Defining Social Science Research

Consider your own definition of social science research, supported by this week’s readings, scholarly literature, and your own research. Then, you explain how social science research is used in human and social services.  

Consider how you might define social science research and what it means to you as a human and social services professional.  

  Post your own definition of social science research, based on this week’s readings. Explain why research is important and useful to you as a current or future human and social services professional.

Required Readings  

Babbie, E. (2016). The basics of social research (7th ed.). Belmont, CA: Cengage.  •Chapter 1, “Human Inquiry and Science” (pp. 1–29)  Yuen, F. K. O., Terao, K. L., & Schmidt, A. M. (2013). Effective grant writing and program evaluation for human services professionals. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.  •Chapter 1, “Introduction” (pp. 1–10) •Chapter 2, “Community and Target Population, Service Providers, and Funding Sources” (pp. 11–30)  Casado, B. L., Negi, N. J., & Hong, M. (2012). Culturally competent social work research: Methodological considerations for research with language minorities. Social Work, 57(1), 1–10.   Dettlaff, A. J., & Fong, R. (2011). Conducting culturally competent evaluations of child welfare programs and practices. Child Welfare, 90(2), 49–68.