Practising Social Work Research

Rick Csiernik is a professor in the School of Social Work at King's University College. Rachel Birnbaum is a distinguished university emerita professor in the School of Social Work at King's University College.

List of Tables 
List of Figures 
Preface 
Acknowledgments 
About the Authors
 
1. Introduction 
The Case Study Method 
The Research Process

2. Problem Solving: Brief Case Studies 
Introduction: Steps in the Process of Research Identifying the Problem

Identifying the Problem
Case Study 1: Research and the Media: What Are You Being Told?

Ethics: Ensuring No Harm Comes to Participants
Case Study 2: A Question of Ethics: Willowbrook 
Case Study 3:  Another Question of Ethics: Studying HIV 
Case Study 4:  Ethical Issues of Obtaining Consent to Interview Children in Post-Separation Disputes 
Case Study 5:  Respectful Ethical Research Practice: Working with First Nations, Inuit, Innu, and Metis Peoples

Preparation: Conceptualizing, Operationalizing, and Sampling
Case Study 6: Understanding Ideas and Counting Them 
Case Study 7:  Implementing a Pilot Project: A Question of Sampling 
Case Study 8: Who Do You Ask? Sampling in a Qualitative Context

Research Methods
Case Study 9:  Criminal Justice Issues in Social Work Research: The Search for Causality 
Case Study 10: Psychometric Properties: How Should We Measure? 
Case Study 11: The Validity of Research 
Case Study 12: The Application of Quasi-experimental Design in Social Work Research 
Case Study 13: The Power of One: Single-Case Study Design 
Case Study 14: One More: Another Example of Single-Case Study Design 
Case Study 15: Asking Questions Properly: An Examination of Questionnaire Design 
Case Study 16: Asking Questions about Children’s Participation: Which Approach Is Best for Children?                                                        
Case Study 17: What Does It All Mean? Qualitative Interviews with Children about Their Views and Experiences of Family Justice Professionals 
Case Study 18: Q & Q: Employing Both a Qualitative and a Quantitative Approach 
Case Study 19: On PAR: Engaging and Empowering Service Users through Participatory Action Research
Case Study 20: Creativity in Research: Promoting Accessibility and Inclusion Through Arts- Based Research
                         Prepared by Holly Kaupa
Case Study 21: Research as Response:  Critical Race and Anti-Colonial Approaches
                         Prepared by Siham Elkassem
Case Study 22: Researching without Directly Engaging: Observational Studies
Case Study 23: The Bigger Picture: Systematic Reviews, Meta-Analysis, and Scoping Reviews

Data Collection and Statistical Analysis
Case Study 24: Measuring Service User Satisfaction: Do They Like Me?
Case Study 25: Statistics: Adding Some Numbers
Case Study 26: Descriptive Statistics: The First Step from Guessing to Knowing
Case Study 27: Inferring What You Know: Selecting an Appropriate Statistical Test

3. Examining Research Through a Critical Lens and a Theorization of Academic Voyeurism
    Siham Elkassem and Andrea Murray-Lichtman

4. Critiquing Research
Introduction
Critical Analysis of Qualitative Research
Critical Analysis of Quantitative Research

A Qualitative Design: Listening to Innocence: The Effects of Islamophobia on Muslim Children
Siham Elkassem, Rick Csiernik, Andrew Mantulak, Gina Kayssi, Yasmine Hussain, Kathryn Lambert, Pamela Bailey, and Asad Choudhary

Critique 
Rachel Birnbaum

A Quantitative Design: An Examination of Two Different Approaches to Visitation-Based Disputes in Child Custody Matters
Rachel Birnbaum

Critique 
Barbara Decker Pierce and Rick Csiernik

Index