{"id":64,"date":"2018-12-07T15:38:35","date_gmt":"2018-12-07T15:38:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pressbooks.ulib.csuohio.edu\/swk627\/chapter\/module-2-chapter-1\/"},"modified":"2024-11-20T23:17:58","modified_gmt":"2024-11-20T23:17:58","slug":"module-2-chapter-1","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/pressbooks.ulib.csuohio.edu\/swk627\/chapter\/module-2-chapter-1\/","title":{"rendered":"Module 2 Chapter 1: Overview"},"content":{"raw":"This brief chapter provides some context for understanding social work intervention. We begin with a brief review of some basic research concepts with direct application to our evaluating social work interventions.\r\n<h2>Review of Key Concepts<\/h2>\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>A translational science framework includes basic research, intervention research, and implementation science. Basic research includes epidemiology, etiology, and theory about diverse populations, social work problems, and social phenomena. The intervention research aspects of translational science\u2014applying basic research and evidence-informed theory in designing interventions, conducting efficacy and effectiveness studies, and engaging with implementation science are emphasized here.<\/li>\r\n \t<li><span style=\"text-align: initial;font-size: 1em\">Social work research questions need to be specific, feasible to study, and relevant. A funnel runs from a general topic to research questions and ends in specific hypotheses (for quantitative study approaches). There is also potential for bias in research questions that are asked. These same principles apply to social work research questions that lead to a better understanding of interventions\u2014<span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">how<\/span> interventions are studied flows directly from what is asked in the research questions.<\/span><\/li>\r\n \t<li><span style=\"text-align: initial;font-size: 1em\">While basic research often explores \u201cbackground\u201d questions, research about interventions focuses on \u201cforeground\u201d questions\u2014questions about best practices and approaches to screening, assessing, and intervening in social work practice at all levels of intervention (including prevention).<\/span><\/li>\r\n \t<li><span style=\"text-align: initial;font-size: 1em\">Three major types of research questions have powerful implications for research design, methodology, and analysis approaches: exploratory, descriptive, and explanatory questions. Much emphasis in intervention research is on explanatory questions where the effects or impact of interventions are what need to be examined (explained). We do, however, also address exploratory and descriptive questions in the context of understanding social work interventions.<\/span><\/li>\r\n \t<li><span style=\"text-align: initial;font-size: 1em\">The significant role played by theory remains a very important topic in our understanding of interventions. The design of any intervention is typically informed by theory, although this is not always the case. Theory also helps inform social work practitioners about who might benefit (most or least) from a specific intervention, and about the mechanisms of change involved in how interventions have their impact.<\/span><\/li>\r\n \t<li><span style=\"text-align: initial;font-size: 1em\">Locating and understanding empirical literature is critical, and how one might analyze empirical literature to answer questions about diverse populations, social work problems, and social phenomena to inform social work practice decisions and understand interventions.<\/span><\/li>\r\n \t<li><span style=\"text-align: initial;font-size: 1em\">Research ethics is highly relevant and important, and much of that information is specific to understanding interventions.<\/span><\/li>\r\n \t<li><span style=\"text-align: initial;font-size: 1em\">Basic research content regarding study methods (participants, measures, procedures, data collection approaches), data and statistical analysis, and presenting evidence applies to understanding social work interventions.<\/span><\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\nThere is another free<a href=\"https:\/\/ohiostate.pressbooks.pub\/swk3401\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u00a0coursebook<\/a> you can explore to refresh your knowledge and understanding of specific research content as it is re-encountered\u2014references to the relevant information will be presented here.","rendered":"<p>This brief chapter provides some context for understanding social work intervention. We begin with a brief review of some basic research concepts with direct application to our evaluating social work interventions.<\/p>\n<h2>Review of Key Concepts<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>A translational science framework includes basic research, intervention research, and implementation science. Basic research includes epidemiology, etiology, and theory about diverse populations, social work problems, and social phenomena. The intervention research aspects of translational science\u2014applying basic research and evidence-informed theory in designing interventions, conducting efficacy and effectiveness studies, and engaging with implementation science are emphasized here.<\/li>\n<li><span style=\"text-align: initial;font-size: 1em\">Social work research questions need to be specific, feasible to study, and relevant. A funnel runs from a general topic to research questions and ends in specific hypotheses (for quantitative study approaches). There is also potential for bias in research questions that are asked. These same principles apply to social work research questions that lead to a better understanding of interventions\u2014<span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">how<\/span> interventions are studied flows directly from what is asked in the research questions.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"text-align: initial;font-size: 1em\">While basic research often explores \u201cbackground\u201d questions, research about interventions focuses on \u201cforeground\u201d questions\u2014questions about best practices and approaches to screening, assessing, and intervening in social work practice at all levels of intervention (including prevention).<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"text-align: initial;font-size: 1em\">Three major types of research questions have powerful implications for research design, methodology, and analysis approaches: exploratory, descriptive, and explanatory questions. Much emphasis in intervention research is on explanatory questions where the effects or impact of interventions are what need to be examined (explained). We do, however, also address exploratory and descriptive questions in the context of understanding social work interventions.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"text-align: initial;font-size: 1em\">The significant role played by theory remains a very important topic in our understanding of interventions. The design of any intervention is typically informed by theory, although this is not always the case. Theory also helps inform social work practitioners about who might benefit (most or least) from a specific intervention, and about the mechanisms of change involved in how interventions have their impact.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"text-align: initial;font-size: 1em\">Locating and understanding empirical literature is critical, and how one might analyze empirical literature to answer questions about diverse populations, social work problems, and social phenomena to inform social work practice decisions and understand interventions.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"text-align: initial;font-size: 1em\">Research ethics is highly relevant and important, and much of that information is specific to understanding interventions.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"text-align: initial;font-size: 1em\">Basic research content regarding study methods (participants, measures, procedures, data collection approaches), data and statistical analysis, and presenting evidence applies to understanding social work interventions.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>There is another free<a href=\"https:\/\/ohiostate.pressbooks.pub\/swk3401\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u00a0coursebook<\/a> you can explore to refresh your knowledge and understanding of specific research content as it is re-encountered\u2014references to the relevant information will be presented here.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"menu_order":2,"template":"","meta":{"pb_show_title":"on","pb_short_title":"","pb_subtitle":"","pb_authors":[],"pb_section_license":""},"chapter-type":[],"contributor":[],"license":[],"class_list":["post-64","chapter","type-chapter","status-publish","hentry"],"part":61,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.ulib.csuohio.edu\/swk627\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/64","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.ulib.csuohio.edu\/swk627\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.ulib.csuohio.edu\/swk627\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/chapter"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.ulib.csuohio.edu\/swk627\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.ulib.csuohio.edu\/swk627\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/64\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":299,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.ulib.csuohio.edu\/swk627\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/64\/revisions\/299"}],"part":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.ulib.csuohio.edu\/swk627\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/parts\/61"}],"metadata":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.ulib.csuohio.edu\/swk627\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/64\/metadata\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.ulib.csuohio.edu\/swk627\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=64"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"chapter-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.ulib.csuohio.edu\/swk627\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapter-type?post=64"},{"taxonomy":"contributor","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.ulib.csuohio.edu\/swk627\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/contributor?post=64"},{"taxonomy":"license","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.ulib.csuohio.edu\/swk627\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/license?post=64"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}