New Opportunities and Responsibilities in Our Changing Society

The Assessment of Social Research: Guidelines for the Use of Research in Social Work and Social Science, Tony Tripodi, Philip Fellin, and Henry J. Meyer. Itasca, Ill.; F. E. Peacock Publishers, Inc., 1969. 297 pages. $7.00, Hardbound. Reviewed by Samuel Finestone

Exemplars of Social Research, edited by PHILIP FELLIN, TONY TRIPODI, and HENRY J. MEYER. Itasca, Ill.; F. E. Peacock Publishers, Inc., 1969. 377 pages. $4.75, paperback. Reviewed by Samuel Finestone     

Evaluation of Distance Education Programs in Social Work

SUMMARY

Social work courses and programs delivered with distance technologies continue to increase in number. This article reports on current social work education research on distance courses and programs, and makes recommendations for future distance education research. Distance education research in other fields is described to give context for social work efforts.     

“In Their Own Voices”

Abstract

Social policy should be informed by scientific research. Yet, the rapport between researchers and policy makers remains poor, and the translation of social research into social policy haphazard. Many researchers follow a positivist paradigm and prepare quantitative reports that are difficult for policy makers to decipher. Good research is “wasted” because policy makers consider it irrelevant to the real-life problems of their constituents. Policy research that are qualitative narratives are more readerfriendly and thus more appealing to policy makers. This article argues for the inclusion of qualitative methods into research conducted to inform social policy and offers several case examples.     

Articles reporting research on Latin American social movements are only rarely transparent

ABSTRACT

Social movement scholars often want their research to make a difference beyond the academy. Readers will either read reports directly or they will read reviews that aggregate findings across a number of reports. In either case, readers must find reports to be credible before they will take their findings seriously. While it is not possible to predict the indicators of credibility used by individual, direct readers, formal systems of review do explicate indicators that determine whether a report will be recognized as credible for review. One such indicator, also relevant to pre-publication peer review, is methodological transparency: the extent to which readers are able to detect how research was done and why that made sense. This paper tests published primary research articles on and for social movements in Latin America for compliance with a generous interpretation of methodological transparency. We find that, for the most part, articles are not methodologically transparent. If transparency matters to social movement scholars, the research community may wish to formalize discussions of what aspects of research should be reported and how those reports should be structured.     

BOOK REVIEWS

Book reviewed in this article: Structralism: a Reader edited by Michael Lane. Ethics, Politics, and Social Research edited by Gideon Sioberg. Remara: A Community in Eastern Ruanda by Pierre Bettez Gravel. Planning Local Authority Services for the Elderly by Greta Summer and Randall Smith. Paterns of Urban Life by R. E. Pahl. Florian Znaniecki on Humanistic Sociology edited by R. Bierstedt. Reflections on the Problem of Relevance by A. Schutz. Theodor Geiger on Social Order and Mass Society edited by R. mayntz. Men, Money and Medicine by Eli Ginzber with Miriam Ostow. Politics and the Social Sciences edited by S. M. Lipset. Objectivity in Social Research by Gunnar Myrdal. I Freud: Political and Social Through by Paul Roazen. II The Social and Political Thought of Karl Marx by Shlomo Avineri. Mr. Martins' review of Avineri's book has been delayed by pressure of work, Ed.) The Sociology of Protestantism by Roger Mehl (tr. James H. Farley). Immigration and Integration: A Study of the Settlement of Coloured Minorities in Britain by Clifford Hill. The Sociology of Grass Roots Politics by David Berry. The Growth of White-Collar Unionism by George Sayers Bain.     

Making sense of political contention: Approaches, substantive issues, and interpretation in social movement analysis

This review essay discusses and compares three books that cover aspects of political contention and social movements. The books are Freedom is an Endless Meeting: Democracy in American Social Movements by Francesca Polletta (Chicago: The University of Chicago, 2002); Making Sense of Social Movements by Nick Crossley (Buckingham: Open University Press, 2002); and Methods of Social Movement Research, edited by Bert Klandermans and Suzanne Staggenborg (Minneapolis: The University of Minnesota Press, 2002).     

Fieldwork in forbidden terrain: the state,privatization and human subjects regulations

In this paper we explore the intersection of the modern-state and fieldwork practices within the social sciences. Our contention is that during the past decade or so there has been an expansion in forbidden or restricted research terrain that threatens the present and future conduct of social research. We argue that this restriction has been engendered by two related developments: privatization and human subjects regulations. The social and political implications of these trends are considered. Her most recent books areMadwives: Schizophrenic Women in the 1950s (Rutgers University Press, 1987) andGender Issues in Field Research (Sage, 1988). He is the author ofCastles of Our Conscience: Social Control and the American State, 1800–1985 (Forthcoming, Polity Press, Cambridge, U.K.)     

Theoretical and Practical Imperatives for Reflective Social Work Organizations in Health and Mental Health

Summary

This article describes the common challenges to health and mental health organizations that require these agencies to become more “reflective” in their culture and structures. This necessitates integrating practice and research at all organizational levels. Schon's concept of reflective practice to health and mental health organizations is extended to develop the construct of a reflective organization, in which direct practitioners are integral to organizational learning through ongoing service evaluation and redesign. The theoretical and practical reasons why social work administrators and clinicians alike are obliged to integrate practice and research are discussed. University-based models of practice-research integration impede this process; Epstein's Practice-Based Research approach facilitates it.     

Less Pain,More Gain

SUMMARY

Applied social statistics is typically one of the most dreaded courses in a social work program. Technological advances in computer applications offer tools to lessen the pain and increase the gains associated with teaching and learning statistics. This paper reports on a modest research project resulting in a computer-based approach to teaching Applied Social Statistics. This approach makes full use of MicroCase, a statistical software package. Results of evaluative efforts which appraised the computer technology-enhanced statistics course are presented. Course format, classroom procedures, workbook and homework assignments, evaluation tools, and teaching strategies are also suggested.     

A National Survey of Australian Social Work Field Education Programs: Innovation with Limited Capacity

Social work field education programs globally are struggling to meet the demands of providing suitable placements for students and need to consider new and innovative placement models to both meet professional accreditation requirements and deliver high quality field education opportunities for social work students. This article reports on the qualitative responses of a national survey of Australian social work field education programs, which explored current challenges, innovative responses, and recommendations for the Australian Social Work Education and Accreditation Standards (ASWEAS) review, as well as hopes for the future of field education, and their capacity to undertake research into this area. Findings suggested that field education programs have been using incremental innovation in field education, including collaboration, partnerships, and new ways of responding to the changing student body. However, it is argued that radical structural change and additional resources will be needed for innovation to be more than merely incremental.

IMPLICATIONS

• Social work field education as a distinct pedagogy needs to be supported through evidence-based research in order to respond to current pressures.

• Collaboration in field education practice and research is valuable, but may be challenged by program competition.

• Structural innovation and accepting diversity in models could offer opportunities for social work education.

     

Vietnam as a class war: Myth or reality?

This article reports an extension of the analyses of the fatalities in the Vietnam War presented by Barnett, Stanley, and Shore (1992) as printed in the September‐October 1992 Operations Research. The additional analyses involved an examination of results by Barnett et al. in numeric as well as percentage form and a consideration of how the revised analyses generalize to the population of all American fatalities in Vietnam. These analyses yielded a different conclusion about the role of economic class in the fatalities in the Vietnam War than those drawn by Barnett et al. They suggested that the term class war was not supported by their data analyses. Our analyses indicate that their conclusion is incorrect. The lower class sacrificed considerably more lives than the upper class.     

Finding the path beyond reputation repair: A structural topic modeling analysis of the crisis communication paradigm in public relations

This research utilizes computational methods to examine crisis communication scholarship from 2010 to 2020 in two studies with a census of all articles in Public Relations Review and the Journal of Public Relations Research (n = 1293 articles, 7400,685 words). Results indicate crisis scholarship has expanded beyond its prior focus on reputation repair. Situational crisis communication theory and image repair are compared in volume of scholarship and methodological affinity. Social media, SCCT, and media relations are identified as central topics within crisis communication scholarship.     

Scholarly Productivity of Social Work Graduate Programs

Abstract

This research compares the scholarly productivity of ten leading social work graduate programs with 35 randomly selected Council on Social Work Education (CSWE) accredited graduate programs. The data reports that, when comparing group averages, the ten leading social work programs had greater scholarly productivity than the 35 randomly selected programs. These findings were statistically significant. However, when comparing individual programs, a notable number of the randomly selected graduate programs had much higher rates of scholarly productivity than some of the ten leading social work graduate programs. The implications of these findings for social work practice and education are discussed.     

Social Norms Theory-Based Interventions: Testing the Feasibility of a Purported Mechanism of Action

Social norms-based interventions targeting college student drinking behaviors have become increasingly popular. Such interventions purportedly modify student misperceptions of fellow student drinking behaviors, which leads to changes in individual drinking behavior. Despite claims of successful interventions, research demonstrating that social norms-based interventions modify student perceptions is lacking. Objective: The authors conducted a laboratory experiment examining the feasibility of this mechanism of action and aimed to determine the validity of the campus-specific drinking norms hypothesis. Participants and Methods: The authors randomly assigned 60 students to 1 of 3 research conditions: Alcohol 101 (national drinking norms), a didactic presentation of campus specific drinking norms, or a control condition. Results: Both intervention groups modified student misperceptions regarding peer alcohol use, and these changes were sustained 1 week later. Conclusions: Social norms-based interventions can contribute to more accurate drinking perceptions among college students.     

Obtiuary

Abstract

This paper summarizes a qualitative research project which was undertaken by the author for a Research Masters' Degree in Social Work at The University of Sydney It reports the results of a comparative study of two groups of mothers with babies under two years in age. One group consisted of women who had been diagnosed as having postnatal depression within the previous 12 months, while the women in the other group had not. Discussion focuses on the similarities and differences between these two groups, in terms of their expectations and experience of motherhood, the help and support they received, and what they found helpful or unhelpful. The value of medical versus non-medical intervention is discussed in the light of these findings.     

A Strengths Perspective on Caregiving at the End-of-life

Abstract

The most recent version of the Australian Association of Social Workers Code of Ethics includes substantial reference to social workers’ professional responsibilities for environmental awareness and advocacy. This article reports on a qualitative study of 20 Australian environmentally-conscious social workers from a variety of fields of practice. The study found that while there was a high level of awareness of the relevance of environmental issues for social work practice, participants reported professional and organisational constraints, which prevented them from aligning their environmental concerns with their professional practice. The findings from this study suggest that proenvironmental views and actions may not yet be accepted as a legitimate aspect of social work practice, despite strong recognition of the links between social justice, human rights, social work, and the environment in the Australian Association of Social Workers Code of Ethics.     

Three-dimensional virtual reality: Applications to the 12 grand challenges of social work

Abstract

The American Academy of Social Work and Social Welfare (AASWSW) identified 12 Grand Challenges of Social Work to unify the profession with focused research, practice and policy applications for the most pressing social issues. Virtual Reality (VR), specifically three-dimensional immersive computer-generated environments, has a history of research and applications to address social and behavioral problems. VR is becoming more readily available, as the technology is becoming more common in mainstream platforms such as mobile technology. While social work interventions are often tailored for vulnerable populations that may not have access to VR computing, it appears that virtual reality is gaining accessibility with these advances. Within the framework of the 12 Grand Challenges of Social Work, researchers from three social work virtual reality laboratories in the United States, Texas State University, the University of Houston, and the University of Alabama, review applications previously tested and currently in development to focus future research and intervention in social work practice.     

Disciplinary knowledge revisited: The social construction of sociology

In Making Science (1992) I make the distinction between two types of knowledge: research frontier knowledge and core knowledge. Core knowledge is the small body of knowledge for which the entire scientific community treats as indisputable facts. The research frontier is all new knowledge which makes claim to being facts but in practice there is no consensus on this knowledge. The two types of knowledge are linked together by the evaluation process. Most frontier knowledge turns out to be insignificant and is ignored. A small part of frontier knowledge is taken as candidates for the core and evaluated. Most of this knowledge turns out to be “wrong.” Thus the important data of Jacobs ( 1989) loses a good deal of its impact because he forces it into a theory which he calls “social control”: a theory for which there is no evidence. Stephen Cole is professor of sociology at the State University of New York at Stony Brook. He is the author of Making Science: Between Nature and Society and, with Jonathan R. Cole, Social Stratification in Science. Stephen Cole is professor of sociology at the State University of New York at Stony Brook. He is the author of Making Science: Between Nature and Society and, with Jonathan R. Cole, Social Stratification in Science.