Data Analysis A Workbook For Social Workers

This user-friendly text is designed specifically for social work students who are intimidated by the prospect of taking a Statistics course. With its engaging, conversational writing style and numerous examples and problems, social work students will quickly learn to understand and interpret both quantitative and qualitative data. The text's flexibility makes it suitable for a variety of teaching styles. Instructors who want their students to get the actual "feel" of computing a chi square can use the "Formula Alerts" to calculate certain statistics manually; other instructors may want students to use the step-by-step computer applications to produce the same results.

CD-ROM for Windows has an easy-to-use interface.

This slim volume is one of a number of excellent guides published as part of Oxford's "Pocket Guide to Social Work Research Methods" series. Compact but comprehensive, it provides a thorough introduction to one of the fastest-growing genres of research in the social work field today: secondary data analysis. After an all-too-brief summary of what constitutes this genre and a balanced analysis of its advantages and disadvantages, Vartanian (Bryn Mawr) provides guidelines for those considering the feasibility and appropriateness of using secondary data in their work. He then offers extensive summaries of 29 of the most commonly used secondary data sets. For all of the data sets, he provides a full and complete description, including key characteristics and where and how to access them. He also provides, most valuably, citations to examples of how researchers have recently used them in their empirical work. Rather redundantly, a similar package of information appears in appendixes at the end of the book. This is an admirable contribution whose only detractions are the rather random and poorly identified screenshots and other "pictures" interspersed throughout the text. Those seriously considering using secondary data analysis in their research should find this book immensely beneficial. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Graduate students and faculty/researchers. Graduate Students; Researchers/Faculty. Reviewed by J. C. Altman.

Social work research often focuses on qualitative designs and many students believe that the quantitative research pathway is either too complicated or is beyond their grasp. This book outlines how social work students can undertake a research project from either a qualitative, quantitative or mixed methodological approach. The authors introduce key concepts in an accessible and structured manner and go on to demonstrate each of the approaches from inception of research idea, to realisation of methodological approach, to research process, to data analysis and conclusion. More than just another research text, this book remains grounded in social work practice and has clear links to the Professional Capabilities Framework for Social Work.

Using real social work examples written specifically to ally student fears Research and Statistics for Social Workers brings research and statistics together bridging the gap to practice. This book covers - conceptualization, ethics, cultural competence, design, qualitative research, individual and program evaluation as well as nonparametric and parametric statistical tests. The tests are explained narratively, mathematically as well as with a comprehensive step-by-step, fully illustrated SPSS computer analysis of social work data.

The required research sequence is perhaps the most dreaded element of a BSW or MSW program for students who don't see the applicability of research methods and data analysis to the "real world" of practice. With the move toward greater accountability and evidence-informed practice, though, students must be well equipped to be not only consumers but producers of research. Increase student research comfort and competency with the Social Work Research Skills Workbook, a hands-on practical guide that shows students how to apply what they learn about research methods and analysis to the research projects that they develop in their internships, field placements or employment settings. At once a survival guide to the research requirement and a toolbox that practitioners can use in the field, this workbook promises to engage students in the research process and make them responsible, ethical, and informed producers of social work knowledge that produces better outcomes for their agencies and clients.

Representing some of the best research efforts currently found among social workers, Quantitative Methods in Social Work serves as both a guide and a challenge to social work researchers interested in the application of quantitative methods to social work problem solving. This application of research methods has not been described or discussed adequately in any formal way until now. In a comprehensive manner, this book documents the most advanced quantitative methodologies currently applied by social work researchers and describes issues and techniques that accompany specific applications. It increases social workers'understanding of state-of-the-art applied statistical analysis, enabling them to become more competent and competitive in research and the teaching of research strategies. Quantitative Methods in Social Work addresses three types of methodological issues: measurement, the incorporation of nonquantitative variables in quantitative data analysis, and the use of quantitative analytic techniques to model and assess complex social phenomena. Chapters cover the use of computers for content analysis, structural equation modeling in measurement, logistic regression, loglinear analysis, event history analysis, social network analysis, and discussions of moderator variables and interaction effects in multiple regression. Social work faculty and doctoral students, along with other human service professionals who want to increase their understanding of applied statistical analysis in social and behavioral research, will find the information they need in this informative book.