This best-selling text that has empowered more than 100,000 students just like you! Considered the best social work research methods resource, RESEARCH METHODS FOR SOCIAL WORK balances essential content with enlightening examples, consistently revealing the important connections between real research and true-to-life social work practice.
The scope of the content is not bad. The quality of the print for the paperback (published by Cengage) is complete garbage, rendering the experience of trying to read this a nightmare.
I actually used the 8th edition. This textbook was okay. It excelled in its examples of how research could be used, though some of them went on too long, as they were most helpful in detailing the nuances of confusing terms.
But it was also dense and hard to read. The organization of it is relatively confusing and diagrams were not great, nor did they add to the readability. Pithy definitions of terms were not truly included, but generally assumed or hard to find in the pages upon pages of examples. I had to cross-reference terms constantly to be sure I understood the underlying definition of what was going on, though I did get a good understanding of how and why you would use one design over another and so on.
If you need this for class, I definitely recommend renting rather than purchasing. I am not keeping it for my personal reference library when better clarity can be found elsewhere.
Reading the last chapter today to prepare for class tomorrow! I've read a lot about the research process, this book is up there as one of the best. Great illustration and discussion of different research methods with a focus on validity and reliability. Students struggling to understand the research process would benefit greatly from this resource.
i struggled in my research methods class due to differing research paradigms and couldn't figure out how to translate my work. reading this book provided me with the language and understanding i needed to figure out what was going on. i wish i'd read it from the start!