SWTP629 - Social Work Research

Year

Credit points

Campus offering

Prerequisites

Teaching organisation

On Campus Mode: 3 hours per week for twelve weeks or equivalent (totalling 36 hours). ACU ONLINE: 150 hours of study.

Unit rationale, description and aim

Social workers are often required to critique and apply empirical evidence and use research and evaluation skills within their practice. Research is considered an essential component in building capacity to critically analyse theory and research in social work. This unit provides students with a theoretical and practical knowledge e of the research process and an understanding of research as central to building evidence based knowledge for social work practice. The unit will address the purpose and value of research in social work and the development of ethical research practices through an examination of various perspectives including evidence-based knowledge, and Indigenous knowledges and research frameworks. This unit aims to develop skills in planning, designing, and evaluating research in social work practice. 

Learning outcomes

To successfully complete this unit you will be able to demonstrate you have achieved the learning outcomes (LO) detailed in the below table.

Each outcome is informed by a number of graduate capabilities (GC) to ensure your work in this, and every unit, is part of a larger goal of graduating from ACU with the attributes of insight, empathy, imagination and impact.

Explore the graduate capabilities.

On successful completion of this unit, students should be able to:

LO1 - Articulate the role of research as a core component of social work practice (GA2, GA3)

LO2 - Identify and differentiate a range of research methodologies appropriate for various types of research designs and evaluation methodologies including the use of computer technology (GA4, GA8)

LO3 - Identify ethical considerations in the research process and ethical research practices (GA4, GA8)

LO4 - Critically evaluate research literature and evidence provided by research studies applicable for social work practice (GA3, GA9)

LO5 - Write a research or evaluation proposal (GA3, GA4, GA8, GA9)

Graduate attributes

GA2 - recognise their responsibility to the common good, the environment and society 

GA3 - apply ethical perspectives in informed decision making

GA4 - think critically and reflectively 

GA8 - locate, organise, analyse, synthesise and evaluate information 

GA9 - demonstrate effective communication in oral and written English language and visual media 

AASW Practice Standards 2020

This Unit has been mapped to the ACU Graduate Attributes and the ASWEAS Profession-Specific Graduate Attributes. The following table sets out the broad relationship between the Learning Outcomes, Graduate Attributes and the ASWEAS Profession-Specific Graduate Attributes provided in the Australian Social Work Education and Accreditation Standards: https://www.aasw.asn.au/document/item/13565  

AASW Practice Standards

Content

Topics will include: 

Role of research in social work  

• evidence based practice 

Research approaches  

• Research paradigms 
• Theoretical approaches  
• Evaluation research 

The research process 

• Identifying research problems  
• Conducting literature reviews 
• Systematic reviews 
• Principles of research design 
• Quantitative and Qualitative research methods (data collection, analysis and interpretation) 
• Dissemination of research findings 
• Writing a research proposal 

Ethical considerations in the research process  

• Research codes of ethics and ethical guidelines in research 
• Research with Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander people 

Learning and teaching strategy and rationale

ON CAMPUS MODE

This unit involves 150 hours of learning with a combination of face-to-face and online lectures/activities and interactive tutorials. Face-to-face lectures and tutorials may be time-tabled separately or together as a 3 hour block depending on student numbers. Experiential teaching and learning techniques which may include student participation in a small research project, will be used in the unit. The experiential  learning experience will form the basis for a deeper learning experience in enhancing understanding of the research process. In order to achieve the learning outcomes, students are expected to take responsibility for their learning through class attendance, doing their readings and participating actively in class discussions to enhance their learning experience. 

ACU ONLINE

This unit involves 150 hours of study and will be delivered in online mode using an active learning approach. Students are expected to complete readings, reflect and

engage with peers and teaching staff over the study period. Students will have access to self-paced learning modules, readings, webinars, discussion forums and assessment tasks. Online forums and chat rooms will facilitate learning by sharing with peers approaches in conduct literature searches, literature review and different approaches in research design. A one on one coaching session will be offered for the development of the research proposal. 

Assessment strategy and rationale

ON CAMPUS MODE

This unit takes an authentic assessment approach that allows students to demonstrate their knowledge of the research process and ethical research practices.

The first assessment will be a short paper that is designed for students to demonstrate their capacity to identify a research topic that is significant and relevant to social work policy and practice with a clear aim for the proposed research. This assessment will assist students in developing a focus for their second assessment on literature review. 

Assessment 2 (Literature review) will assess students’ competency in identifying an area of research enquiry and conduct a systematic review of the literature in the identified area of research enquiry using a variety of electronic and other data bases. 

Assessment 3 (Research proposal) is a summative assessment that will assess students’ knowledge and understanding of the research process and the importance of research in professional social work practice.  

ACU ONLINE

This unit takes an authentic assessment approach that allows students to demonstrate their knowledge of the research process and ethical research practices.

The first assessment is designed for students to demonstrate their capacity to identify a research topic that is significant and relevant to social work policy and practice with a clear aim for the proposed research. This assessment is structured as a formative oral presentation.

Assessment 2 (Literature Review) assesses students’ competency in identifying an area of research enquiry and conduct a systematic review of the literature in the identified area of research enquiry using a variety of electronic and other data bases.

Assessment 3 (Research Proposal) is a summative assessment that will assess students’ knowledge and understanding of the research process and the importance of research in professional social work practice.

Overview of assessments

ON CAMPUS MODE;

ACU ONLINE

Representative texts and references

Alston, M., & Bowles, W. (2018). Research for social workers (4th ed.). Crows Nest, NSW: Allen and Unwin.  

Aveyard, H. (2014). Doing a literature review in health and social care: A practical guide (3rd ed.). UK: Open University Press. 

Engel, R.J., & Schutt, R.K. (2014). Fundamentals of social work research (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. 

Grinell, R., & Unrau, Y. (2013). Social work research and evaluation (10th ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. 

Laycock, A., Walker, D., Harrison, N., & Brands, J. (2011). Researching Indigenous health: A practical guide for researchers. Melbourne: The Lowitja Institute. 

O’Leary, Z. (2014). The essential guide to doing your research project (2nd ed.). London: Sage. 

Patton, M.Q. (2015). Qualitative research and evaluation methods (4th ed.). USA: Sage. 

Neuman, L. (2014). Social research methods: qualitative and quantitative approaches (7th ed.). USA:  Pearson Education. 

Punch, K (2014). Introduction to social research quantitative and qualitative approaches (3rd ed.). London: Sage. 

Rubin, A. & Babbie, E.R. (2014). Research methods for social work (9th ed.). Belmont, CA: Thomson Brooks/Cole. 

Sarantakos, S. (2013). Social research (4th ed.). New York: Palgrave Macmillan. 

Walters, M (Ed.). (2019). Social research methods (4th. ed.). Melbourne: Oxford University Press.