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Social Work research week 1, Social Welfare and Policy II - Coggle Diagram

- - - - Part 1
        
        Qualitative research is used to find out more about how people feel and understand human behavior. These methods take less planning, but results require lots of analysis to determine their meaning.
        
        Used to understand ideas and concepts
        
        a qualitative research tool is a focus group
        
        All data collection techniques are either qualitative or quantitative.
        
        Quantitative research, the root of the word itself being quantity, are methods which utilize numerical amounts. This uses statistical, logical and mathematical techniques to generate data.
        
        Used to control or test something like a theory or hypothesis.
        
        some quantitative tools are surveys or experiments
      - Part 2
        
        Qualitative
        
        Quantitative
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- - - - Micro social work includes services provided to individuals or families. Mezzo is work done within groups. Macro social work is services provided on a large scale. All three levels of social work could be seen within the school social work setting. An example of micro social work in a school is a social worker meeting a single student during class time to discuss a concern that the student's parent called school about, or a teacher's observation. Mezzo social work could look like the same social worker inviting a small group of students who have classes together to eat lunch in their office, to promote social interactions with peers. A school social worker might engage within the school district community to help improve conditions for the students they serve. I work in a school, an example of macro social work is some of our school social workers working together and within the community to open a teen recreational center so that our students have a safe place to go spend recreational time outside of school. The different levels of social work all correspond to different types of work, and all are vital pieces of it. Micro social workers gather very important qualitative and quantitative observations that mezzo and macro systems can apply to policy, macro can influence policy to benefit many individuals all at once, and mezzo can address groups with similar needs through targeted programming.
  - - - The process of evaluation is research. By addressing the efficacy of programs, policies, or our own interventions in our real life practice, we are conducting research about our own work. An example might be a social worker giving before and after surveys at the beginning of treatment, and then at the end, in order to compare client outcomes from beginning to end of treatment. The information gathered in the survey may show a pattern over time of where that treatment plan was effective, where it was not so effective, and what trends there are when it is used in many cases. Research is so important and beneficial to social work as the importance of the evaluation stage is to a social worker in their practice, as it is the gathering of information relevant to our practice which we can use to refine our interventions.
  - - - Research offers the benefit of evidence-based practice. Instead of being directed by instinct or taking guesses, we use our own observations or the findings of others to determine the best way to move forward. This cuts out our emotions and assures we make decisions that are well informed.
        
        I work in a school. I am a paraprofessional in a behavior program, and I work very closely with social workers. I will likely do my internship where I work as long as I can be supervised by one of my supervisors here. In this setting, I have lots of access to professional advice. An integral part of the program I work in is data collection. Our program works with a token economy, so our students earn points based on different categories if they meet those goals in their classes. They can redeem their earned points for rewards, and the other end is that we have charts and graphs containing quantitative data about their behavior in classes as well as comments about what may have been happening. We use this research to determine what might be happening with students and what may be influencing their decisions. This helps us create targeted goals for our students, as well as showing us information about their strengths and weaknesses.
        
        This data collection is a form of research on our small population. from simply scoring students and collecting numbers, we paint a picture of how their entire school year looked, and use that information to influence our decisions about them.
- - - - A social problem is a problem that a vast amount of people have, which has consequences that make it apparent the problem needs to be addressed. Some social problems we currently face are of course, in the area of public health. Due to COVID 19, a diverse array of social problems developed globally. To address the rapid spread of the disease, people were ordered to stop going to work and to distance themselves from one another, making it difficult for people to maintain their lives. The impact of the pandemic, I think we could all agree, is a generalized sense of ennui stemming from an already difficult system becoming more difficult to survive in.