Читать книгу Social Work Research Methods - Reginald O. York - Страница 72

Jennifer is a social worker who serves on the research committee of a human service agency, where she works with Paula, among others. It is the responsibility of this committee to undertake research studies that can assist the agency in better achieving its mission and meeting the challenges of accountability. Paula is rather preoccupied with a simple device she has found that measures the body’s level of stress. She wants to use this device in a study. Jennifer asked Paula what kind of study she wanted to undertake. Paula was not sure, but she really wanted to use this device. Jennifer asked, “Do you want to describe our clients or evaluate the outcome of a service or determine what is related to client no-shows or what?” Paula was not sure.

Jennifer discussed with Paula the fact that you should start the process of a research study not by deciding on how to measure something but, instead, with the determination of the purpose of the study. Some studies describe people. Some studies explain things by examining the relationship between variables (e.g., age might be related to client no-shows). Some studies evaluate services. Your purpose might be to describe, to explain, or to evaluate. Then you need the specific research question (e.g., Are younger clients more likely to fail to show up for appointments?). After you determine the research question, according to Jennifer, you should review the literature to see how it can guide your process of inquiry. Then you determine who will be your study subjects and how you will measure the relevant variables in your study. The collection and analysis of data is the next step, followed by the drawing of conclusions relevant to the study results. That is the way it should go, according to Jennifer.