Social Research 2

Research, evaluation and scholarship are integral to social work practice. A critical social work approach influences all aspects of research practice; from the research topics we choose, to the way we utilise research findings in our everyday practice. While critical social research is the tradition that shares critical social work's aim of bringing about transformational change, other traditions also produce material that can be an important resource for social work. This unit of study introduces students to the importance of developing a critical reflective practice when undertaking, or utilising, social work research. It builds on understandings developed in ASW1901 Social Work Research 1 or ASX1003 Foundations of Social Science Research. Students continue to examine the importance of research in social work practice and the philosophical bases of social work research. This unit includes a focus on qualitative data analysis, and a module on analysing and presenting quantitative data. Students have the opportunity, in computer labs, to learn the basics of computer-based data analysis. Emphasis is on descriptive statistics and presenting data in meaningful ways.