take an objective stance (Alston & Bowles, 2003, p.12). It is more suited in environments where previous theory construction has already taken place and the researcher is simply trying to test the cause-effect relationship in variables (Alston & Bowles, 2003, p.10). Data collection and analysis are construed in a strategy that quantifies responses and establishes connections between variables (Bryman, 2012, p. 35). Quantitative researchers aim to extract hard, measurable, and quantifiable information which can be proved through measurement (Alston & Bowles, 2003, p.7). Formal ways of gathering data such as structured questionnaires or closed-ended questions for interviews are used (Alston & Bowles, 2003, p.12). Measurement scales used for data are four namely, nominal, ordinal, interval and ratio (Alston & Bowles, 2003, p.51-52). Statistical measures quantify and explain people’s actions in the social world through strategies employed to conceptualize, operationalize, and measure variables as well as analyze and interpret findings (Jones, 1996, p.115; Mark, 1996, p.84). These include univariate, bivariate, or multivariate analysis methods as well as measures of central tendencies as mean, mode, median, standard deviation, chi-squares, and correlational contingency tables (Alston, 1997, p. 29; Weinbach & Grinnell, 1995, p.109). Statistics representation occurs in graphs, charts, diagrams, and frequency tables (Lehman, 2000, p.78) to enable easier interpretation and provide quick information for policy-makers, managers, social-workers and other interested parties (Wardsworth, 1997, p.16). Use of standardized techniques in data collection and analysis enhances the validity and reliability of quantitative-research. Measurement validity, internal, and external validity, and ecological validity are considered as well as applying sampling- procedures such as random or probability sampling that increase the chance for generating a representative sample (Bryman, 2012, p.45-48). In quantitative research reliability represents the extent to which consistent results are provided over time with use of instrument (Alston & Bowles, 2003, p.51) and also an accurate representation of the total population under study (Golafshani, 2003, p. 598). On the other hand, validity is the ability to provide accurate results in which the research process meets the expected criterion, content, and construct in the research process (Bryman, 2012, 48). Validity is achieved when the researcher can truly measure what was intended (Golafshani, 2003, p. 599). A quantitative study report titled ‘The long-term outcome of reunions between adult adopted people and their birth mothers’ (Howe & Feast, 2001) is a good example of an article that illustrates this research method. The purpose of the study was to examine the outcomes of reunions between adopted adult people and their birth-mothers by interviewing 48 adopted adults who had made contact with a birth relative eight years prior to the study. This already establishes the need to measure a causal-effect relationship to a research problem as done with quantitative methods (Alston & Bowles, 2003, p.10; Cleak, 1996, p.39). A comparative evaluation was done between two groups; adopted people who initiated a search for one or more of their birth relatives (searches), and those who did not (non-searchers) (Howe & Feast, 2001, p.351). This shows available data that only needs to be accessed and tested, typical in quantitative-research, rather than one that needs to be explored and theorized, typical in qualitative-research. Data collection involved postal-questionnaires mailed to the participants and in which 90 primary questions were structured into categories. Statistical procedures including measures of central tendencies such as mean and standard deviation are applied in the results. Quantitative representation of data is evident through percentages, frequency-tables, and graphs to compare the outcome among the variables, emphasizing on the quantification component of quantitative method to social inquiry. Quantitative and qualitative methods are both important and can be evaluated for good practice in social-research (Everitt & Hardiker, 1996, p.7). Despite contrasting differences in design-strategies, data-collection and analysis procedures, ethics, sampling techniques they can complement each other in helping social-researchers examine people and their social-environment. Quantitative-research emphasizes on objective reality of situations uses statistical quantifiable data, and aims to establish causal-effect relationships between variables; while qualitative-research prefers an inductive reasoning generating data from people’s experiences and making meaning out of it. Seasoned social researchers will find that both methods are useful and necessary to have in their repertoire. References: Alston, M. (1997). Violence against women in a rural context. Australian Social Work, 50(l), 15-22. Alston, M., & Bowles, W. (2003). Research for social workers. An introduction to methods (2nd ed.). Sydney: Allen & Unwin. Atkinson, A., Tilse, C., & Schlecht, N. (2000). Moving to a hostel: The perceptions of older people who move from hospital to hostel (‘low level’) care. Australian Social Work, 53, (1), 9-13. Bryman, A. (2012). Social research methods. (4th ed.).Oxford: Oxford University Press. Cherry, A. L. (2000). Social science research ethics and the helping professional. In A research primer for the helping professions: Methods, statistics, and writing. Australia: Brooks/Cole, Thomson Learning. Cleak, H. (1996). Managing and measuring social work activity in a hospital setting: A quantitative study. In The reflective researcher (pp.31-40). Melbourne: Allen & Unwin. Everitt, A., & Hardiker, P. (1996). Evaluation in practice: Our approach. In Evaluating for good practice (pp. 1-18). London: Macmillan. Golofshani, N. (2003). Understanding reliability and validity in qualitative research. The Qualitative Report, 8(4), 597-607. Jones, R. A. (1996). Archival research and content analysis. In Research methods in the social behavioural sciences (2nd ed., pp. 103-135). Massachusetts: Sinauer Associates, Sunderland. Hough, G. (1996). Using ethnographic methods to research the work world of social workers in child protection. In J. Fook (Ed.), The reflective researcher (pp.43-54). Sydney: Allen & Unwin. Howe, D., & Feast, J. (2001). The long-term outcome of reunions between adult adopted people and their birth mothers. British Association of Social Workers, 31, 351-368. Hyden, M. (1994). Women battering as a marital act: Interviewing and analysis in context. In C. Riessman (Ed.), Qualitative studies in social work research, (pp.95-112). California: Sage, Thousand Oaks. Lehman, M. W. (2000, October). Flow charting. Journal of Accountancy Online (3 pages). Adapted for HCS204 Research Methods by Lynelle Osburn, 2005: Home Online Publications Mark, R. (1996). Defining a research problem and using the library to search the literature. In Research made simple. A handbook for social workers (pp. 81-102). London: Sage. Olsen, W. (2004). Triangulation in social research: Qualitative and quantitative methods can really be mixed. http://www.ccsr.ac.uk/staff/Triangulation.pdf . Tutty, L. M, Rothery, M., & Grinnell, R. M. (1996). Collecting your data. In Qualitative research for social workers (pp. 51-87). Boston: Allyn & Bacon. Wardsworth, Y. (1997). The action evaluation research process and the evaluative research cycle. In Everyday evaluation on the run (2nd ed., pp.10-33). Melbourne: Action Research Issues Association. Wadsworth, Y. (1997). What is social research? In Do it yourself social research (2nd ed., pp. 6-15). Melbourne: Victorian Council of Social Service, Melbourne. Weinbach, R.W., & Grinnell, R. M. (1995). Cross-tabulation In Statistics for social workers (pp. 107-130). USA: Longman. Williams, M., Tutty, L. M., & Grinnell, R. M. (1995). Ethics and social research. In Research in social work, (pp. 49-80). Itasca, Illinois: FE Peacock. Yegedis, B. L., Weinbach, R. W., & Morrison-Rodriguez, B. (1999). How do we get our knowledge? In Research methods for social workers (pp. 3-24). Boston: Allyn & Bacon. Read More