USC School of Social Work

USCSchool of Social Work

Social Work 562

Section # 60654

Social Work Research

Fall 2010

Instructor: Telephone: E-Mail: Office:

Erick G. Guerrero, Ph.D. (213) 821-1385 erickgue@usc.edu SWC220

Course Day: Course Time: Course Location: Office Hours:

Thursday 4:10 ? 7:00 PM MRF 338 T-W 2:00-4:00 and by Appt.

I.

Course Description

This foundation course is designed to provide an introduction to research methods and to produce an appreciation of the research process. It will explore generic issues that are related to the conduct of social work research as applied to social work practice and service delivery in complex, urban environments as well as program evaluation and policy development.

In this course, students will review the characteristics and logical processes of social work research and understand the applicability of scientific and scholarly inquiry in advancing professional knowledge and improving social work practice to diverse clientele in urban settings. Students will gain a conceptual and operational understanding of the various quantitative and qualitative methodologies used in the conduct of social work related research. Students will be prepared to participate in a range of research activities including (a) conceptualization of research problems; (b) review of the literature; (c) research design; (d) sampling; (e) measurement and scaling; (f) data collection; (g) data analysis and (h) ethical considerations in the conduct of research on human subjects. Attention will also focus on how racial, ethnic, gender, and lifestyle issues impact each stage of the research process.

Students will not be expected to carry out an actual study; however, they will complete a series of assignments, which, together, form the basis for a research proposal. Students will hopefully achieve a level of disciplined conceptual and analytical thinking in the process of developing and critiquing their proposal. Mastery of this material will be evaluated by a final assessment.

II. Course Learning Objectives After completing this course, students will be able to do the following:

1. Accurately and consistently utilize foundation-level research terms in both speaking and writing. (2.1.6)*

2. Utilize a range of information resources to conduct an up-to-date literature review on any social work research, practice, or policy topic. (2.1.3, bullet #1)*

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3. Identify and accurately describe the purpose of foundation-level research concepts and techniques utilized in published research. (2.1.6)* This includes the ability to:

a. identify research questions and related hypotheses; b. identify independent and dependent variables and describe how the concepts of reliability and validity affect the measurement strategies chosen; c. identify and describe other foundation-level research techniques used in research such as methods for sample selection and research design options.

4. Identify key elements, interpret, and describe the meaning of results presented in research tables utilizing foundation-level statistical concepts. (2.1.6, bullet #2)*

5. Identify specific strengths and limitations in published research (e.g., journal articles, reports, and other communication forms) and describe how such issues affect interpretation of findings. (2.1.3, bullet #1)*

6. Articulate, orally and in writing, reasoned and relevant conclusions based on research findings that can inform practice, policy, and/or further research. This includes the ability to describe the relevance of research to the discipline of social work. (2.1.3, bullet #1)*

7. Identify ethical issues that are present in research contexts and be able to discuss strategies that could be used to address ethical concerns. (2.1.2, bullets #2 and #3)*

8. Utilize foundation-level research concepts and techniques (as in outcome 3) to develop an introductory level research proposal that follows a professional proposal development style. This includes the ability to discuss how theoretical or conceptual frameworks inform research choices. (2.1.3, bullet #3)*

9. Articulate and promote attention to issues in the research process as they relate to diverse populations, such as racial and ethnic minorities, gays and lesbians, women, and a range of other groups. (2.1.4)*

*Numbers in parentheses reflect the Council on Social Work Education 2010 "Educational Policy and Accreditation Standards" (EPAS) core competencies to which learning outcomes relate.

III. Code of Ethics of the National Association of Social Workers

Approved by the 1996 NASW Delegate Assembly and revised by the 2008 NASW Delegate Assembly []

Preamble

The primary mission of the social work profession is to enhance human wellbeing and help meet the basic human needs of all people, with particular attention to the needs and empowerment of people who are vulnerable, oppressed, and living in poverty. A historic and defining feature of social work is the profession's focus on individual wellbeing in a social context and the wellbeing of society. Fundamental to social work is attention to the environmental forces that create, contribute to, and address problems in living.

Social workers promote social justice and social change with and on behalf of clients. Clients is used inclusively to refer to individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities. Social workers are sensitive to cultural and ethnic diversity and strive to end discrimination, oppression, poverty, and other forms of social injustice. These activities may be in the form of direct practice, community organizing, supervision, consultation administration, advocacy, social and political action, policy development and implementation, education, and research and evaluation. Social workers seek to enhance the capacity of

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people to address their own needs. Social workers also seek to promote the responsiveness of organizations, communities, and other social institutions to individuals' needs and social problems.

The mission of the social work profession is rooted in a set of core values. These core values, embraced by social workers throughout the profession's history, are the foundation of social work's unique purpose and perspective:

service

social justice

dignity and worth of the person

importance of human relationships

integrity

competence.

This constellation of core values reflects what is unique to the social work profession. Core values, and the principles that flow from them, must be balanced within the context and complexity of the human experience.

IV. Course Format

Three learning/teaching modalities will be primarily used in class: (1) didactic presentation by the instructor and (2) critical discussion, interaction, and transaction among the instructor and students and (3) review of visual material.

The online teaching and learning environment provided by the University's Blackboard Academic Suite will support and facilitate student to student communication and interaction outside of class as well as access to instructor's support and grading. The URL for Blackboard is .

Please note that it may be necessary for the instructor to make adjustments to the syllabus during the semester depending on students' learning needs.

V. Course Assignments Course grades will be based upon the following:

Research Team Project Modules (6) Common Assessment: Final Exam Class Presentation / Participation / Reading

Each of the major assignments is described below.

30 points 35 points 20 points 15 points 100 points

Research Team Project For the research team project, students (a.k.a. student researchers) will form research teams comprised of no more than three students and the instructor (a.k.a., the Principal Investigator). Research team members will work together to identify a pressing social work problem or opportunity that the literature suggests is in need of further empirical study. Guided by social work values, principles and standards, as well as by the USC School of Social Work's mission and goals, areas of inquiry selected for study should be relevant to social work practice grounded in your proposed concentration. Issues and risk factors, including those related to poverty, race, ethnicity, national origin, color, sex, age, marital status, political belief, religion, immigration status, gender identity, and mental or physical disability should be assessed for relevance. All proposals will ultimately test an intervention where language or culture (racial/ethnic,

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gender, sexual orientation or religion, etc) is used as an independent, mediating or dependent variable. This intervention can be at the individual, group, organizational or policy level. Three general examples include: evaluating the effect of cross-cultural training on social workers' efficacy in treating Latinos with mental health issues; assessing how members of economic or cultural privileged groups react when losing privilege rights; or evaluating the impact of organizational policy (equal employment opportunity) on workers' motivation, turnover or organizational commitment. Topics will be discussed to ensure proposals are original and relevant to social work practice. All students will be in a team to share experiences and to collaboratively work towards the identification and exploration of a research problem. Although students can also opt to develop individual proposals, they are encouraged to work within a group to receive constant feedback from peers.

If a group proposal is selected, each student will prepare one research hypothesis, conduct relevant review of the literature, propose one standardized assessment tool and propose appropriate statistical tests. The group will collaborate to develop introduction, sampling, limitations, threats to validity, integrated narrative and any other parts of the proposal. A group grade will be assigned. Your contribution to the groups' proposal needs to be clear to the instructor. A grading rubric will be provided.

While each of the different modules that together conforms the proposal may range from 2 to 6 pages each when first submitted, the full final proposal should incorporate the most polished and succinctly written version and be no more than 15 double-space pages long. Points will be deducted if module assignments or the final proposal extends over this page limit. This page expectation is set with the goal to help you develop skills to produce critical and economical writing. The format and style of all written material is to follow the guidelines described in the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association. This manual will guide you in several areas of academic writing including the style of writing, structure, grammar, punctuation, citations, references, tables and much more.

The group research project, consisting of assignments, critique, and presentations, addresses and contributes to the achievement of all learning objectives (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 & 9).

Modules Progressive assignments are designed to allow for coaching along the way. All students will work in a group and will submit assignments as a team after week 3. As indicated above, students will work collaboratively to identify at least one research question and individually develop different sections of the proposal. Students choosing to submit their own proposal will use the group members as consultants, editors, and proofreaders. Consultation with the instructor is encouraged--in person, email, or phone. The instructor will provide feedback on all the different assignments, which will be due on the dates described in the deadline table at the end of this document. All assignments will be graded and students will be eligible to obtain a top grade in their following assignment if they incorporate instructor's feedback in previous modules. In other words, points will be deducted in following assignments if student does not include the previous assignment revised as suggested by the instructor. Because the development of a strong research proposal is an iterative process, students need to successfully incorporate my feedback in every assignment and submit a revised version with the next assignment due. This process will not only enhance each section of your proposal, but it will strengthen the coherence and organization of your group project.

To be able to effectively work in groups a contract among you is advisable. Many students learn a great deal about cultural differences in volunteering, voicing disagreements, spelling out expectations, and dealing with personal issues while doing a team project. You will engage in similar group dynamics when working in the social work field, which encourages the use of open communication, effective coordination and practical problem solving. To ensure groups represent a diversity of knowledge, cultural

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and experiential backgrounds, the instructor may assist in the development of groups, also referred here as teams.

Detailed instructions and a scoring rubric will be given in class and posted on Blackboard. You will submit your assignments to Blackboard a day before class (by Wednesday at noon). You will also need to bring a hard copy to class of assignments because you will be sharing the material with others.

MODULES: 35 points

Assignment 1: Literature review. The search for significance and the state of the science. Use RefWorks to produce an annotated bibliography (Details will be given in the first class). Individual assignment, bring hard copy to class. 5 points

Assignment 2: Developing themes and declaring the problem. Organizing, selecting and presenting readings from bibliography (Details will be given in the second class. Individual assignment, overlap acceptable. 5 points

Assignment 3-6: Developing the proposal. 25 points #3 Sampling: Population - 5 points #4 Variables: One hypothesis and operationalization per group member - 5 points #5 Design and Proposed data analysis: Statistics- 5 points #6 First complete draft. Students will be asked to submit a first draft up to chapters reviewed in class - 10 points

Final proposal. To complete their final proposal students will need to complete two steps. The first step consists of incorporating feedback from your instructor to have a polished draft to present in class. A detailed rubric will be provided on Blackboard under Assignments for the final proposal. Failure to respond to instructor's recommendations on any given assignment including the first complete draft will result in deduction of points. Developing a strong proposal requires an iterative process of feedback and editing. Once you revised your first draft, teams will collaboratively present it to the class and your peers will grade it using a given rubric. The final feedback offered by peers and the instructor needs to be incorporated in the final proposal before turning it in by December 9th at 5:00 pm.

Common assessment ? Final Exam The final exam will consist of a 17 multiple-choice questions applying all material reviewed during the semester. Rather than asking students to solely memorize concepts, this final assessment will test students' ability to use knowledge acquired during the course to understand and critique the research methods, conclusions and implications of scholarly articles. Portions of manuscripts will be presented and students will be asked to identify areas, such as sample size, research questions, and analytical approach, as well as to read statistics presented in tables and critique conclusions.

The common assessment-final exam addresses and contributes to the achievement of Objectives 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, & 9.

Class Presentation/Participation/ Reading Students are expected to contribute to the development of a positive learning environment and to demonstrate their learning through written and oral assignments and through active, oral class participation and monitoring of the Blackboard site. Students are expected to present twice in the semester. Students will present, individually, in 10 minutes or less a research article of interest after the second class. Dates will be selected during the first two weeks of classes.

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