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Cover

Mixed Methods Research for Social Work

Integrating Methodologies to Strengthen Practice and Policy

Wendy Haight and Laurel N. Bidwell

Publication Date - July 2015

ISBN: 9780190616090

288 pages
Paperback
5.8 x 8.4 inches

In Stock

Description

Mixed Methods Research for Social Work presents a step-by-step framework for constructing a mixed methods research project, along with a model for how social workers can play a sustaining role in the future of mixed methods research. In the first full length mixed methods research text for social workers, Wendy Haight and Laurel Bidwell illustrate the essential compatibility of social work and mixed method research.

Rooting their argument in the historical and philosophical foundations of the profession, they explore both Jane Addams's contribution to American pragmatism and the proto-mixed methodologies employed by 20th century social worker researchers. The authors illustrate the unique opportunities that integrated methods present for understanding the complexities and nuance of contemporary social problems that are the focus of social work research.

The second half of the book gives readers a clear, step-by-step guide for using mixed methodologies. Each step of the planning, design, and implementation process is illustrated by a contemporary research project and an interview with the researcher explaining their methods and rationale. This process allows readers to access the research process from both a quantitative and a qualitative stand-point, illustrating the variability and applicability of mixed methodologies to social work research.

Features

  • A detailed glossary of terms and discussion questions
  • An alternative table of contents links chapter contents with the 2015 EPAS
  • Instructor's manual including syllabi, discussion questions, test banks, and PowerPoints will be available spring 2016

About the Author(s)

Wendy Haight (PhD., University of Chicago) is professor and holds the Gamble-Skogmo Chair in Child Welfare and Youth Policy at the University of Minnesota. Her research focuses on supporting vulnerable children and families in diverse cultural contexts. She uses mixed methods to better understand complex social issues and then works within teams to design, implement, and evaluate tailored interventions. She is the author or coauthor of eight previous books and approximately fifty articles in peer-reviewed journals.

Laurel N. Bidwell (MSW, Hunter College; PhD., Columbia University) is assistant professor in the School of Social Work at St. Catherine University and the University of St. Thomas. She has worked as a clinical social worker with children and families in school, community, and hospital-based settings, and was a research associate at the University of Minnesota.

Reviews

"The authors do a fantastic job of accounting for the contribution of social work and social pragmatism to the history of mixed methods, all the while educating the reader with an impeccably written account of evidence-based studies that document the use of mixed methods by some of social work's most ground-breaking scholars." - Daphne Watkins, University of Michigan

"This is a strong, scholarly, engaging, and fully practical book." - Jennifer C. Greene, University of Illinois

Table of Contents

    Preface
    Chapter 1. Introduction
    Part 1 Recovering the Contributions of Social Work Pioneers to Early Mixed Methods Research
    Chapter 2. Pragmatism in Social Work and Mixed Methodology: The Legacy of Jane Addams (1860-1935) and John Dewey (1859-1952)
    Chapter 3. The History of Mixed Methods Social Work Research: The Pittsburgh Survey (1907-08)
    Part 2 Doing Mixed Methods Research: The Ongoing Contributions of Contemporary Social Workers
    Chapter 4. Integrating Research Questions and Contemplating Reasons for Mixing: Men Incarcerated for Violent Crimes
    Chapter 5. Observational and Cause-Probing Designs: Refugees Experiencing War Trauma
    Chapter 6. Integrating Methods and Contemplating Ethical Issues: Parents with Low Incomes Accused of Child Maltreatment
    Chapter 7. Integrating Analyses and Enhancing Rigor: Spirituality and Recovery from Addiction
    Chapter 8. Mixed Methods Designs: Children from Rural Methamphetamine-Involved Families
    Part 3 Building a Twenty-first Century Mixed Methods Social Work Research Center
    Chapter 9. Finding Mentors, Working in Teams, Writing, and Publishing
    Chapter 10. Opportunities and Challenges
    Appendix A. Dissertation Proposal (Without Appendices)-Testing and Explaining a Social Emotional Learning Program and the Intersection of Trauma in Urban, Low-Income Students: A Mixed Methods Study
    Appendix B. Excerpt from Funded National Institute on Drug Abuse Mixed Methods Grant Proposal: Rural Methamphetamine-Abusing Parents and Their Children
    References
    Glossary
    Index

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