Synopses & Reviews
Acclaimed for its depth and breadth of coverage as well as for the authors' clear and often humorous writing style, RESEARCH METHODS FOR SOCIAL WORK strikes an optimal balance of quantitative and qualitative research techniques--illustrating how the two methods complement one another. Now in its Eighth Edition, Allen Rubin and Earl R. Babbie's classic bestseller combines a comprehensive presentation of all aspects of the research endeavor with a thoroughly reader-friendly approach--helping you overcome the fear factor often associated with the subject matter. Relevant examples from real-world settings highlight the connections between research and social work practice. Available with InfoTrac Student Collections http://gocengage.com/infotrac.
About the Author
Allen Rubin has been doing and teaching research since 1976, when he received his Ph.D. from the University of Pittsburgh. Renowned in social work, Dr. Rubin has written several research texts, published numerous research studies on social work practice, and is a past president of the Society for Social Work and Research. Earl R. Babbie graduated from Harvard University before enlisting in the U.S. Marine Corps. He received his Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley, and began teaching shortly thereafter. Credited with defining research methods for the social sciences, Dr. Babbie has written several texts, including the bestselling THE PRACTICE OF SOCIAL RESEARCH.
Table of Contents
Part I: AN INTRODUCTION TO SCIENTIFIC INQUIRY IN SOCIAL WORK. 1. Why Study Research? 2. Evidence-Based Practice. 3. Philosophy and Theory in Social Work Research. Part II: THE ETHICAL, POLITICAL, AND CULTURAL CONTEXT OF SOCIAL WORK RESEARCH. 4. The Ethics and Politics of Social Work Research. 5. Culturally Competent Research. Part III: PROBLEM FORMULATION AND MEASUREMENT. 6. Problem Formulation. 7. Conceptualization and Operationalization. 8. Measurement. 9. Constructing Measurement Instruments. Part IV: DESIGNS FOR EVALUATING PROGRAMS AND PRACTICE. 10. Causal Inference and Quasi-Experimental Designs. 11. Experimental Designs. 12. Single-Case Evaluation Designs. 13. Program Evaluation. Part V: DATA-COLLECTION METHODS WITH LARGE SOURCES OF DATA. 14. Sampling. 15. Survey Research. 16. Analyzing Existing Data: Quantitative and Qualitative Methods. Part VI: QUALITATIVE RESEARCH METHODS. 17. Qualitative Research: General Principles. 18. Qualitative Research: Specific Methods. 19. Qualitative Data Analysis. Part VII: ANALYSIS OF QUANTITATIVE DATA. 20. Quantitative Data Analysis. 21. Inferential Data Analysis: Part 1. 22. Inferential Data Analysis: Part 2. Part VIII: WRITING RESEARCH PROPOSALS AND REPORTS. 23. Writing Research Proposals and Reports. Appendix A: Using the Library. Appendix B: Statistics for Estimating Sampling Error.