This course introduces undergraduate students to social work research concepts, tools, methods, and basic descriptive quantitative analysis, as well as fundamental concepts of inferential statistics, and demonstrates their application in social work research. It builds an understanding of and appreciation for evidence-based practice with valid tools. Students will understand the importance of evidence-based knowledge both for providing effective services to client systems and for developing the profession of social work. The course develops sensitivity to ethical issues in research and to the conduct of research with populations-at-risk. Key areas of inquiry include principles of scientific inquiry, quantitative and qualitative approaches, measurement, evidence-based practice, sampling, research design, and the dissemination of research findings.
This course aims to provide students with an understanding of federal and state social welfare programming, policy analysis, and advocacy skills to help promote more effective social welfare policy. The historical foundations and current forms of social welfare are presented as societal responses to identified social problems. The skills of policy analysis are presented to foster creative and analytical thinking and to engage students in examining how different policy decisions have differential impacts on client populations while assessing their philosophy of social welfare. Policy advocacy skills are introduced for students to engage in professional strategies that advance macro solutions in the form of policies that are socially, politically, and economically responsive to complex societal problems.
This course is designed to promote the undergraduate students’ knowledge and skills in quantitative and qualitative analysis and in the reporting of social work research and evaluation data. Along with the overview of statistical concepts and methods, students will learn how to use data analysis software. The course develops sensitivity to ethical issues in the research process. Over the course of the semester, students carry out an applied research or evaluation project.