An introduction to research methods specifically needed in social work and social welfare, this text outlines the major stages of research projects, covering both quantitative and qualitative methods.

This handy book is a one-stop introduction to research and evaluation for social workers. Including unique project examples, exercises, discussion points and extensive signposting to further reading, and drawing on the author's many years of teaching experience, it is essential reading for students who may be unfamiliar with research methods.

THIS BOOK IS FOR BEGINNING SOCIAL WORK STUDENTS as their first introduction to basic social work research methodology. Our philosophy is to provide a very inexpensive, easily accessible, straightforward, "student-friendly" book that promotes the use of the scientific method of inquiry process to create knowledge for our profession-the most commonly used framework to generate relevant, valid, and reliable social work knowledge. A conversational style of writing is used in an effort to provide simple, reader-friendly content.

From the outset, the ultimate goal of Research Methods for Social Workers has been to serve as a research text that students would be able to understand and read in full. This third edition features important additions and changes to the original text (while maintaining its accessible style). The order of chapters is re-arranged to improve the flow of introducing and developing concepts of the research process, and the authors have included some much-needed information to meet the changing and evolving standards of social work education. At its core, this book is designed to bring complex ideas down to a level that can be grasped by someone with little to no knowledge of research methods - it is an invaluable resource for social work students and anyone who wishes to have a comprehensive introduction to research methods.

This book describes and discusses research methods for four alternative paradigms. These methodologies are organized according to the stages of a generalist model of social work practice. In my first book on Social Work Research Methods (Morris, 2006) I introduced the idea that social workers can carry out research in a more liberated fashion than is usually outlined in most research methods text books. I gave a philosophical, theoretical, historical and practical foundation for implementing research from four alternative perspectives: positivism, post positivism, critical theory, and constructivism. As well as introducing these paradigms, I integrated research methodologies with social work practice by translating the steps of the generalist, social work, practice model (engagement, assessment, planning, implementation, evaluation, termination and follow up) into the research process (research focus, design, data collection, data analysis, data interpretation, and communication and dissemination of findings). I divided that book into four parts according to each paradigm with a fifth part that addressed cross cutting issues such as ethics, diversity, politics, and technology. This book updates and reorganizes these ideas and methods so that the flow of the discussion more closely parallels the flow of the research process. Instead of being organized according to the paradigms, it is organized according to the stages of the research process. Also, to assist with instruction on this new organization, there are additional resources that contain power point slides, full texts of example student studies using these approaches, test questions, and other supplementary materials. These can be accessed by contacting me at [email protected] I have made these changes because, after using my first book for a few years, I realized that starting with positivism and ending with constructivism has left students who are keen to learn about critical theory and constructivism "cooling their heels" for half of the course. Now, when I integrate the four paradigms throughout the course, I offer a continual comparison of those approaches as we learn about each stage of generalist research methods. Having tried this with drafts of this book, I can honestly say that classroom discussion has become more lively....and demanding.