HHS 460 Research Methods in Health & Human Services WK5-A

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1.4 Review and Critical Thinking

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1.4 REVIEW AND CRITICAL THINKING

Main Points

The human services are those professions with the goal of enhancing the relations between people and societal institutions to enable people to maximize their potential and alleviate distress.

While the primary goal of the human services is to deliver services to clients, research has become a fundamental part of such service delivery. In fact, a major theme of this book is the important parallels and linkages between research and human service practice.

A knowledge of research is necessary for both consumers of social research and those who produce it.

Social research is a systematic examination of empirical data, collected firsthand, concerning the social or psychological forces operating in a situation.

Social research seeks to achieve the goals of description, prediction, explanation, and evaluation.

Social research also can involve basic research or applied research.

The links between social research and human service practice can be identified in five focal areas: understanding human functioning in social environments, policy planning and development, assessment of client functioning, program evaluation, and practice effectiveness evaluation.

The evidence-based practice approach to the human services emphasizes the use of the best evidence in deciding which policy and practice interventions to implement.

Conducting accurate and unbiased research on members in the context of diversity and difference confronts social researchers with special problems.

Research and practice follow similar, parallel paths in approaching a problem. Research, for example, follows a series of steps that have parallels to the steps in practice intervention.

Many human service professions have established core competencies that all practitioners in the profession should be skilled at; some of these competencies have to do with social research and research-related skills and activities.

Important Terms for Review

applied research

basic research

descriptive research

evaluation research

evidence-based practice

explanatory research

human services

pilot study

predictive research

pretest

pure research

research design

social research

Critical Thinking

The term critical thinking refers to a mode of assessment or a reflective process that helps you assess information and decide on courses of action (Browne & Keeley, 2012; Paul, 1993). It is a careful and purposeful assessment that follows certain procedures or guidelines for gaining knowledge or making decisions. The logic of research that is presented in this book provides one set of procedures for critical thinking. The kind of analysis that is used in scientific work can be adapted for use in evaluating information in the realms of human service practice and policy as well as in your daily lives and the everyday world. Even with evidence-based practice, where scientific research serves as a key source of direction, scientific evidence is rarely perfect, complete, or unambiguous. Practitioners must still engage in inference, interpretation, and judgment to determine appropriate applications. In our everyday world we are confronted with much information—some of it contradictory and some of it incomplete. In all these cases, the critical thinking procedures provided by scientific reasoning provide some assistance in deciding how to proceed. They offer logical and organized procedures for sifting through this information and extracting some sense from it. Each Critical Thinking section in subsequent chapters will explore some ways in which the research procedures discussed in the chapter can serve as a guide to critical thinking.

Exploring the Internet

When using an Internet search engine, it is always a good idea to check out the “Help Page” for tips on refining your search. Also, once you locate one promising source, look for its own key terms. By substituting them in your search, you may locate additional sites. The class may wish to establish an online discussion list to share information on research topics as you discover them.

One specific website to explore is Social Work Search (http://www.socialworksearch.com). This site is sufficiently broad-based such that it can appeal to social workers as well as other human service professionals and has links to research and statistics topics. For additional materials specifically on evidence-based practice in social work, explore the website made available by the social work library at the University of Michigan: guides.lib.umich.edu/ EBP-Research. A tutorial on evidence-based practice as used by health professionals can be found at the University of Minnesota library (http://hsl.lib.umn.edu/learn/ebp). Many other libraries will have such websites available.

For Further Reading

Brownson, R. C., Baker, E. A., Leet, T. L., Gillespie, K. N., & True, W. R. (2011). Evidence-Based Public Health, 2d ed. New York: Oxford University Press. This text provides a case for evidence-based public health and practical guidance on how to choose, implement, and evaluate evidence-based programs and policies in public health settings. Extensive formal training in public health sciences is not required to grasp the presentation.

Hayes, S. C., Barlow, D. H., & Nelson-Gray, R. O. (1999) The Scientist—Practitioner: Research and Accountability in the Age of Managed Care, 2nd ed. Boston: Allyn & Bacon. This is an excellent book on the linkage of research and practice. Although it focuses on psychology, it will be of interest to any professional attempting to establish a scientist—practitioner model.

Hoover, K. R., & Donovan, T. (2011). The Elements of Social Scientific Thinking, 10th ed. Belmont, Calif.: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning. This book is an initiation to social science research intended for those who use the results of research or who are just beginning as researchers. Through several editions, it has remained to the point and up to date.

Kemeny, J. G. (1959). A Philosopher Looks at Science. Princeton, N.J.: Van Nostrand. This book provides a discussion of the philosophical underpinnings of science and scientific research. To truly understand research, you need some knowledge of the basic logic of science, a field generally referred to as the “philosophy of science.”

Kirk, S. A., & Reid, W. J. (2002). Science and Social Work: A Critical Appraisal. New York: Columbia University Press. The authors analyze major efforts to integrate social work research and practice, including scientifically based practice, computer-assisted social work practice, research-based practice (evidence-based practice), and research dissemination and utilization.

Lindsey, D., & Shlonsky, A. (Eds.), (2008). Child Welfare Research: Advances for Practice and Policy. New York: Oxford University Press. An excellent source on research methods applied to the field of child welfare, this book provides a sound discussion of evidence-based practice in child welfare. It should be of particular interest to social workers; it provides many illustrations of linkages between practice and research.

Roberts, A. R., & Yeager, K. R. (2006). Foundations of Evidence-Based Social Work Practice. New York: Oxford University Press. The authors provide a concise introduction to evidence-based social work practice, highlighting the central role of research in it. The book includes definitions of key evidence-based practice terminology and discusses the importance of evidence-based practice and critical thinking.

Rossman, G. B., & Rallis, S. F. (2011). Learning in the Field: An Introduction to Qualitative Research, 3rd ed. Thousand Oaks, Calif.: Sage. This text provides a comprehensive overview of qualitative research, discussing when it is preferred over quantitative research and how it is conducted.

Somekh, B., & Lewin, C. (Eds.), (2011). Research Methods in the Social Sciences, 2nd ed. Thousand Oaks, Calif.: Sage. This book provides a good overview of social science research and a balanced discussion of both theory and practical application in social research. The book provides insights into the nuances of particular approaches, but also demonstrates how methods complement one another.

Class Exercises for Competency Assessment

Use this case illustration to do Exercise 1.1.

While making a routine night patrol through a partially developed construction area on the outskirts of town, a sheriffs deputy notices fresh tire tracks in the new-fallen snow that lead suspiciously toward a clump of trees and some bulldozed construction debris. There had been complaints of vandalism on the construction site, so the deputy investigates. As he drives closer, the spotlight reveals a large, older style SUV. However, the vehicle occupants are not the expected adolescent trouble-makers, but a homeless family seeking a protected spot to rest for the night. A frightened looking man and woman shield their eyes from the spotlight glare while three sleepy-eyed children peer out from under blankets in the back. The woman clutches an infant in her arms.

The officer learns that the couple is from out of state. The man relates how they gave up their apartment back home and bought this large vehicle to transport them and their meager belongings to Texas where he d been promised a job. But 300 miles from home, he got a call informing him that the company just shut down. Now there was no job and to make matters worse, the fuel pump on the truck was acting up and he didn't know how much farther the SUV could go without an expensive repair. They've been running the engine a little off and on for heat, but they only have a little food and no idea of where or how to get help in the morning.

The officer radios dispatch, describes the situation and consults on what to do next.

1.1. [Research & Practice] [Evidence-Based Evaluation] We have emphasized the parallels between practice and research. With this in mind, do the following:

a. Make a list of some problems in this referral that call for human service intervention. What additional information would you need to formulate an intervention plan?

b. Make a list of research problems or questions that are suggested in this incident. How is this list similar to or different from your list of intervention problems?

c. How might conducting research on the identified questions contribute to future effective practice?

1.2. [Research & Practice] Professional journals in the human services typically include a mixture of research articles, practice delivery and service delivery descriptions, and policy issue discussions. Select recent issues of a major journal in your profession, such as Social Work, Child Welfare, Social Service Review or American Sociological Review, and identify the articles that qualify as research articles. Two or three students should independently review the same journal issue so that findings can be compared. What features distinguish a research article from other types of articles?

1.3. [Research & Practice] This chapter discusses several goals of research. For each of the research articles located during Exercise 1.2, determine whether it is primarily descriptive, predictive, explanatory, or evaluative. Explain why you classified each article as you did. If you are uncertain as to how an article should be classified, indicate why, and state what additional information is needed to help you classify the study.

1.4. [Research & Practice] [Evidence-Based Evaluation] For each research study, state how it applies to human service practice in terms of the five focal areas discussed in the chapter.

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