What Role Does Research Play In Social Work

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Use of Mental Health-Related Services Among Immigrant and US-Born Asian Americans: Results From the National Latino and Asian American Study

What role does research play in social work?

Research is, by definition, the act of investigating. Social workers are tasked with investigating and developing theories or hypotheses related to causes of problems faced by their clients. In order to find a possible solution to an existing problem, research must be done to look at what might have worked historically, and to advance that knowledge that was created in the past. If there has been little to no research in a particular area related to client problems, then developing research to find out root causes is beneficial. Decisions …show more content…
That’s true whether it’s within an organization or at the legislative level. Since social work is a complex field with many variations of social work services provided, it is crucial to stay abreast of new information within a particular area of interest, or within a particular service delivery system. One should never lose sight of the fact that individual human beings and their lives are impacted by decisions made every day by social workers. Social workers owe their clients the best possible solutions to their problems. Many times the solutions are only found through research, whether it means examining historical data or designing new research to look at a particular problem and then implementing programs or polices to address the findings. Without solid, reliable research, they would not be able to provide adequate services to their clientele. Not only do individual …show more content…
We rely on research to guide our decisions in many different ways. Best practices are developed by researching observations and determining how the interventions are working in the real world. I will use research in my practice of social work for a multitude of reasons. In the beginning I can foresee utilizing single system research designs to track a client progress while receiving services. This will allow me to test the effectiveness of interventions in my client’s lives and to determine whether or not the desired outcome was achieved. I could also use research to evaluate programs within the agency I am working. For example, research could help me to identify what programs are of greater benefit to the consumer, or possibly harmful to subgroups, or determine cost benefit of a particular part of a
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