Fundamentals of Social Work Research, Second Editon introduces research methods as an integrated set of techniques to investigate social issues and concerns common to social work practice. This textbook succinctly and clearly connects research methods to evidence-based practice enabling students to develop skills to critically evaluate research literature and provides the foundation for students interested in practice evaluation and research. The text encourages students to integrate issues of diversity and ethics as integral into their thinking as the plan and evaluate social work research.
Rafael J. Engel, PhD, is associate professor at the University of Pittsburgh. He received his PhD (1988) from the University of Wisconsin, his MSW (1979) from the University of Michigan, and his BA (1978) from the University of Pennsylvania. He coordinates the graduate certificate program in aging and is the principal investigator for the Hartford Partnership Program for Aging Education. He has written Fundamentals of Social Work Research (with Russell Schutt) and Measuring Race and Ethnicity (with Larry E. Davis). He is co-editor-in-chief of the journal, Intergenerational Relations and a member of the editorial board of Race and Social Problems. He has authored journal articles on such topics as poverty in later life, welfare benefits, and depressive symptomatology, and he has written a variety of monographs reporting agency-based evaluations. His research experience includes funded research studies on gambling, faith-based organizations, and employment in later life as well as funded evaluation research studies on welfare-to-work programs and drug and alcohol prevention programs. His most recent research involves older adults and gambling prevention. Russell K. Schutt, PhD, is professor emeritus of sociology at the University of Massachusetts Boston, where he received the 2007 Chancellor's Award for Distinguished Service and taught from 1979 to 2022. He is also a Clinical Research Scientist I at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and a Lecturer (part-time) in the Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School. He completed his BA, MA, and PhD degrees at the University of Illinois at Chicago and was a postdoctoral fellow in the Sociology of Social Control Training Program at Yale University (where he met Dan). In addition to ten editions of Investigating the Social World: The Process and Practice of Research and one of Understanding the Social World, as well as coauthored versions for the fields of social work, criminal justice, psychology, and education, his other books include Homelessness, Housing, and Mental Illness (2011), Social Neuroscience: Brain, Mind, and Society (coedited, 2015), and Organization in a Changing Environment (1986). He has authored and coauthored more than 65 peer reviewed journal articles, as well as book chapters and research reports on homelessness, mental health, organizations, law, and teaching research methods. His currently a Dual Principal Investigator (with Matcheri Keshavan, MD) in randomized comparative effectiveness trial of two socially-oriented interventions to improve community functioning among persons diagnosed with serious mental illness, funded by the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI). His other recently concluded research includes co-principal investigator on a National Science Foundation-funded study of the social impact of the pandemic in Boston, and co-investigator on a Veterans Health Administration-funded study of peer support. His earlier research has been funded by the National Cancer Institute, the Veterans Health Administration, the National Institute of Mental Health, the Fetzer Institute, and state agencies. Details are available at https://blogs.umb.edu/russellkschutt/.
Chapter 1. Science, Society, and Social Work Research Chapter 2. The Process and Problems of Social Work Research Chapter 3. Ethical and Scientific Guidelines for Social Work Research Chapter 4. Conceptualization and Measurement Chapter 5. Sampling Chapter 6. Group Experimental Designs Chapter 7. Single-Subject Design Chapter 8. Survey Research Chapter 9. Qualitative Methods: Observing, Participating, Listening Chapter 10. Mixing Methods and Comparing Methods and Studies Chapter 11. Evaluation Research Chapter 12. Quantitative Data Analysis Chapter 13. Qualitative Data Analysis Chapter 14. Reporting Research Appendix A: Questions to Ask About a Quantitative Research Article Appendix B: How to Read a Quantitative Research Article Appendix C: Questions to Ask About a Qualitative Research Article Appendix D: How to Read a Qualitative Research Article Glossary
