The Limits of Positivism in Social Work Research

Correspondence to David Smith, Leaturer in Social Work, Department of Social Administration, Fylde College University of Lancaster, Bailrigg, Lancaster LA1 4LX. Summary This paper considers the argument that research on social workshould be more rigorously scientific in its methods, using thework of Brian Sheldon as representative of this position. Itis argued that a wholly positivist approach is inadequate onepistemological grounds, and that the procedures characteristicof this approach, particularly the experimental method, areunlikely to prove generally feasible or useful. Evaluation researchin other fields is used to illustrate this argument, and itis suggested that social work is far from unique in its under-useof research findings. A possible alternative, that social workshould be evaluated by artistic criteria, is briefly examinedand found to be problematic. The paper concludes with an argumentthat research in future should be more concerned with process,and more open, participative and pragmatic in style.     

IDENTIFICATION: IT'S PERFORMANCE THAT COUNTS

This paper discusses two different forms of identifying restrictions and compares them in a Monte Carlo framework. A similar analysis is performed to illuminate how the identification procedures affect problems of mis-specification. It is found that, using ordinary least squares as the estimating technique, the two types of identification perform much differently and thus they should not be confused. Similar results hold in the mis-specification case.     

Families in court—guilty or guilty?

SUMMARY. The case for the introduction of family courts in England and Wales rests on the unsuitability of the present court systems to the effective and efficient resolution of family problems Last year the Socio-Legal Centre for Family Studies of the University of Bristol, published an important study by Mervyn Murch and colleagues, The Overlapping Family Jurisdiction of the Magistrates' Courts and County Courts (1987), which describes the views of the court-users of their experience in court. The research discovered that families find court attendance frightening and that the present court arrangements are insensitive to the needs of families. This article brings these findings to a wider audience and comments on their significance     

The Impact of "No Opinion" Response Options on Data Quality: Non-Attitude Reduction or an Invitation to Satisfice?

According to many seasoned survey researchers, offering a no-opinionoption should reduce the pressure to give substantive responsesfelt by respondents who have no true opinions. By contrast,the survey satisficing perspective suggests that no-opinionoptions may discourage some respondents from doing the cognitivework necessary to report the true opinions they do have. Weaddress these arguments using data from nine experiments carriedout in three household surveys. Attraction to no-opinion optionswas found to be greatest among respondents lowest in cognitiveskills (as measured by educational attainment), among respondentsanswering secretly instead of orally, for questions asked laterin a survey, and among respondents who devoted little effortto the reporting process. The quality of attitude reports obtained(as measured by over-time consistency and responsiveness toa question manipulation) was not compromised by the omissionof no-opinion options. These results suggest that inclusionof no-opinion options in attitude measures may not enhance dataquality and instead may preclude measurement of some meaningfulopinions.     

LIBERAL AND CONSERVATIVE TRENDS IN THE UNITED STATES SINCE WORLD WAR II

Analysis of 455 survey trends during the post–World WarII period shows that America has generally moved in a liberaldirection. The growth of liberalism has not been uniform acrosstopics and time however. Trends dealing with equal rights andindividualism had the most consistent liberal movement. Trendsdealing with economic regulatioin and government power showedmixed change, while movement was mostly in the conservativedirection on the topic of crime. Liberal growth was strongestduring the 1960s and early 1970s. In the mid-1970s, many liberaltrends slowed, with some stopping their advance and a few reversingdirection. On average, liberal growth leveled off, but did notmove in conservative direction. In large part, this shift insocial change represents a response to the events of the period,but it may also be a periodic alternation of the cycle of reform.     

A THEORY OF EX POST VERSUS EX ANTE PRICE DETERMINATION

The traditional theory of exchange implicitly assumes instantaneous exchange at the contractually determined price. However, actual exchange may entail payment before or after supply as well as determination of effective price ex ante or ex post of supply. The paper demonstrates that the market determination of price timing arises in conjunction with the resolution of mutual uncertainty among buyers and sellers concerning product quality and product cost. The conditions are identified under which ex post pricing will result rather than the more traditional ex ante pricing. The theory accounts for the simultaneous use of ex post and ex ante pricing in a single market. Legal service pricing is used to illustrate the theoretical principles derived in the paper.