Based on Russell Schutt?s Investigating the Social World, the most successful and innovative social research text to have been published in the last decade, The Practice of Research in Social Work introduces research methods as an integrated set of techniques for investigating the problems encountered in social work research and practice.   

Key Features:

• Integrates substance and method: Each chapter focuses on a substantive research question in areas such as homelessness and domestic violence. The authors use real-life data and integrate the most contemporary treatments of the latest developments in social work research approaches. 
• Treats specific methods as part of a coherent whole, rather than a disparate collection of techniques: Throughout the text, the authors reveal how students can use a combination of methods?both qualitative and quantitative?to best explore their research question.
• Presents ethical decision-making as an integral part of the research design process rather than a disconnected step: Foundations of research ethics are introduced in Chapter Two, and each subsequent chapter concludes with a separate section on ethics in data collection, analysis, and reporting.
• Integrates cultural group differences and similarities in social work research throughout: The authors stress that the diverse populations with which one works should be considered during every step of the research process.
• Provides students with multiple methods for checking their reading comprehension and preparing for exams: The text comes bundled with Student Resources on a CD-ROM, featuring Interactive Exercises, SPSS® datasets, and survey instruments that relate to the datasets. The book?s Companion Student Study site: http Copyright (C) Muze Inc. 2005. For personal use only. All rights reserved.