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Chapter 9 Improving the Scientific Base of Social Work Practice

Chapter 9 Improving the Scientific Base of Social Work Practice. History of the Research- Practice Chasm. Social work’s resistance to scientific method. Research findings concluded social work was not effective (Fisher, 1973; Mullen & Dumpson, 1972; Wood, 1978).

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Chapter 9 Improving the Scientific Base of Social Work Practice

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  1. Chapter 9Improving the Scientific Base of Social Work Practice

  2. History of the Research- Practice Chasm • Social work’s resistance to scientific method. • Research findings concluded social work was not effective (Fisher, 1973; Mullen & Dumpson, 1972; Wood, 1978). • Empirical Clinical Practice Movement emerged as a way to close the research-practice gap, emphasizing the need to rely on scientific evidence to inform practice decisions & evaluate the outcomes using valid measurement instruments.

  3. Efforts From the 1990s to Present Day • New Social Work Research Organizations: • Society for Social Work Research • The Institute for the Advancement of Social Work Research • Epistemological Wars • Inappropriate conflation of postmodernism with qualitative inquiry • Evidence-Based Practice Movement – Is it different than past efforts? How can it be made feasible for social work practice?

  4. Hierarchy of Evidence • There are many types of EBP questions. • The hierarchy of evidence appropriate for answering EBP questions depends on the kind of question. For example: • Effectiveness questions: Meta-analyses and randomized controlled trials are the gold standard. • Understanding in-depth experiences or meaning: Qualitative inquiry is the gold standard.

  5. Erosion of Evidentiary Standards • Some academics and practitioners prioritize clinical expertise over high-quality research studies, and view studies with relatively weak designs as enough evidence to call an intervention or program “evidence-based.” • Published research literature tends to overstate the effectiveness of research. Some practitioners may not be able to differentiate between strong and weak studies. • What is considered “evidence-based” may become meaningless.

  6. Making Social Work More Scientific • Educational strategies • Extensive curriculum changes • Accreditation • Challenge: Faculty have disparate views on evidence-based practice and what constitutes evidence. • Professional publications • Assess articles for appropriate causal inferences based on the quality of the design. • Remind practitioners that any one study, in and of itself, is not cause for considering an intervention “evidence-based.”

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