Jacob Campbell
Dr. Jacob Campbell, LICSW

I'm a father, husband, and educator committed to growing as a person and creating change for those with less power. I serve as an Associate Professor of Social Work at Heritage University. My work spans school social work, mental health, and youth with behavioral challenges. I'm passionate about educational innovation, interdisciplinary collaboration, and supporting students in becoming effective change agents.

Jacob Campbell
Dr. Jacob Campbell, LICSW

I'm a father, husband, and educator committed to growing as a person and creating change for those with less power. I serve as an Associate Professor of Social Work at Heritage University. My work spans school social work, mental health, and youth with behavioral challenges. I'm passionate about educational innovation, interdisciplinary collaboration, and supporting students in becoming effective change agents.

Overview of The Research Process

Informational

An overview of the research process and how that relates to the scientific method.

The Scientific Method

Researching should follow the scientific method. Research is a scientific endeavor that has direct practice implications. Due to this the scientific model ought to be utilized. The process of describing the variables and aspects of a study is known as over capitalization. The first phase is looking at problem formulation. There are some concerns to look at in regards to the area of study.

  • The So What Factor: The study must have clear significance for social work in order for study to have merit
  • Feasibility: Is the study possible? Is it a practical? The researcher must factor in the time, cost, potential participant cooperation, etc of the study.
  • Ethical Constraints: The researcher must look into the ethical considerations in doing the research (the benefits must out weight the risks).
  • Relevant: The research should come from problems within social service agencies or practical problems regarding social welfare in general.
  • Applied Approach: The study needs to have a link to social work concerns (it’s not just collecting data for the fun of it).
  • Implementation: The results are to be used to guide practice and or policy

Research Process

The process of research is as follows;

Phase 1: Problem Formulation

  • A question is posed and is progressively refined to become more meaningful and feasible
  • The unit of analysis (e.g. level or system size), hypotheses, research questions, and being operationally defined (working definition - “counting” the variables) are all concepts that are explained during phase 1.
  • Furthermore a literature review is to be conducted regarding previous related studies. The researcher ought to ask what did they find and look into the weaknesses of these studies.

Phase 2: Study Design

  • Decisions are to be made about planning the study.
  • Study procedures are to be created (e.g. sampling, measurement tools, analysis of the results.
  • The type of study design should be formulated.

Phase 3: Data Collection

  • Implementation of the study design
    Remember: differences between qualitative (flexible) and quantitative (rigid)

Phase 4: Data Processing

Phase 5: Data Analysis

Phase 6: Interpreting Findings

  • Discussion of findings
  • Exploring alternate explanations

Phase 7: Writing the Research Report (Must be APA Style)

Research Methods Research Scientific Method

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Types of Study Designs

Informational December 2011

Looking at a studies design helps to determine internal validity and causality of said study. It explains simply what you did and to whom you did it.The design of the study looks at the number of groups and measuremen...