A Model for Using Research Methodologies in Practice

Abstract

Practice domain and needs of a profession should determine development and use of research methodologies. The complexity and broad range of social work interventions require an approach to research that is more far-reaching, with greater depth, than offered by either the positivists or post-modernists. In this article, a model presents research as skills of social work practice, integrating the contentious practice research dichotomy. Acknowledging that differences in language and perceptions of practitioners and researchers create enormous challenges, a basic assumption in the model is that good practitioners conduct research in their implementation of practice. Juxtaposing practice components with research methodologies, case material illustrates the professional helping relationship as a shared conceptualization of reality, social work assessment as theory construction with need for validity and reliability, and use of triangulation to prevent drift and unplanned shifts in the intervention.

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