Syllabus

Master of Social Work

SSW 504 – Research II

Credits - 3

Description

Students will become critical consumers as well as producers of research in order to inform their practice and contribute to social change. Students are exposed to research as a systematic problem identifying and problem solving process with parallels to other forms of social work practice where naming the issues to be addressed functions as a foundation for ongoing action planning. Enhanced critical thinking and conceptual skills are emphasized throughout. The relevance of fundamental social work values to social work and social science research is explored through attention to ethics, value conflicts, institutionalized bias and prejudice, validity and reliability of human observation, and critical comparison of various methods of knowing. The research sequence of the MSW program is composed of two 3-credit courses. Research as a means to promote social change will be emphasized throughout the course sequence. This includes attention to creating empowering research processes and using research outcomes to advocate for social and economic justice.

Research II (SSW 504) will build upon the knowledge, methods, and skills provided in the foundation research course. Students will continue to learn how to critically assess research from ethical, multicultural, and social justice perspectives particularly in the context of agency based research and program evaluation. Students will conduct a research evaluation project. This includes 1) formulating a question, 2) designing and implementing a study, and 3) interpreting and presenting the study findings. The content of this course heavily integrates other elements of the MSW curriculum.

Materials

Rubin, A., & Babbie, E. (2017). Brooks/Cole Empowerment Series: Research Methods for Social Work (9th ed.). Brooks/Cole Cengage Learning.
Weinbach, R. & Grinnell, R. (2015). Statistics for Social Workers (9th ed.). Pearson Education; New York
IBM SPSS Statistics GradPack (most current version) (www.onthehub.com/spss)
- Everyone must purchase and have installed by end of Week 1 of the course. (*For those students who have chosen QUALITATIVE as their course design, SPSS won’t be used for data analysis for qualitative designs, but there are 5 course activities assigned for all students to demonstrate their understanding of SPSS and quantitative data analysis – therefore, everyone needs to purchase this program regardless if you won’t use it in your own course project. The cost is around $45 for a 6-month student rental)

Learning Objectives and Outcomes

School of Social Work Program Outcomes:

Graduates of the UNE SSWO will demonstrate knowledge, skills, and leadership in the following:

Practice social inclusion to enable people, populations, and communities to fully participate in society, enhance human bonds in the context of cultural diversity and ensure improved quality of life and equitable resource distribution. EPAS Competencies 2 & 3
Engage in culturally-informed relationship building, being respectful of the complexity and diversity of contexts and circumstances. EPAS Competencies 3 & 6
Utilize theories of human behavior, social systems and social inclusion when offering interventions with people and their environments. EPAS Competency 8
Promote ethical reflection, critical consciousness and shared decision-making based in social work values and with consideration of the broader contexts of the world in which we live. EPAS Competency 1
Balance the roles of helpers, activists, and advocates through collaboration with communities to build healthy and sustainable resources. EPAS Competencies 2, 5, & 6
Engage as critical consumers and producers of research as it relates to assessment, intervention and evaluation of clinical and community practices. EPAS Competencies 4, 7, 8 & 9
Practice person-centered and collaborative community partnerships across diverse settings. EPAS Competency 6

Course Objectives

Upon successful completion of this course, students will:

Develop a research design appropriate to the student’s research question. PROGRAM OUTCOME 6. As measured by 1) DISCUSSION FORUMS and 2) FINAL COURSE ACTIVITY PAPER.
Ethically and rigorously implement research design. PROGRAM OUTCOMES 4 & 6. As measured by 1) RESULTS CHAPTER and 2) FINAL COURSE ACTIVITY PAPER.
Analyze data using SPSS or other statistical software. PROGRAM OUTCOME 6. As measured by 1) SPSS PRACTICAL EXERCISES and 2) RESULTS CHAPTER.
Explain the importance of disseminating research findings and translating findings into action steps to address individual and community concerns. PROGRAM OUTCOMES 3 & 6. As measured by 1) DISCUSSION FORUMS and 2) WEEKLY REFLECTIVE JOURNALS.
Explain how research and program evaluation informs and transforms social work practice. PROGRAM OUTCOME 6. As measured by DISCUSSION FORUMS, 2) WEEKLY REFLECTIVE JOURNALS, and 3) FINAL COURSE ACTIVITY PAPER.

Assignments

The following assignments will be graded:

Discussion questions
Results Chapter
Practical Exercises
Weekly Reflective Journals
Final Course Activity Project

Grading Policy

The School of Social Work uses the following grading system for all courses with the exception of field education courses. Students are expected to maintain a “B” (3.0) average over the course of their study. Students with less than a GPA of 3.0 will be placed on academic probation. Students must have an overall GPA of 3.0 in order to receive their Master’s Degree.

Your grade in this course will be determined by the following criteria:

Grade Breakdown

Assignment	Point Value	Percentage Value
Discussion Questions (2 per week; 8 weeks)	10 points x 16 = 160 points	16%
Participation (1 per week; 8 weeks)	12.5 points x 8 = 100 points	10%
Journal (1 per week; 8 weeks)	15 points x 8 = 120 points	12%
SPSS Practical Exercises (1 per week; 5 weeks)	30 points x 5 = 150 points	15%
Results Chapter	160 points	16%
Final Course Activity Paper	310 points	31%
Total	1,000 points	100%

Grade Scale

Grade	Points Grade	Point Average (GPA)
A	94 – 100%	4.00
A-	90 – 93%	3.75
B+	87 – 89%	3.50
B	84 – 86%	3.00
B-	80 – 83%	2.75
C+	77 – 79%	2.50
C	74 – 76%	2.00
C-	70 – 73%	1.75
D	64 – 69%	1.00
F	00 – 63%	0.00

Schedule

Course Dates: October 25, 2017 – December 17, 2017

Module 1: Week 1: Introduction to Data Collection | Dates: Wednesday, October 25 – Tuesday, October 31

Readings

Chapters 15 and 16 (Rubin and Babbie 9th edition)
Chapter 1 (Weinbach and Grinnell)
Quantitative Research Methods and Tools Power Point by Frasier Health Authority
Data Collection Method Handout
Qualitative Research Methods Overview Handout

Multimedia

(Video) Entering Data into SPSS
(Video) Creating a survey in Survey Monkey
(Video) How to use survey monkey (5:24; here is a transcript if you need one)
(Video) Setting up variables in SPSS

Discussions

#1 (Due Fri)
#2 (Due Sun)

Assignments

Reflective Journal (Due Tue)
SPSS Practical Exercise (Due Tue)
Submit your electronic survey link to the central website provided in your course announcements (Due Tue)

Module 2: Week 2: Introduction to Data Analysis | Dates: Wednesday, November 1 – Tuesday, November 7

Readings

Chapters 20 and 21 (Rubin and Babbie 9th edition)
Chapter 2 and 3 (Weinbach and Grinnell)
Exploring Data: The Beast of Bias by Andy Field (PDF)
Levels of measurement handout
Chapter reading on Measurement (Sage Publications)
Levels of measurement in psychological research
Qualitative data analysis handout
Analyzing Qualitative Data: With or Without Software
Qualitative versus quantitative research handout

Multimedia

(Video) Rapid Learning: Data Analysis and Probability – What is Data Analysis?
(Video) The Beast of Bias (by Andy Field, optional viewing). This is an interesting lecture presented by Andy Field discussing assumptions and bias in statistical testing. This lecture is 50:20 min long and a transcript is available at the YouTube link.

Discussions

#1 (Due Fri)
#2 (Due Sun)

Assignments

Reflective Journal (Due Tue)
SPSS Practical Exercise

Module 3: Week 3: Descriptive Statistics | Dates: Wednesday, November 8 – Tuesday, November 14

Readings

Chapter 21 (Rubin & Babbie 9th Ed.)
Chapter 3 and 4 (Weinbach and Grinnell)
Basic concepts in research and data analysis
Descriptive statistics in SPSS

Multimedia

(Video) SPSS for Beginners: Frequency Counts and Descriptive Statistics
(Video) SPSS Descriptive Statistics
(Video) [SPSS] Descriptive Statistics and Bar Charts
(Video) SPSS: how to get mean, median, standard deviation, etc.

Discussions

#1 (Due Fri)
#2 (Due Sun)

Assignments

Reflective Journal (Due Tue)
SPSS Practical Exercises

Module 4: Week 4: Inferential Data Analysis (Bivariate t-Test) | Dates: Wednesday, November 15 – Tuesday, November 21

Readings

Chapter 22 (Rubin and Babbie 9th Ed.)
Chapter 5, 6, and 7 (Weinbach and Grinnell)
Comparing Two Means by Andy Field (PPT)

Multimedia

(Video) t-Test using SPSS
(Video) One sample t-Test
(Video) Independent Sample t-Test
(Video) Independent Sample t-Tests in SPSS
(Video) Paired Samples t-Test

Discussions

#1 (Due Fri)
#2 (Due Sun)

Assignments

Reflective Journal (Due Tue)
SPSS Practical Exercise

Module 5: Week 5: Inferential Data Analysis (Bivariate Chi-Square) | Dates: Wednesday, November 22 – Tuesday, November 28

Readings

Chapter 22 (Rubin and Babbie 9th Ed.)
Chapter 8 (Weinbach and Grinnell)

Multimedia

(Video) Chi-Square Test of Independence Example
(Video) Chi-Square analysis on SPSS
(Video) Interpreting the SPSS Output for a Chi Square Analysis

Discussions

#1 (Due Fri)
#2 (Due Sun)

Assignments

Reflective Journal (Due Tue)
SPSS Practical Exercise (Due Tue)

Module 6: Week 6: Challenges and Considerations in Social Work Research | Dates: Wednesday, November 29 – Tuesday, December 5

Readings

Chapter 6 (Rubin and Babbie 9th Ed.)
McDowell, T. & Fang, S. (2007). Feminist-informed critical multiculturalism. Journal of Family Issues, 28(4), 549-566.
Shaw, I. (2002). Cutting edge issues in social work research. British Journal of Social Work, 33, 107-116.

Multimedia

(Video) Brene Brown: The Power of Vulnerability

Discussions

#1 (Due Fri)
#2 (Due Sun)

Assignments

Reflective Journal (Due Tue)
Results Chapter (Due Tue)

Module 7: Week 7: Writing the Discussion Chapter of a Research Project | Dates: Wednesday, December 6 – Tuesday, December 12

Readings

Chapter 23 (Rubin and Babbie 9th edition)
Apaitia-Vague, T. (2011). Social work and food: A discussion. Aotearoa New Zealand Social Work Review, 23(3), 63-70

Multimedia

Tips for Writing the Discussion Chapter Perfectly

Discussions

#1 (Due Fri)
#2 (Due Sun)

Assignments

Reflective Journal (Due Tue)
Discussion Chapter (Due Tue)

Module 8: Week 8: Writing Research Proposals and Reports for Funding/Disseminating Research Findings | Dates: Wednesday, December 13 – Sunday, December 17 (short week)

Readings

Chapters 23 (Rubin and Babbie 9th edition)
Chapter 11 (Weinbach and Grinnell)
Smeeton, N. & Goda, D. (2003). Conducting and presenting social work research: Some basic statistical considerations. British Journal of Social Work, 33(4), 567-573.

Multimedia

Disseminating Your Research Tutorial

Discussions

#1 (Due Fri)
#2 (Due Fri)
#3 (Due Fri)

Assignments

Reflective Journal (Due Sun)
Final Course Activity Paper (Due Fri)

Student Resources

Online Student Support

Your Student Support Specialist is a resource for you. Please don't hesitate to contact them for assistance, including, but not limited to course planning, current problems or issues in a course, technology concerns, or personal emergencies.

Questions? Visit the Student Support Social Work page

UNE Libraries:

Library Access for all students: Your library login ID and password are the same as the ones you use to log into Blackboard/Brightspace.
Social Work Databases: https://library.une.edu/library-materials/find/research-by-subject/social-work/
Library Tutorial: Find an article
Video Tutorials: https://library.une.edu/research-help/guides-tutorials/video-tutorials/
Library Questions: Ask a librarian or phone library staff at (207) 602-2361 or (207) 221-4330.

Information Technology Services (ITS)

ITS Contact: Toll Free Help Desk 24 hours/7 days per week at 1-877-518-4673

Policies

Essential Academic and Technical Standards

Please review the essential academic and technical standards of the University of New England School Social Work (SSW): https://online.une.edu/social-work/academic-and-technical-standards-une-online-ssw/

Technology Requirements

Please review the technical requirements for UNE Online Graduate Programs: Technical Requirements

Confidentiality Statement

Student and faculty participation in this course will be governed by standards in the NASW Code of Ethics relating to confidentiality in sharing information from their placement sites and practice experiences. Students should be aware that personal information they choose to share in class, class assignments or conversations with faculty does not have the status of privileged information.