Applying Single-Case Evaluation in Social Work

Summary This article reports on a research project involving the useof single-case designs on an agency-wide basis within KirkleesMetropolitan Education Social Work Service. Following a programmeof training, 21 social workers (69 per cent of the service)applied the methodology in 83 cases. The extent of practitionerinvolvement in this project prompted Bruce Thyer (Professorat the University of Georgia, USA and editor of Research onSocial Work Practice and author of Thyer, 1993) to state ina letter to the authors, ‘Please allow me to offer mycongratulations on a most valuable project. To my knowledge,this is the largest agency-based study of this type which hasever been conducted. Your agency social workers are especiallyto be commended for their implementation of single-case designswith real life clients and families’ (6 May 1994). Theproject's strategy was to concentrate on the prerequisites ofsingle-case methodology which include specifying target problemsand selecting an appropriate measure to monitor progress. Thetype of single-case design used was determined by the courseof natural practice, hence indicating the flexible nature andviability of this methodology in the evaluation of social workpractice. The use of single-case designs encouraged a systematicapproach in the definition of target problems, identificationof goals, selection of intervention procedures and in monitoringoutcomes. The practitioners found that single-case designs enabledcontinuous assessment of outcome data by both the clients andthe practitioners, providing a model of accountability and collaborativeworking. A paper based on this article was presented by MansoorKazi at the ADSS Research Group Conference, Stafford, 17–18November 1994.     

RIGHT-TO-WORK LAWS AND FREE RIDING

Many economists argue that state right-to-work laws, by disallowing union shops, encourage free riding and thus diminish union viability. Others counter that right-to-work laws are not enforced and that they represent local attitudes and employee characteristics which would encourage free riding in any me. We find that when other factors which affect free riding are taken into account, the marginal impact of right-to-work laws remains significant, although of a smaller magnitude than that found in previous bivariate studies.     

TEACHER UNIONS AND THE COST OF PUBLIC EDUCATION

Do teacher unions affect the cost of public education? Based upon data from two national surveys and holding measures of educational output and other factors constant, the authors of this paper find that teacher unions raise costs by 7 to 15 percent. The estimated differential is not reduced by treating unionization as endogenous, by distinguishing between large and small districts, or by distinguishing between districts in large and small cities. The union effect on cost works through teacher compensation, production technology, and factor use, and is borne primarily by taxpayers, with little or no effect on average student achievement.     

THE IMPACT OF UNIONIZATION ON MOTOR CARRIER COSTS

Union trucking firms have significantly different cost structures than non-union firms. Further, average costs for union firms are higher than for non-union firms even after controlling for higher unionized labor costs. The translog cost function approach used here incorporates a unique dummy variable technique to test not only for overall differences in union/non-union costs, but also to identify which individual cost function parameters differ between the two types of firms. Results suggest that unionized trucking firms are at a competitive disadvantage in the less regulated, post-1980 trucking industry.     

Family Placements for Adults and Children--A Double Comparison

Correspondence to Dr M. Hill, Centre for the Study of the Child and Society, Lilybank House, Bute Gardens, Glasgow G12 8RT. Summary This article compares family placements for adults with thosefor children with special needs. Findings are presented of apostal survey which was carried out in the UK and closely basedon a survey undertaken shortly before in the USA and Canada.There were a number of similarities between the programmes foradults and specialist schemes for children, despite their differentpurposes, origins and contexts. Although outcomes are oftengood, both types of project have worrying levels of breakdown,whilst a number of adult schemes are precarious in status andresourcing.