When Is Research Good Evidence? Issues in Reading Research

Although using published research is only one part of the evidence-based practice process, clinical social workers more often doubt their abilities in this area than in client assessment or in the individualizing of treatment approaches to fit client preferences, values and resources. This article reviews the nature of research and the reason it is often a preferred source of information; common flaws to watch for in published research; types of research studies and how different kinds of studies are viewed by those interested in treatment outcome research; and the elements of a published research report that must be considered when deciding on its usefulness for decision-making about practice. It will also include discussion of the controversies that surround these topics, which are significant. While readers will have been introduced to these topics in their professional education, when knowledge is not used it is often not well-remembered. Few clinicians find that reading, assessing, or conducting research is part of their daily work, which is one reason why the discussion of evidence-based practice and other approaches to the use of research in clinical practice can be anxiety-provoking. This “refresher” emphasizes that critical thinking skills, which clinicians often have in abundance, are the single most important element in using research to inform practice.     

The psycho-social subject in 'evidence-based practice'

In this paper I provide a theoretical outline, followed by two case examples, of a qualitative method, called the free association narrative interview, which produces evidence that is congruent with the kinds and contexts of knowledge that human service professionals use in their work. Following a critique of assumptions about what constitutes evidence in evidence-based practice and an argument for the use of experiential and theoretical, as well as empirical, ways of knowing, I focus on qualitative methods and the shortcomings of semi-structured interviewing as an alternative method for evidence-based practice. In particular I argue that the theory of the research subject and the research relationship that is assumed in most qualitative methods is misguided and affects the character of the evidence that can be produced. I outline an alternative theory of the (research) subject, a psycho-social subject, drawing on psychoanalytic concepts that emphasise unconscious conflict, defences against anxiety and the centrality of unconscious intersubjective dynamics in the research, as in other, relationships. Two examples follow. The first illustrates the transference and counter-transference dynamics in one of my research interviews, showing their importance for what information was produced. The second example demonstrates the use of experiential, empirical and theoretical knowledge in the analysis of data from an interviewee with agoraphobia. It illustrates how the paradigm of a psycho-social subject can produce a more complex account of people's behaviour. I conclude by arguing that the kind of evidence illustrated here, being congruent with the vicissitudes of most human service professionals' work with clients, could provide a model for evidence-based practice that is not only more appropriate but also helpful for professional development.     

Child welfare workers use of knowledge in their daily work

The debate continues on what constitutes core knowledge in professional work in child welfare and child protection. The aims of this article are to examine what different sources of knowledge social workers report to use in their daily work and to determine the importance of different knowledge sources in relation to their work experience, educational background and type of employment (caseworker/manager). Data were obtained from a survey completed by 390 social workers in municipal child welfare services in Western Norway. Social workers answered questions regarding their use of different knowledge sources in their daily work. The information they obtained in a particular case and their personal experiences were the most frequently used sources. Factor analysis revealed four subgroups of knowledge sources: The most frequently used were: (a) Colleagues and Supervision and (b) Personal Experience, followed by (c) Social Work Education, Courses and Municipal and State Documents, with (d) Journal Articles, Textbooks and External Sources being the least frequently used. The most important source for social workers with less work experience was Colleagues and Supervision, whereas the factor Journal Articles, Textbooks and External Sources was more often important for social workers with a master’s degree than for those without this level of education. Overall, social workers seem to rely mostly on personal experience and their colleagues as sources of knowledge in their work.     

Reconceptualising professional knowledge: the changing role of knowledge and evidence in social work practice

New socio-economic conditions have necessitated different approaches to professional learning and decision-making and alternative perspectives are required to properly understand and engage with the complexity of the world of work, learning and doing. This paper considers the international literature in relation to professional learning in the context of evidence-based practice and knowledge exchange, and considers how we might overcome existing barriers to implement a more knowledge-based approach to social work practice. By adopting actor network theory and socio-material theories, this paper begins to consider alternative perspectives on professional learning and knowledge exchange as implementation in social work. The paper argues that the production of knowledge itself is not enough to guarantee that even the best knowledge will have any utility in practice and that we now need to search for more effective ways of generating and implementing new knowledge. Furthermore, more attention needs to be given to how current approaches to research design, dissemination and implantation could become more meaningful for practice.     

Evidence in action: a Thompsonian perspective on evidence-based decision-making in social work

Evidence-based practice presupposes evidence-based decision-making. In the debate it is argued that a social work fashioned after evidence should be more rational, less authoritarian, and built on scientific knowledge, respect and ethics. Yet the empirical evidence that this idea works is weak. In fact, the difficulties met during efforts to implement evidence could be a sound reaction. Indeed, difficulties experienced could be a defensive organizational reaction to a new, disturbing technology. In this article, James D. Thompson's classical study Organizations in Action from 1967 is applied to evidence-based decision-making in social work. It shows, to date, that many problems have been given, at best, tenuous attention. It is argued that a focus on evidence will raise ambiguity and complexity levels within organizations, and that new professional specialists will emerge. Further, new constellations of power will appear, leading to a change of balance within the domains of social work.     

Child care improvement on a shoestring: evaluating a low-cost approach to improving the availability of quality child care

The Philadelphia Early Childhood Collaborative (the Collaborative) was designed to improve the quality of child care by increasing coordination among organizations that locally deliver professional resources to child care providers. The evaluation examined the implementation of the Collaborative, utilization of its services, and the impact of service use on child care quality. Child care providers reported gains in their professional knowledge and behavior from using Collaborative resources and rated the resources highly. No long-term effects on provider behavior, knowledge, or attitudes were observed. Although the original organizations were able to function collaboratively and Collaborative services were widely used, more intensive interventions may be required to change the availability of quality child care.     

Preservice Teachers’ Sources of Information on Mandatory Reporting of Child Sexual Abuse

Teachers in many countries are mandated by law, professional codes, or education authorities to report child abuse and neglect, including child sexual abuse. However, teachers may not receive adequate preparation for such sensitive interventions, as preservice teacher education degrees provide very few or no compulsory courses on child protection and crucially related, lifelong health and well-being issues. So, where do preservice teachers source their information regarding the mandatory reporting of such abuse? This research examines preservice teachers’ professional university education for their sources of information about mandatory reporting and child sexual abuse. A sample cohort of 56 final 4th-year university bachelor of education (primary school) student teachers in Australia identified the sources they used regarding 10 important aspects of child protection. The results suggest that most did not learn about mandatory reporting or child sexual abuse, and others cited sparse and sporadic public media as their primary information source. These findings, building on previous evidence about inadequate or nonexistent preservice mandatory intervention courses in primary teacher education, may guide the design of appropriate training responses enhancing educational professionals’ knowledge, competencies, skills, and efficacies as mandatory reporters of child sexual abuse.     

Risk,trust and knowledge networks in farmers’ learning

This study reports on New Zealand dairy farmers’ access to and use of information as mediated through conditions of risk and trust within the context of their interpersonal social networks. We located participants’ reports of their information use within their perceived environments of trust and risk, following Giddens's [1990. The consequences of modernity. Polity Press, Stanford, CA] typology of trust and risk in pre-modernity and modernity. The research participants were constant users of interpersonal and print information from numerous sources, and monitored their incoming data in the light of strategic needs, reflecting their roles as both farming practitioners and business owners. Socio-spatial knowledge networks (SSKNs) combine individuals’ explanatory cognitive models of information acquisition and use with a micro-geographical analysis of their interpersonal networks. The participants showed characteristics of pre-modern, modern and even post-modern society in respect of their use of complex interactional forms, as well as a blending of individualistic and communitarian practices and concerns in their professional and personal lives.     

Dissemination and implementation of evidence-based practice in the social services: a UK survey

A cross sectional UK-wide survey assessed current levels of dissemination and implementation of evidence-based practice in social care and social work agencies. A structured questionnaire was e-mailed to 357 agencies of which 155 (43.4%) completed and returned it. Although the results show that evidence-based practice in this area is still in its early stages, most respondents reported a good knowledge of evidence-based practice as well as the view that professional decisions should be informed by-but not only-research evidence. The lack of time, resources, information, and training are identified as the main barriers to be overcome for an effective implementation of evidence-based practice in the social services.     

Lay and professional knowledge in social work: reflections from ethnographic research on child protection

This paper is concerned with the discursive interaction of lay and professional knowledge in the practice of social workers. The contention is that identifying discrete sources of knowledge—such as evidence-informed materials—may be less important for explaining how social workers guide their practice than recognising the effect of the discursive interaction of lay and professional knowledge within organisational culture. The example used for this discussion is child protection work, with a particular emphasis on how practice can be seen to be gendered. In the course of making this overall argument, the paper draws on academic debates about the nature of knowledge in professional work and discusses lay and professional knowledge as revealed through ethnographic research carried out in a social work team in the UK.     

The impact of attitude strength on customer-oriented priority setting by decision-makers: An empirical investigation

A key question in marketing decision-making pertains to what makes decision-makers focus on various types of information in different ways. Particularly in relation to a key marketing and management variable such as customer satisfaction this is an important issue. Costly derived customer satisfaction measures need to provide customer-oriented guidance regarding where to prioritise. Traditional research on intelligence use has mainly focused on objective research attributes, such as research quality. In this article, however, we will adopt the idea that decision-makers weigh information differently based on their perception of its relevance. With respect to crucial customer satisfaction information this represents an exciting, but nevertheless unexplored field of research. The results of latent variable modelling show that the strength of decision-makers’ attitudes toward customer satisfaction leads to a differentiated usage of satisfaction intelligence. By taking this into consideration, management and intelligence providers will be able to more effectively disseminate customer satisfaction information and facilitate a more customer-oriented perspective within firms.     

Migration information campaigns: How to analyse their impact?

Information campaigns aim at discouraging potential migrants from leaving their countries irregularly. This article discusses how to analyse the impact of such campaigns by identifying different research lines in the literature. The impact of migration information campaigns may be explored by, firstly, focusing on transnational migratory data and inter-state relations (the macro-level); secondly, by investigating their impact on narratives within societies (the meso-level); and, finally, by investigating the micro-level of their influence on migratory decision-making. At each level, scholars face considerable methodological challenges to filter out the impact of campaigns. This article suggests that a promising research avenue is to analyse more widely the narratives and information sources upon which (potential) migrants rely. Opening up the research focus may avoid the risk of over-emphasising the impact of information campaigns by only looking at them. It allows to better understand which sources of information actually influence migratory behaviour.     

Morals,Ethics and practice — in search of social justice

Abstract

This paper reports a study of sources of influence on moral and ethical decision-making in social work practice. Practitioners from ten government and five non government agencies kept journals about the main moral issues they faced over a one-month period and were then interviewed about the nature of those issues, their resolution and the influences that shaped those resolutions. Practitioners' personal moral perspectives were found to be the main sources of influence on resolutions to a wide range of dilemmas and most of those resolutions did not conform to accepted social wok ethical practice principles. Even though the results of this study are drawn from a small sample, some implications are suggested for practitioner development, professional ethics and social work education.     

Ecological risk and resilience perspective: a theoretical framework supporting evidence-based practice in schools

Multidisciplinary school practitioners are clearly being called to use evidence-based practices from reputable sources such as their own professional organizations and federal agencies. In spite of this encouragement, most schools are not regularly employing empirically supported interventions. This paper further promotes the use of this approach by describing the theoretical support for evidence-based practice in schools. The ecological risk and resilience theoretical framework presented fills a gap in the literature and advocates for evidence-based practice in schools by illustrating how it can assist practitioners such as school social workers to better address problems associated with school failure.     

Where college students look for vaping information and what information they believe

Abstract

Objective: This convergent mixed methods study examined how information sources influence college students’ beliefs and knowledge about vaping. Participants: College students either completed a survey (n?=?522; January–April, 2016) or were interviewed (n?=?33; 2015–2016). Methods: College students completed an online survey asking ‘where’ students had heard about e-cigarette and ‘what’ they had heard. Responses were quantified and a chi-square analysis was conducted. Additional college student e-cigarette users were interviewed about the credibility of information sources. Thematic analysis was conducted with the coded interviews. Results: There was a significant relationship between information sources for e-cigarettes (social sources, media, advertising, education/research) and the messages they recalled. Friends who vaped and e-cigarette users were the most credible information sources. Confirmation bias and scientific impotence bias characterized assessment of e-cigarette information. Conclusions: Health education specialists working on college campuses should provide accurate information via communication channels most unitized by college students.     

Research evidence utilization in policy development by child welfare administrators

An exploratory qualitative study was conducted to explore how child welfare administrators use research evidence in decision-making. Content analysis revealed that a cultural shift toward evidence-based practice (EBP) is occurring in Canadian child welfare organizations and multiple types of evidence inform policy decisions. Barriers to using evidence include individual, organizational, and environmental factors. Facilitating factors include the development of internal champions and organizational cultures that value EBP. Integrating research into practice and policy decisions requires a multifaceted approach of creating organizational cultures that support research utilization and supporting senior bureaucrats to use research evidence in policy development.     

A Preliminary Understanding of Search Words used by Children,Teenagers and Young Adults in Seeking Information about Depression and Anxiety Online

Abstract

There is a dearth of research related to mental health search word literacy for under 25's. The knowledge of a young person's mental health information search practices is piecemeal, derived from general search literacy studies. A young person’s access to mental health information online is highly due to the level of stigma and poor mental health literacy surrounding depression and anxiety. This study explored what search words young people aged 5–26 (N?=?630) used to identify information and/or help for depression and anxiety. The research hypothesis was supported that those under age 13 would have a more limited use of “disorder” phrases (compared to “thoughts/feeling” phrases) in their search for mental health information related to their symptoms. All age and gender groups were as likely to use thoughts/feelings terms, however, those over 13?years were almost three times more likely to combine their thoughts/feelings terms with disorder terms, compared to those less than 13?years. Results give indication that search engine optimization by expert mental health sources should take into account feeling-based vocabulary used by specific age and gender groups, in order to guide these young people to authoritative mental health information.     

Interactive Health Communication Technologies in the Public Health Sector: Positive Perceptions Still Outpace Actual Utilization

ABSTRACT

Effective population-based and patient-centered public health care is highly dependent on timely and reliable health-related information. The continuous growth and availability of health-related information brought about by the emergence of a new digital communications environment offers a range of opportunities that facilitate access to useful health information for the public health sector–for providers as well as patients. Such advancements, however, can only be realized if public health professionals are knowledgeable about existing sources of online health information, have the ability to successfully judge the reliability of online health information, and are able to acquire the information in a timely and efficient manner. This research follows on the heels of a survey of public health professionals in New York State that concluded that limited access and knowledge negatively impacted utilization of interactive health communication technologies. In this study, a survey was administered to providers at a large county health department located in central Michigan. Results indicate that perceptions regarding the advantages of online health information still far outweigh actual utilization. Barriers to actual utilization include lack of easy access to computers with high-speed connections, trusted and timely online information, training and staff development issues, and organizational policies concerning computer access and usage.