Session Five Jeff Driskell, MSW, PhD Research In Social Work Practice Salem State University School of Social Work Session Five Jeff Driskell, MSW, PhD

Today’s class Check-in/Announcements Lecture Literature Reviews

How is this theory defined? Concepts? You are a social worker at a local community agency that provides services to African American families. One of the theories your agency uses to better understand the stress this population experiences is the minority stress theory. How is this theory defined? Concepts? What are the tenants of this theory? Locate a research article that uses this theory. Research questions answered? Hypotheses? Positive, negative or no direction at all?

Literature Reviews

What is a “Literature Review? “…a literature review surveys scholarly articles, books and other sources […] relevant to a particular issue, area of research, or theory, providing a description and critical evaluation of each work.” (http://library.ucsc.edu/ref/howto/literaturereview.html) “Coherent argument that leads to the description of your proposed study”. (Rudestam and Newton, 2001)

NOT Just a Summary… A literature review is a conceptually organized synthesis of the literature and a coherent argument that leads to the proposed study. It must develop questions for further research identify controversy when it appears in the literature synthesize results into a summary of what is and isn't known organize information and relate it to the thesis or research question you are developing

Purpose- Building your Story 1. Helps map and define your research topic 2. Presents a balanced view 3. Justifies your research question- 4. Provides literature for you to compare your findings with at the end. (Natilene Bowker, Student Learning Centre, Massey University, Palmerston North © 2006) 1.

Sometimes it feels like this…

General Literature Review Guidelines Scan articles for relevance and article overview Organize your articles Narrowing down the articles- close ups and long shots. OR by topic Use a consistent format for note taking- (cheat sheet) Look for explicit definitions of key terms Look for methodological strengths/weaknesses Identify gaps in the research- rational Look for key statistics to use in the intro of your literature review- prevalence, incidence rates Pay attention to review articles- those that consolidate a number of articles on the same topic.

Synthesizing the Literature Consider your purpose Consider your voice Create a topic outline Based on key words OR theory OR variables Sub-topics Roadmap for your proposed study In each topic area look for the gaps Discuss how each study relates to your interest and/or theory. Present a conclusion Suggest specific directions for future research- AKA your proposed plan.

Use of Voice Example Example 1 “In this review, I will show that the literature on treating juvenile murderers is sparse and suffers from the same problem as the general literature on juvenile homicide (Myers, 1992). I have found that most of the treatment results are based on clinical case reports (e.g. see Agee, 1979)”.

Use of Voice Example cont… Example 2 “The literature on treating juvenile murderers is sparse and suffers from the same problems as the general literature on juvenile homicide (Myers, 1992). Most treatment results are based on clinical case reports of only a few cases (e.g. see Agee, 1979)”.

Model Literature Review Examples

Activity- Breaking Down the Lit Review Based on your Group articles, answer the following questions: What problem is being addressed? What is the scope of the problem? What theory/theories were identified? How was the lit review structured?

Things to remember Don’t let the literature control you! - Your story Ensure that the information you provide backs up your research question(s) (and approach).

Other Helpful Hints… • Draw on others’ critiques of the literature. DO NOT just provide “quotes” from other research. Quotes should be used at a minimum. READ- Rudestam & Newton- Chp. 4. Utilize a summary sheet (cheat sheet) for each article reviewed.

Annotated Bibliography Examples What information is contained in the annotation? http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/61 4/03/

Annotated Bibliography Annotation- a summary or evaluation of an article or book. It also informs the reader of the relevance, accuracy, and quality of the sources cited. (Cornel University, 2012) Strategies- Summarize Assess Reflect

Anatomy of a research article For you to add to your new toolbox

Anatomy of a research article Abstract Objective Methods Results Conclusion Keywords Introduction/context Purpose, rationale Literature review What existing research and theory says on a topic and how it guided this study Identifies what has not been done or is missing. Methods Sample description Research design Measurement Data analysis Findings/Results (the stuff you skip)  Discussion Practice & policy implications Directions for future research References

Abstract- Study in a Nut Shell Hint about the type of analysis The sample

Introduction: Think Orientation Hint about hypotheses/study aim Hint about purpose

Introduction: Think Orientation cont… Hint- Use of theory and Theoretical constructs

Introduction: Think Orientation cont… Study Rational/Gap Hint about the primary research question

Methods Study type Sample (Note: “n” vs “N”) Information on procedures And data gathering

Methods Dependent Variables Measurement Tool Note: Chronbach’s alpha

Results Results usually begin By addressing Demographics; i.e. age range percentages

Results Note: often used to define any abbreviations. Significance levels and hypothesis

A Word about P-values P-values refer to level of significance (probability theory) Most are set at (.05 or .01) These values refer to the likelihood that results are due to chance, 5% that they are due to chance or randomness I.e. a p-value set at .05 is saying the results are due to chance factors only 5 in 100 times. Stated differently- There is a 95% chance (confidence) that results are NOT due to other factors, and it reflects the population accurately. The odds of such results based on chance alone are .05 or 5 percent p

Discussion Comparison to Previous research. Tying it all together. Possible implication for Practice

Discussion Cont…… Implications for Future Research

Activity- Deconstructing your Article Based on your group reading answer the following questions. What is the study purpose? What is the study rationale? What would you say is the primary research question to be answered? What theory/theories were identified? What if any, hypotheses were stated? What methods were used to collect data? What are the practice implications?

The abstract: Learning the lingo Determine how you will define race… What is the “n” anyway? Why do we use a lower-case n and not an N in this case? Partial Citation (see handout on APA format)

Looking at the intro: Think “orientation” Important definitions that will guide you through the article by giving context: A theory behind the study – a bit of a literature review too A hint about the research question that is setting up the methods section A theory

Getting into the scary stuff…

Findings: More than something to skim! For now, think “results” Findings: More than something to skim!

Discussion, context, significance, limitations, practice implications & future research

Social work (& related) research journals Research in Social Work Practice Social Work Research Child and Youth Services Review Child Welfare Social Work Health and Social Work Journal of Qualitative Social Work American Journal of Public Health American Journal of Community Psychology Journal of Health and Social Behavior Journal of Healthcare for the Poor and Underserved Journal of Behavioral Health Services Research