Research In Social Work
Practice
Salem State University
School of Social Work
Session Five
Jeff Driskell, MSW, PhD
Today’s class
• Check-in/Announcements
• Lecture
▫ Literature Reviews
You are a social worker at a local community
agency that provides services to African American
families. One of the theories your agency uses to
better understand the stress this population
experiences is the minority stress theory.
• How is this theory defined? Concepts?
• What are the tenants of this theory?
• Locate a research article that uses this theory.
▫ Research questions answered?
▫ Hypotheses? Positive, negative or no direction at
all?
Literature Reviews
What is a “Literature Review?
“…a literature review surveys scholarly articles, books and
other sources […] relevant to a particular issue, area of
research, or theory, providing a description and critical
evaluation of each work.”
(http://library.ucsc.edu/ref/howto/literaturereview.html)
“Coherent argument that leads to the description of your
proposed study”. (Rudestam and Newton, 2001)
NOT Just a Summary…
• A literature review is a conceptually organized
synthesis of the literature and a coherent argument
that leads to the proposed study.
• It must
▫ develop questions for further research
▫ identify controversy when it appears in the literature
▫ synthesize results into a summary of what is and isn't
known
▫ organize information and relate it to the thesis or
research question you are developing
Purpose- Building your Story
1. Helps map and define your research topic
2. Presents a balanced view
3. Justifies your research question4. Provides literature for you to compare your
findings with at the end.
(Natilene Bowker, Student Learning Centre, Massey University, Palmerston North © 2006)
Sometimes it feels like this…
General Literature Review
Guidelines
• Scan articles for relevance and article overview
• Organize your articles
• Narrowing down the articles- close ups and long shots.
• OR by topic
• Use a consistent format for note taking- (cheat sheet)
• Look for explicit definitions of key terms
• Look for methodological strengths/weaknesses
• Identify gaps in the research- rational
• Look for key statistics to use in the intro of your
literature review- prevalence, incidence rates
• Pay attention to review articles- those that consolidate a
number of articles on the same topic.
Synthesizing the Literature
• Consider your purpose
• Consider your voice
• Create a topic outline
▫ Based on key words OR theory OR variables
 Sub-topics
▫ Roadmap for your proposed study
• In each topic area look for the gaps
• Discuss how each study relates to your interest and/or theory.
• Present a conclusion
• Suggest specific directions for future research- AKA your proposed
plan.
Use of Voice Example
Example 1
“In this review, I will show that the literature on
treating juvenile murderers is sparse and suffers
from the same problem as the general literature
on juvenile homicide (Myers, 1992). I have
found that most of the treatment results are
based on clinical case reports (e.g. see Agee,
1979)”.
Use of Voice Example cont…
Example 2
“The literature on treating juvenile murderers is
sparse and suffers from the same problems as
the general literature on juvenile homicide
(Myers, 1992). Most treatment results are based
on clinical case reports of only a few cases (e.g.
see Agee, 1979)”.
Model Literature Review Examples
Activity- Breaking Down the Lit
Review
• Based on your Group articles, answer the
following questions:
•
•
•
•
What problem is being addressed?
What is the scope of the problem?
What theory/theories were identified?
How was the lit review structured?
Things to remember
• Don’t let the literature control you!
- Your story
• Ensure that the information you provide
backs up your research question(s) (and
approach).
Other Helpful Hints…
• Draw on others’ critiques of the literature.
• DO NOT just provide “quotes” from other
research. Quotes should be used at a minimum.
• READ- Rudestam & Newton- Chp. 4.
• Utilize a summary sheet (cheat sheet) for each
article reviewed.
Annotated Bibliography Examples
• What information is contained in the
annotation?
• http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/61
4/03/
Annotated Bibliography
Annotation- a summary or evaluation of an
article or book. It also informs the reader of the
relevance, accuracy, and quality of the sources
cited. (Cornel University, 2012)
Strategies• Summarize
• Assess
• Reflect
Anatomy of a research article
For you to add to your new toolbox
20
Anatomy of a research article
• Abstract
▫
▫
▫
▫
Objective
Methods
Results
Conclusion
• Keywords
• Introduction/context
▫ Purpose, rationale
• Literature review
▫ What existing research and
theory says on a topic and
how it guided this study
▫ Identifies what has not been
done or is missing.
• Methods
▫
▫
▫
▫
Sample description
Research design
Measurement
Data analysis
• Findings/Results (the
stuff you skip) 
• Discussion
▫ Practice & policy
implications
▫ Directions for future
research
• References
Abstract- Study in a Nut Shell
Hint about the type of analysis
The sample
Introduction: Think Orientation
Hint about
hypotheses/study aim
Hint about purpose
Introduction: Think Orientation cont…
Hint- Use of theory and
Theoretical constructs
Introduction: Think Orientation
cont…
Study
Rational/Gap
Hint about the
primary research
question
Methods
Study type
Sample
(Note: “n” vs “N”)
Information on procedures
And data gathering
Methods
Dependent Variables
Measurement
Tool
Note: Chronbach’s alpha
Results
Results usually begin
By addressing
Demographics; i.e. age range
percentages
Results
Note: often used to define
any abbreviations.
Significance levels and hypothesis
A Word about P-values
• P-values refer to level of significance (probability theory)
• Most are set at (.05 or .01)
• These values refer to the likelihood that results are due
to chance, 5% that they are due to chance or randomness
• I.e. a p-value set at .05 is saying the results are due to
chance factors only 5 in 100 times.
▫ Stated differently- There is a 95% chance (confidence)
that results are NOT due to other factors, and it
reflects the population accurately.
▫ The odds of such results based on chance alone are .05
or 5 percent
Discussion
Comparison to
Previous research.
Tying it all together.
Possible implication for
Practice
Discussion Cont……
Implications for
Future Research
Activity- Deconstructing your
Article
• Based on your group reading answer the
following questions.
▫ What is the study purpose?
▫ What is the study rationale?
▫ What would you say is the primary research
question to be answered?
▫ What theory/theories were identified?
▫ What if any, hypotheses were stated?
▫ What methods were used to collect data?
▫ What are the practice implications?
33
The abstract: Learning the lingo
Determine how you will define race…
What is
the “n”
anyway?
Why do
we use a
lowercase n
and not
an N in
this case?
Partial
Citation
(see
handout
on APA
format)
Important definitions
that will guide you
through the article by
giving context:
Looking at the intro:
Think “orientation”
34
A theory behind the
study – a bit of a
literature review too
A hint about the
research question
that is setting up the
methods section
A theory
Getting into the scary stuff…
35
36
For now, think “results”
Findings: More than
something to skim!
37
Discussion, context, significance, limitations,
practice implications & future research
38
Social work (& related) research
journals
• Research in Social Work
Practice
• Social Work Research
• Child and Youth Services
Review
• Child Welfare
• Social Work
• Health and Social Work
• Journal of Qualitative
Social Work
• American Journal of
Public Health
• American Journal of
Community Psychology
• Journal of Health and
Social Behavior
• Journal of Healthcare for
the Poor and
Underserved
• Journal of Behavioral
Health Services Research