social work research questions may emerge from your own experience

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Module 2 Chapter 1: The Nature of Social Work Research Questions

The search for empirical evidence typically begins with a question or hypothesis. The nature of the questions asked determine many features of the studies that lead to answers: the study approach, design, measurement, participant selection, data collection, data analysis, and reporting of results. Not just any type of question will do, however:

“When the question is poorly formulated, the design, analysis, sample size calculations, and presentation of results may not be optimal. The gap between research and clinical practice could be bridged by a clear, complete, and informative research question” (Mayo, Asano, & Barbic, 2013, 513).

The topic concerning the nature of social work research questions has two parts: what constitutes a research question, and what makes it a social work question. We begin this chapter by examining a general model for understanding where different types of questions fit into the larger picture of knowledge building explored in Module 1. We then look at research questions and social work questions separately. Finally, we reassemble them to identify strong social work research questions.

In this chapter, you will learn:

• 4 types of social work research for knowledge building,
• characteristics of research questions,
• characteristics of social work research questions.

Translational Science

The concept of translational science addresses the application of basic science discoveries and knowledge to routine professional practice. In medicine, the concept is sometimes described as “bench to trench,” meaning that it takes what is learned at the laboratory “bench” to practitioners’ work in the real-world, or “in the trenches.” This way of thinking is about applied science—research aimed at eventual applications to create or support change. Figure 1-1 assembles the various pieces of the translational science knowledge building enterprise:

Figure 1-1. Overview of translational science elements

Basic Research .   Federal policy defines basic research  as systematic study that is directed toward understanding the fundamental aspects of phenomena without specific applications in mind (adapted from 32 CFR 272.3). Basic research efforts are those designed to describe something or answer questions about its nature. Basic research in social and behavioral science addresses questions of at least two major types: epidemiology  and  etiology  questions.

Epidemiology questions. Questions about the nature of a population, problem, or social phenomenon are often answered through epidemiological methods. Epidemiology is the branch of science (common in public health) for understanding how a problem or phenomenon is distributed in a population. Epidemiologists also ask and address questions related to the nature of relationships between problems or phenomena—such as the relationship between opioid misuse and infectious disease epidemics (NAS, 2018). One feature offered by epidemiological research is a picture of trends over time. Consider, for example, epidemiology data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (the CDC) regarding trends in suicide rates in the state of Ohio over a four-year period (see Figure 1-2, created from data presented by CDC WONDER database).

Figure 1-2. Graph reflecting Ohio trend in suicide rate, 2012-2016

Since the upward trend is of concern, social workers might pursue additional questions to examine possible causes of the observed increases, as well as what the increase might mean to the expanded need for supportive services to families and friends of these individuals. The epidemiological data can help tease out some of these more nuanced answers. For example, epidemiology also tells us that firearms were the recorded cause in 46.9% of known suicide deaths among individuals aged 15-24 years across the nation during 2016 (CDC, WONDER database). Not only do we now know the numbers of suicide deaths in this age group, we know something about a relevant factor that might be addressed through preventive intervention and policy responses.

Epidemiology also addresses questions about the size and characteristics of a population being impacted by a problem or the scope of a problem. For example, a social worker might have a question about the “shape” of a problem defined as sexual violence victimization. Data from the United States’ 2010-2012 National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey (NISVS) indicated that over 36% of woman (1 in 3) and 17% of men (1 in 6) have experienced sexual violence involving physical contact at some point in their lives; the numbers vary by state, from 29.5% to 47.5% for women and 10.4% to 29.3% for men (Smith et al., 2017).

In developing informed responses to a problem, it helps to know for whom it is a problem. Practitioners, program administrators, and policy decision makers may not be aware that the problem of sexual violence is so prevalent, or that men are victimized at worrisome rates, as well as women. It is also helpful to know how the problem of interest might interface with other problems. For example, the interface between perpetrating sexual assault and alcohol use was examined in a study of college men (Testa & Cleveland, 2017). The study investigators determined that frequently attending parties and bars was associated with a greater probability of perpetrating sexual assault. Thus, epidemiological research helps answer questions about the scope and magnitude of a problem, as well as how it relates to other issues or factors, which can then inform next steps in research to address the problem.

Etiology questions.  Etiology research tests theories and hypotheses about the origins and natural course of a problem or phenomenon. This includes answering questions about factors that influence the appearance or course of a problem—these may be factors that mediate or moderate the phenomenon’s development or progression (e.g., demographic characteristics, co-occurring problems, or other environmental processes). To continue with our intimate partner violence example, multiple theories are presented in the literature concerning the etiology of intimate partner violence perpetration—theories also exist concerning the etiology of being the target of intimate partner violence (Begun, 2003). Perpetration theories include:

• personality/character traits
• biological/hereditary/genetic predisposition
• social learning/behavior modeling
• social skills
• self-esteem
• cultural norms (Begun, 2003, p. 642).

Evidence supporting each of these theories exists, to some degree; each theory leads to the development of a different type of prevention or intervention response. The “best” interventions will be informed by theories with the strongest evidence or will integrate elements from multiple evidence-supported theories.

Etiology research is often about understanding the mechanisms underlying the phenomena of interest. The questions are “how” questions—how does this happen (or not)? For example, scientists asked the question: how do opioid medications (used to manage pain) act on neurons compared to opioids that naturally occur in the brain (Stoeber et al., 2018)? They discovered that opioid medications used to treat pain bind to receptors  inside n erve cells, which is a quite different mechanism than the conventional wisdom that they behave the same way that naturally occurring (endogenous) opioids do—binding only on the surface  of nerve cells. Understanding this mechanism opens new options for developing pain relievers that are less- or non-addicting than current opioid medicines like morphine and oxycodone. Once these mechanisms of change are understood, interventions can be developed, then tested through intervention research approaches.

Intervention Research.  Interventions are designed around identified needs: epidemiology research helps to support intervention design by identify the needs. Epidemiology research also helps identify theories concerning the causes and factors affecting social work problems. Intervention development is further supported by later theory-testing and etiology research. However, developing an intervention is not sufficient: interventions need to be tested and evaluated to ensure that they are (1) safe, (2) effective, and (3) cost-efficient to deliver. This is where  intervention research  comes into play. Consider the example of Motivational Interviewing (MI) approaches to addressing client ambivalence about engaging in a behavior change effort. Early research concerning MI addressed questions about its effectiveness. For example, a meta-analytic review reported that “MI should be considered as a treatment for adolescent substance abuse” because the evidence demonstrated small, but significant effect sizes, and that the treatment gains were retained over time (Jensen et al., 2011). Subsequently, when its safety and effectiveness were consistently demonstrated through this kind of evidence, investigators assessed MI as cost-efficient or cost-effective. For example, MI combined with providing feedback was demonstrated to be cost-effective in reducing drinking among college students who engaged in heavy drinking behavior (Cowell et al., 2012).

Intervention research not only is concerned with the outcomes of delivering an intervention, but may also address the mechanisms of change  through which an intervention has its effects—not only what changes happen, but how  they happen. For example, investigators are exploring  how  psychotherapy works, moving beyond demonstrating that  it works (Ardito & Rabellino, 2011; Kazdin, 2007; Wampold, 2015). One mechanism that has garnered attention is the role of therapeutic alliance—the relationships, bonds, and interactions that occur in the context of treatment—on treatment outcomes.

Therapeutic alliance is one common factor identified across numerous types of effective psychotherapeutic approaches (Wampold, 2015). Authors summarizing a number of studies about therapeutic alliance and its positive relationship to treatment outcomes concluded that the quality of therapeutic alliance may be a more powerful predictor of positive outcome than is the nature or type of intervention delivered (Ardito & Rabellino, 2011). However, it is important to determine the extent to which (a) therapeutic alliance enhances clients’ symptom improvement, (b) gradual improvements in symptoms lead to enhanced therapeutic alliance, or (c) the relationship between therapeutic alliance and symptom improvement are iterative—they go back and forth, influencing each other over time (Kazdin, 2007).

Implementation Science . Social work and other disciplines have produced a great deal of evidence about “what works” for intervening around a great number of social work problems. Unfortunately, many best practices with this kind of evidence support are slow to become common practices.  Implementation science  is about understanding facilitators and barriers to these evidence-supported interventions becoming adopted into routine practice: characteristics of the interventions themselves, conditions and processes operating in the organizations where interventions are implemented, and factors external to these organizations all influence practitioners’ adoption of evidence supported interventions.

Even under optimal internal organizational conditions, implementation can be undermined by changes in organizations’ external environments, such as fluctuations in funding, adjustments in contracting practices, new technology, new legislation, changes in clinical practice guidelines and recommendations, or other environmental shifts” (Birken, et al, 2017).

Research for/about Research . In addition, social work investigators engage in research that is specifically about scientific methodology. This is where advances in measurement, participant recruitment and retention, and data analysis emerge. The results of these kinds of research studies are used to improve the research in basic, intervention, and implementation research. Later in the course you will see some of these products in action as we learn about best practices in research and evaluation methodology. Here are a few examples related to measurement methods:

• Concept mapping to assess community needs of sexual minority youth (Davis, Saltzburg, & Locke, 2010)
• Field methodologies for measuring college student drinking in natural environments (Clapp et al., 2007)
• Intergenerational contact measurement (Jarrott, Weaver, Bowen, & Wang, 2018)
• Perceived Social Competence Scale-II (Anderson-Butcher et al., 2016)
• Safe-At-Home Instrument to measure readiness to change intimate partner violence behavior (Begun et al., 2003; 2008; Sielski, Begun, & Hamel, 2015)
• Teamwork Scale for Youth (Lower, Newman, & Anderson-Butcher, 2016)

And, here are a few examples related to involving participants in research studies:

• Conducting safe research with at risk populations (Kyriakakis, Waller, Kagotho, & Edmond, 2015)
• Recruitment strategies for non-treatment samples in addiction studies (Subbaraman et al., 2015)
• Variations in recruitment results across Internet platforms (Shao et al., 2015)

Take a moment to complete the following activity.

Research Questions

In this section, we take a closer look at research questions and their relationship to the types of research conducted by investigators. It may be easier to understand research questions by first ruling out what are not research questions. In that spirit, let’s begin with examples of questions where applying research methods will not help to find answers:

• Trauma informed education. The first issue with this example is obvious: it is not worded as a question. The second is critically important: this is a general topic, it is not a research question. This topic is too vague and broad making it impossible to determine what answers would look like or how to approach finding answers.
• How is my client feeling about what just happened? This type of question about an individual is best answered by asking clinical questions of that individual, within the context of the therapeutic relationship, not by consulting research literature or conducting a systematic research study.
• Will my community come together in protest of a police-involved shooting incident? This type of question may best be answered by waiting to see what the future brings. Research might offer a guess based on data from how other communities behaved in the past but cannot predict how groups in individual situations will behave. A better research question might be: What factors predict community protest in response to police-involved shooting incidents?
• Should I order salad or soup to go with my sandwich? This type of question is not of general interest, making it a poor choice as a research question. The question might be reframed as a general interest question: Is it healthier to provide salad or soup along with a sandwich? The answer to that researchable question might inform a personal decision.
• Why divorce is bad for children. There are two problems with this example. First, it is a statement, not a question, despite starting with the word “why.” Second, this question starts out with a biased assumption—that divorce is bad for children. Research questions should support unbiased investigation, leading to evidence and answers representative of what exists rather than what someone sets out wanting to prove is the case. A better research question might be: How does divorce affect children?

Tuning back to our first example of what is not a research question, consider several possible school social work research questions related to that general topic:

• To what extent do elementary school personnel feel prepared to engage in trauma informed education with their students?
• What are the barriers and facilitators of integrating trauma informed education in middle school?
• Does integrating trauma informed education result in lower rates of suicidal ideation among high school students?

Is there a relationship between parent satisfaction and the implementation of trauma informed education in their children’s schools?

Does implementing trauma informed education in middle schools affect the rate of student discipline referrals?

What is the difference between these research questions and the earlier “not research” questions? First, research questions are specific. This is an important distinction between identifying a topic of interest (e.g., trauma informed education) and asking a researchable question. For example, the question “How does divorce affect children?” is not a good research question because it remains too broad. Instead, investigators might focus their research questions on one or two specific effects of interest, such as emotional or mental health, academic performance, sibling relationships, aggression, gender role, or dating relationship outcomes.

Related to a question being “researchable” is its feasibility for study. Being able to research a question requires that appropriate data can be collected with integrity. For example, it may not be feasible to study what would happen if every child was raised by two parents, because (a) it is impossible to study every child and (2) this reality cannot ethically be manipulated to systematically explore it. No one can ethically conduct a study whereby children are randomly assigned by study investigators to the compared conditions of being raised by two parents versus being raised by one or no parents. Instead, we settle for observing what has occurred naturally in different families.

Second, “good” research questions are relevant to knowledge building. For this reason, the question about what to eat was not a good research question—it is not relevant to others’ knowledge development. Relevance is in the “eye of the beholder,” however. A social work researcher may not see the relevance of using a 4-item stimulus array versus a 6-item stimulus array in testing children’s memory, but this may be an important research question for a cognitive psychology researcher. It may, eventually, have implications for assessment measures used in social work practice.

Third, is the issue of bias built into research questions. Remembering that investigators are a product of their own developmental and social contexts, what they choose to study and how they choose to study it are socially constructed. An important aspect at the heart of social work research relates to a question’s cultural appropriateness and acceptability. To demonstrate this point, consider an era (during the 1950s to early 1970s) when research questions were asked about the negative effects on child development of single-parent, black family households compared to two-parent, white family households in America. This “majority comparison” frame of reference is not culturally appropriate or culturally competent. Today, in social work, we adopt a strengths perspective, and avoid making comparisons of groups against a majority model. For example, we might ask questions like: What are the facilitators and barriers of children’s positive development as identified by single parents of diverse racial/ethnic backgrounds? What strengths do African American parents bring to the experience of single-parenting and how does it shape their children’s development? What are the similar and different experiences of single-parenting experienced by families of different racial/ethnic composition?

Research Questions versus Research Hypotheses . You have now seen examples of “good” research questions. Take, for example, the last one we listed about trauma informed education:

Based on a review of literature, practice experience, previous research efforts, and the school’s interests, an investigator may be prepared to be even more specific about the research question (see Figure 1-3). Assume that these sources led the investigator to believe that implementing the trauma informed education approach will have the effect of reducing the rate of disciplinary referrals. The investigator may then propose to test the following hypothesis:

Implementing trauma informed education in middle schools will result in a reduction in the number of student discipline referrals.

The research hypothesis  is a clear statement that can be tested with quantitative data and will either be rejected or not, depending on the evidence. Research hypotheses are predictions about study results—what the investigator expects the results will show. The prediction, or hypothesis, is based on theory and/or other evidence. A study hypothesis is, by definition, quantifiable—the answer lies in numerical data, which is why we do not generally see hypotheses in qualitative, descriptive research reports.

Hypotheses are also specific to one question at a time. Thus, an investigator would need to state and test a second hypothesis to answer the question:

The stated hypothesis might be:

Parent satisfaction is higher in middle schools where trauma informed education is implemented.

Figure 1-3. Increasing specificity from research topic to question to hypothesis

Social Work Questions

It is difficult to find a simple way to characterize social work research. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) described social work research in the following way:

Historically, social work research has focused on studies of the individual, family, group, community, policy and/or organizational level, focusing across the lifespan on prevention, intervention, treatment, aftercare and rehabilitation of acute and chronic conditions, including the effects of policy on social work practice (OBSSR, 2003, p. 5) .

For all the breadth expressed in this statement, it reflects only how social work research relates to the health arena—it does not indicate many other domains and service delivery systems of social work influence:

• physical, mental, and behavioral health
• substance misuse/addiction and other addictive behaviors
• income/poverty
• criminal justice
• child and family welfare
• housing and food security/insecurity
• environmental social work
• intimate partner, family, and community violence
• and others.

In addition to breadth of topic, social work research is characterized by its biopsychosocial nature. This means that social work researchers not only pursue questions relating to biological, psychological, and social context factors, but also questions relating to their intersections and interactions. Related to this observation is that social work not only addresses questions related to the multiple social system levels, social work also addresses the ways multiple levels intersect and interact (i.e., those levels represented in the NIH statement about individuals, families, groups, communities, organizations, and policy).

It is worth noting that research need not be conducted by social workers to be relevant to social work–many disciplines and professions contribute to the knowledge base which informs social work practice (medicine, nursing, education, occupational therapy, psychology, sociology, criminal justice, political science, economics, and more). Authors of one social work research textbook summarize the relevance issue in the following statement:

“To social workers, a relevant research question is one whose answers will have an impact on policies, theories, or practices related to the social work profession” (Grinnell & Unrau, 2014, p. 46).

Social Work Research Questions and Specific Aims

The kinds of questions that help inform social work practice and policy are relevant to understanding social work problems, diverse populations, social phenomena, or interventions. Most social work research questions can be divided into two general categories: background questions  and foreground questions . The major distinction between these two categories relates to the specific aims that emerge in relation to the research questions.

Background Questions.  This type of question is answerable with a fact or set of facts. Background questions are generally simple in structure, and they direct a straightforward search for evidence. This type of question can usually be formulated using the classic 5 question words: who, what, when, where, or why. Here are a few examples of social work background questions related to the topic of fetal alcohol exposure:

• Who is at greatest risk of fetal alcohol exposure?
• What are the developmental consequences of fetal alcohol exposure?
• When in gestation is the risk of fetal alcohol exposure greatest?
• Where do women get information about the hazards of drinking during pregnancy?
• Why is fetal alcohol exposure (FAE) presented as a spectrum disorder, different from fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS)?

These kinds of questions direct a social worker to review literature about human development, human behavior, the distribution of the problem across populations, and factors that determine the nature of a specific social work problem like fetal exposure to alcohol. Where the necessary knowledge is lacking, investigators aim to explore or describe the phenomenon of interest. Many background questions can be answered by epidemiology or etiology evidence.

Foreground Questions.  This type of question is more complex than the typical background question. Foreground questions typically are concerned with making specific choices by comparing or evaluating options. These types of questions required more specialized evidence and may lead to searching different types of resources than would be helpful for answering background questions. Foreground questions are dealt with in greater detail in our second course, SWK 3402 which is about understanding social work interventions. A quick foreground question example related to the fetal exposure to alcohol topic might be:

Which is the best tool for screening pregnant women for alcohol use with the aim of reducing fetal exposure, the T-ACE, TWEAK, or AUDIT?

This type of question leads the social worker to search for evidence that compares different approaches. These kinds of evidence are usually found in comparative reviews, or require the practitioner to conduct a review of literature, locating individual efficacy and effectiveness studies. Where knowledge is found to be lacking, investigators aim to experiment with different approaches or interventions.

Three Question Types and Their Associated Research Aims

Important distinctions exist related to different types of background questions. Consider three general categories of questions that social workers might ask about populations, problems, and social phenomena: exploratory, descriptive, and explanatory. The different types of questions matter because the nature of the research questions determines the specific aims and most appropriate research approaches investigators apply in answering them.

Exploratory Research Questions. Social workers may find themselves facing a new, emerging problem where there is little previously developed knowledge available—so little, in fact, that it is premature to begin asking any more complex questions about causes or developing testable theories. Exploratory research questions open the door to beginning understanding and are basic; answers would help build the foundation of knowledge for asking more complex descriptive and explanatory questions. For example, in the early days of recognition that HIV/AIDS was emerging as a significant public health problem, it was premature to jump to questions about how to treat or prevent the problem. Not enough was known about the nature and scope of the problem, for whom it was a problem, how the problem was transmitted, factors associated with risk for exposure, what factors influenced the transition from HIV exposure to AIDS as a disease state, and what issues or problems might co-occur along with either HIV exposure or AIDS. In terms of a knowledge evolution process, a certain degree of exploration had to occur before intervention strategies for prevention and treatment could be developed, tested, and implemented.

In 1981, medical providers, public health officials, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) began to circulate and publish observations about a disproportionate, unexpectedly high incidence rate of an unusual pneumonia and Kaposi’s sarcoma appearing in New York City and San Francisco/California among homosexual men (Curran, & Jaffe, 2011). As a result, a task force was formed and charged with conducting an epidemiologic investigation of this outbreak; “Within 6 months, it was clear that a new, highly concentrated epidemic of life threatening illness was occurring in the United States” (Curran & Jaffe, 2011, p. 65). The newly recognized disease was named for its symptoms: acquired immune deficiency syndrome, or AIDS. Exploratory research into the social networks of 90 living patients in 10 different cities indicated that 40 had a sexual contact link with another member of the 90-patient group (Auerbach, Darrow, Jaffe, & Curran, 1984). Additionally, cases were identified among persons who had received blood products related to their having hemophilia, persons engaged in needle sharing during substance use, women who had sexual contact with a patient, and infants born to exposed women. Combined, these pieces of information led to an understanding that the causal infectious factor (eventually named the human immunodeficiency virus, HIV) was transmitted by sexual contact, blood, and placental connection. This, in turn, led to knowledge building activities to develop both preventive and treatment strategies which could be implemented and studied. Social justice concerns relate to the slow rate at which sufficient resources were committed for evolving to the point of effective solutions for saving lives among those at risk or already affected by a heavily stigmatized problem.

The exploratory research approaches utilized in the early HIV/AIDS studies were both qualitative and quantitative in nature. Qualitative studies included in-depth interviews with identified patients—anthropological and public health interviews about many aspects of their living, work, and recreational environments, as well as many types of behavior. Quantitative studies included comparisons between homosexually active men with and without the diseases of concern. In addition, social network study methods combined qualitative and quantitative approaches. These examples of early exploratory research supported next steps in knowledge building to get us to where we are today. “Today, someone diagnosed with HIV and treated before the disease is far advanced can live nearly as long as someone who does not have HIV” (hiv.gov). While HIV infection cannot (yet) be “cured,” it can be controlled and managed as a chronic condition.

Descriptive Research Questions.  Social workers often ask for descriptions about specific populations, problems, processes, or phenomena. Descriptive research questions  might be expressed in terms of searching to create a profile of a group or population, create categories or types (typology) to describe elements of a population, document facts that confirm or contradict existing beliefs about a topic or issue, describe a process, or identify steps/stages in a sequential process (Grinnell & Unrau, 2014). Investigators may elect to approach the descriptive question using qualitative methods that result in a rich, deep description of certain individuals’ experiences or perceptions (Yegidis, Weinbach, & Meyers, 2018). Or, the descriptive question might lead investigators to apply quantitative methods, assigning numeric values, measuring variables that describe a population, process, or situation of interest. In descriptive research, investigators do not manipulate or experiment with the variables; investigators seek to describe what naturally occurs (Yegidis, Weinbach, & Meyers, 2018). As a result of studies answering descriptive questions, tentative theories and hypotheses may be generated.

Here are several examples of descriptive questions.

• How do incarcerated women feel about the option of medication-assisted treatment for substance use disorders?
• What barriers to engaging in substance misuse treatment do previously incarcerated persons experience during community reentry?
• How often do emerging adults engage in binge drinking in different drinking contexts (e.g., bars, parties, sporting events, at home)?
• What percent of incarcerated adults experience a substance use disorder?
• What is the magnitude of racial/ethnic disparities in access to treatment for substance use disorders?
• Who provides supervision or coordination of services for aging adults with intellectual or other developmental disabilities?
• What is the nature of the debt load among students in doctoral social work programs?

An example of descriptive research, derived from a descriptive question, is represented in an article where investigators addressed the question: How is the topic of media violence and aggression reported in print media (Martins et al., 2013)? This question led the investigators to conduct a qualitative content analysis, resulting in a description showing a shift in tone where earlier articles (prior to 2000) emphasized the link as a point of concern and later articles (since 2000) assumed a more neutral stance.

Correlational Research Questions.  One important type of descriptive question asks about relationships that might exist between variables—looking to see if variable x  and variable y  are associated or correlated with each other. This is an example of a correlational research question; it does not indicate whether “x” causes “y” or “y” causes “x”, only whether these two are related. Consider again the topic of exposure to violence in the media and its relationship to aggression. A descriptive question asked about the existence of a relationship between exposure to media violence ( variable x ) and children’s expression of aggression ( variable y ). Investigators reported one study of school-aged children, examining the relationship between exposure to three types of media violence (television, video games, and movies/videos) and three types of aggression (verbal, relational, and physical; Gentile, Coyne, & Walsh, 2011). The study investigators reported that media violence exposure was, indeed, correlated with all three types of aggressive behavior (and less prosocial behavior, too).

For a positive correlation (the blue line), as the value of the “x” variable increases, so does the value of the “y” variable (see Figure 1-4 for a general demonstration). An example might be as age or grade in school increases (“x”), so does the number of preadolescent, adolescent, and emerging adults who have used alcohol (“y”). For a negative correlation (the orange line), as the value of the “x” variable increases, the value of the “y” variable decreases. An example might be as the number of weeks individuals are in treatment for depression symptoms (“x”), the reported depression symptoms decreases (“y”). The neutral of non-correlation line (grey) means that the two variables, “x” and “y” do not have an association with each other. For example, number of years of teachers’ education (“x”) might be unrelated to the number of students dropping out of high school (“y”).

Figure 1-4. Depicting positive, negative, and neutral correlation lines

Descriptive correlational studies are sometimes called comparison studies because the descriptive question is answered by comparing groups that differ on one of the variables (low versus high media violence exposure) to see how they might differ on the other variable (aggressive behavior).

Explanatory Research Questions. To inform the design of evidence-informed interventions, social workers need answers to questions about the nature of the relationships between potentially influential factors or variables. An explanatory research question  might be mapped as: Does variable x  cause, lead to or prevent changes in variable y  (Grinnell & Unrau, 2014)? These types of questions often test theory related to etiology.

Comparative research might provide information about a relationship between variables. For example, the difference in outcomes between persons experiencing a substance use disorder and have been incarcerated compared to others with the same problem but have not been incarcerated may be related to their employability and ability to generate a living-wage income for themselves and their families. However, to develop evidence-informed interventions, social workers need to know that variables are not only related, but that one variable actually plays a causal role in relation to the other. Imagine, for example, that evidence demonstrated a significant relationship between adolescent self-esteem and school performance. Social workers might spend a great deal of effort developing interventions to boost self-esteem in hopes of having a positive impact on school performance. However, what if self-esteem comes from strong school performance? The self-esteem intervention efforts will not likely have the desired effect on school performance. Just because research demonstrates a significant relationship between two variables does not mean that the research has demonstrated a  causal relationship between those variables. Investigators need to be cautious about the extent to which their study designs can support drawing conclusions about causality; anyone reviewing research reports also needs to be alert to where causal conclusions are properly and improperly drawn.

The questions that drive intervention and evaluation research studies are explanatory in nature: does the intervention ( x ) have a significant impact on outcomes of interest ( y )? Another type of explanatory question related to intervention research concerns the mechanisms of change. In other words, not only might social workers be interested to find out  what  outcomes or changes can be attributed to an intervention, they may also be interested to learn how  the intervention causes those changes or outcomes.

Chapter Summary

In this chapter, you learned about different aspects of the knowledge building process and where different types of research questions might fit into the big picture. No single research study covers the entire spectrum; each study contributes a piece of the puzzle as a whole. Research questions come in many different forms and several different types. What is important to recall as we move through the remainder of the course is that the decisions investigators make about research approaches, designs, and procedures all start with the nature of the question being asked. And, the questions being asked are influenced by multiple factors, including what is previously known and remains unknown, the culture and context of the questioners, and what theories they have about what is to be studied. That leads us to the next chapter.

Social Work 3401 Coursebook Copyright © by Dr. Audrey Begun is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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1.1 Getting started

Learning objectives.

• Find a topic to investigate
• Create a working question

Choosing a social work research topic

According to the Action Network for Social Work Education and Research (ANSWER), social work research is conducted to benefit “consumers, practitioners, policymakers, educators, and the general public through the examination of societal issues” (Action Network for Social Work Education and Research, ANSWER, n.d., para. 2).  Common social issues that are studied include “health care, substance abuse, community violence, family issues, child welfare, aging, well-being and resiliency, and the strengths and needs of underserved populations” (ANSWER, n.d., para. 2). This list is certainly not exhaustive. Social workers may study any area that impacts their practice. However, the unifying feature of social work research is its focus on promoting the well-being of target populations.

But as social work students, you may not be practicing social work yet. How do you identify valuable research topics then? Part of the joy in being a social work student is figuring out what areas of social work are appealing to you. Perhaps there are certain theories that speak to you, based on your values or experiences. Perhaps there are social issues you wish to change. Perhaps there are certain groups of people you want to help. Perhaps there are clinical interventions that interest you. Any one of these is a good place to start. At the beginning of a research project, your main focus should be finding a social work topic that is interesting enough to spend a semester reading and writing about it.

A good topic selection plan begins with a general orientation into the subject you are interested in pursuing in more depth. Here are some suggestions when choosing a topic area:

• Pick an interest, experience, or an area where you know there is a need for more research.
• It may be easier to start with “what” and “why” questions and expand on those. For example, what are the best methods of treating severe depression? Or why are people receiving SNAP more likely to be obese?
• If you already have practice experience in social work through employment, an internship, or volunteer work, think about practice issues you noticed in the placement.
• Ask a professor, preferably one active in research, about possible topics.
• Read departmental information on research interests of the faculty. Faculty research interests vary widely, and it might surprise you what they’ve published on in the past. Most departmental websites post the curriculum vitae, or CV, of faculty which lists their publications, credentials, and interests.
• Read a research paper that interests you. The paper’s literature review or background section will provide insight into the research question the author was seeking to address with their study. Is the research incomplete, imprecise, biased, or inconsistent? As you’re reading the paper, look for what’s missing. These may be “gaps in the literature” that you might explore in your own study. The conclusion or discussion section at the end may also offer some questions for future exploration. A recent blog posting in  Science  (Pain, 2016)  provides several tips from researchers and graduate students on how to effectively read these papers.
• Think about papers you enjoyed researching and writing in other classes. Research is a unique class and will use the tools of social science for you to think more in depth about a topic. It will bring a new perspective that will deepen your knowledge of the topic.
• Identify and browse journals related to your research interests. Faculty and librarians can help you identify relevant journals in your field and specific areas of interest.

Spotlight on UTA: Dr. Jandel crutchfield

Before Dr. Jandel Crutchfield of the University of Texas at Arlington’s School of Social Work ever became a school social worker or a social work professor, she was “just” a student in public schools in southern Louisiana. While she had a very strong support system through her family and community, she remembers interacting with students around her who clearly did not have the same set of life circumstances that she did. And she saw, too, that often those circumstances interfered with their performance at school.  She served as a mentor during her middle and high school years to try to stand in the gap for some of these students who were facing personal and/or academic challenges, and so, it came naturally that she would want to become a school social worker as a long-term career. Whether it was her  years of schooling as a child or as a professional working in K-12 public schools, she experienced enough to come up with at least 20 different research topics related to schools. Not only was school such a pivotal part of life for children and families, but there was so much happening in schools that influenced long term outcomes like employment, safety, freedom, and success!

Of all these 20+ potential topics, she really wanted to know how social workers could help improve the lives of children and families in schools. When she began exploring research articles, she found it interesting to see there existed lots of ideas and models of how school social workers could assist students with academic, social, behavioral, and psychological health in schools. But based on her experience, she saw several gaps in these models and ideas. In the literature about school social work, she didn’t find much information about school social workers working with minority (black and brown) students. She remembered in her own personal and professional experiences that minority students make up a large percentage of the public school students and that they were experiencing very consequential racial disparities in academic success and school discipline.  So, she launched out to explore what became her first research topic: exactly what school social workers are doing to address these disparities. From this topic, another research area blossomed, as she discovered that many school social workers reported a desire to address racial disparities but lack the cultural competence training to advocate effectively for anti-racist interventions. And so, her research quest also involves seeking out understanding of cultural competence needs in school social work practice. She’s very thankful that her own personal and professional experiences served her well in finding research topics. She found two pathways to explore minority student experience: school social work interventions for minority students and cultural competence among school social workers (for more information, refer to Crutchfield & Webb, 2018; Crutchfield, Crutchfield, & Buford, 2018; Ortega-Williams, Crutchfield, & Hall (in press); and Tan, Teasley, Crutchfield & Canfield, 2017).

How do you feel about your topic?

Perhaps you have started with a specific population in mind—for example, youth who identify as LGBTQ or visitors to a local health clinic. In other cases, you may start with a social problem, such as gang violence, or social policy or program, such as zero-tolerance policies in schools. Alternately, maybe there are interventions like dialectical behavioral therapy or applied behavior analysis about which you would like to learn more. Your motivation for choosing a topic does not have to be objective. Because social work is a values-based profession, social work researchers often find themselves motivated to conduct research that furthers social justice or fights oppression. Just because you think a policy is wrong or a group is being marginalized, for example, does not mean that your research will be biased. However, it does mean you need to understand how you feel, why you feel that way, and what would cause you to feel differently about your topic.

Start by asking yourself how you feel about your topic. Be totally honest, and ask yourself whether you believe your perspective is the only valid one. Perhaps yours isn’t the only perspective, but do you believe it is the wisest one? The most practical one? How do you feel about other perspectives on this topic? If you feel so strongly that certain findings would upset you or that either you would design a project to get only the answer you believe to be the best one or you might feel compelled to cover up findings that you don’t like, then you need to choose a different topic. For example, a researcher may want to find out whether there is any relationship between intelligence and political party affiliation—certain that members of her party are without a doubt the most intelligent. Her strong opinion would not be a problem by itself. However, if she feels rage when considering the possibility that the opposing party’s members are more intelligent than those of her party, the topic is probably too near and dear for her to use it to conduct unbiased research.

Of course, just because you feel strongly about a topic does not mean that you should not study it. Sometimes the best topics to research are those about which you do feel strongly. What better way to stay motivated than to study something that you care about? You must be able to accept that people will have a different perspective than you do, and try to represent their viewpoints fairly in your research. If you feel prepared to accept all findings, even those that may be unflattering to or distinct from your personal perspective, then perhaps you should intentionally study a topic about which you have strong feelings.

Kathleen Blee (1991, 2002) has taken this route in her research. Blee studies hate movement participants, people whose racist ideologies she studies but does not share. You can read her accounts of this research in two of her most well-known publications, Inside Organized Racism and Women of the Klan . Blee’s research is successful because she was willing to report her findings and observations honestly, even those about which she may have strong feelings. Unlike Blee, if you think about it and conclude that you cannot accept or share with others findings with which you disagree, then you should study a different topic. Knowing your own hot-button issues is an important part of self-knowledge and reflection in social work.

Social workers often use personal experience as a starting point for what topics are interesting to cover. As we’ve discussed here, personal experience can be a powerful motivator to study a topic in detail. However, social work researchers should be mindful of their own mental health during the research process. A social worker who has experienced a mental health crisis or traumatic event should approach researching related topics cautiously. There is no need to retraumatize yourself or jeopardize your mental health for a research paper. For example, a student who has just experienced domestic violence may want to know about Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) therapy. While the student might gain some knowledge about potential treatments for domestic violence, she will likely have to read through many stories and reports about domestic violence. Unless the student’s trauma has been processed in therapy, conducting a research project on this topic may negatively impact the student’s mental health. Nevertheless, she will acquire skills in research methods that will help her understand the EMDR literature and whether to begin treatment in that modality.

Whether you feel strongly about your topic or not, you will also want to consider what you already known about it. There are many ways we know what we know. Perhaps your mother told you something is so. Perhaps it came to you in a dream. Perhaps you took a class last semester and learned something about your topic there. Or you may have read something about your topic in your local newspaper or in People magazine. We discussed the strengths and weaknesses associated with some of these different sources of knowledge in Chapter 1, and we’ll talk about other sources of knowledge, such as prior research in the next few sections. For now, take some time to think about what you know about your topic from all possible sources. Thinking about what you already know will help you identify any biases you may have, and it will help as you begin to frame a question about your topic.

What do you want to know?

Once you have a topic, begin to think about it in terms of a question. What do you really want to know about the topic? As a warm-up exercise, try dropping a possible topic idea into one of the blank spaces below. The questions may help bring your subject into sharper focus and provide you with the first important steps towards developing your topic.

• What does ___ mean? (Definition)
• What are the various features of ___? (Description)
• What are the component parts of ___? (Simple analysis)
• How is ___ made or done? (Process analysis)
• How should ___ be made or done? (Directional analysis)
• What is the essential function of ___? (Functional analysis)
• What are the causes of ___? (Causal analysis)
• What are the consequences of ___? (Causal analysis)
• What are the types of ___? (Classification)
• How is ___ like or unlike ___? (Comparison)
• What is the present status of ___? (Comparison)
• What is the significance of ___? (Interpretation)
• What are the facts about ___? (Reportage)
• How did ___ happen? (Narration)
• What kind of person is ___? (Characterization/Profile)
• What is the value of ___? (Evaluation)
• What are the essential major points or features of ___? (Summary)
• What case can be made for or against ___? (Persuasion)
• What is the relationship between _____ and the outcome of ____? (Explorative)

Take a minute right now and write down a question you want to answer. Even if it doesn’t seem perfect, everyone needs a place to start. Make sure your research topic is relevant to social work. You’d be surprised how much of the world that encompasses. It’s not just research on mental health treatment or child welfare services. Social workers can study things like the pollution of irrigation systems and entrepreneurship in women, among infinite other topics. The only requirement is your research must inform action to fight social problems faced by target populations.

Your question is only a starting place, as research is an iterative process , one that subject to constant revision.  As we progress in this textbook, you’ll learn how to refine your question and include the necessary components for proper qualitative and quantitative research questions. Your question will also likely change as you engage with the literature on your topic. You will learn new and important concepts that may shift your focus or clarify your original ideas. Trust that a strong question will emerge from this process.

Key Takeaways

• Many researchers choose topics by considering their own personal experiences, knowledge, and interests.
• Researchers should be aware of and forthcoming about any strong feelings they might have about their research topics.
• There are benefits and drawbacks associated with studying a topic about which you already have some prior knowledge or experience. Researchers should be aware of and consider both.
• Writing a question down will help guide your inquiry.

Image Attributions

Transportation/traffic by geralt cc-0, justice by geralt cc-0, question by max pixel cc-0.

Guidebook for Social Work Literature Reviews and Research Questions Copyright © 2020 by Rebecca Mauldin and Matthew DeCarlo is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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9.02: Qualitative interviews

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• Page ID 127976

• Rebecca L. Mauldin
• University of Texas at Arlington via Mavs Open Press

Learning Objectives

• Define interviews from the social scientific perspective
• Identify when it is appropriate to employ interviews as a data-collection strategy
• Identify the primary aim of in-depth interviews
• Describe what makes qualitative interview techniques unique
• Define the term interview guide and describe how to construct an interview guide
• Outline the guidelines for constructing good qualitative interview questions
• Describe how writing field notes and journaling function in qualitative research
• Identify the strengths and weaknesses of interviews

Knowing how to create and conduct a good interview is an essential skill. Interviews are used by market researchers to learn how to sell their products, and journalists use interviews to get information from a whole host of people from VIPs to random people on the street. Police use interviews to investigate crimes.

In social science,  interviews are a method of data collection that involves two or more people exchanging information through a series of questions and answers. The questions are designed by the researcher to elicit information from interview participants on a specific topic or set of topics. These topics are informed by the research questions. Typically, interviews involve an in-person meeting between two people—an interviewer and an interviewee — but interviews need not be limited to two people, nor must they occur in-person.

The question of when to conduct an interview might be on your mind. Interviews are an excellent way to gather detailed information. They also have an advantage over surveys—they can change as you learn more information. In a survey, you cannot change what questions you ask if a participant’s response sparks some follow-up question in your mind. All participants must get the same questions. The questions you decided to put on your survey during the design stage determine what data you get. In an interview, however, you can follow up on new and unexpected topics that emerge during the conversation. Trusting in emergence and learning from participants are hallmarks of qualitative research. In this way, interviews are a useful method to use when you want to know the story behind the responses you might receive in a written survey.

Interviews are also useful when the topic you are studying is rather complex, requires lengthy explanation, or needs a dialogue between two people to thoroughly investigate. Also, if people will describe the process by which a phenomenon occurs, like how a person makes a decision, then interviews may be the best method for you. For example, you could use interviews to gather data about how people reach the decision not to have children and how others in their lives have responded to that decision. To understand these “how’s” you would need to have some back-and-forth dialogue with respondents. When they begin to tell you their story, inevitably new questions that hadn’t occurred to you from prior interviews would come up because each person’s story is unique. Also, because the process of choosing not to have children is complex for many people, describing that process by responding to closed-ended questions on a survey wouldn’t work particularly well.

Interview research is especially useful when:

• You wish to gather very detailed information
• You anticipate wanting to ask respondents follow-up questions based on their responses
• You plan to ask questions that require lengthy explanation
• You are studying a complex or potentially confusing topic to respondents
• You are studying processes, such as how people make decisions

Qualitative interviews are sometimes called intensive or in-depth interviews. These interviews are semi-structured ; the researcher has a particular topic about which she would like to hear from the respondent, but questions are open-ended and may not be asked in exactly the same way or in exactly the same order to each and every respondent. For in-depth interviews , the primary aim is to hear from respondents about what they think is important about the topic at hand and to hear it in their own words. In this section, we’ll take a look at how to conduct qualitative interviews, analyze interview data, and identify some of the strengths and weaknesses of this method.

Constructing an interview guide

Qualitative interviews might feel more like a conversation than an interview to respondents, but the researcher is in fact usually guiding the conversation with the goal in mind of gathering specific information from a respondent. Qualitative interviews use open-ended questions, which are questions that a researcher poses but does not provide answer options for. Open-ended questions are more demanding of participants than closed-ended questions because they require participants to come up with their own words, phrases, or sentences to respond.

In a qualitative interview, the researcher usually develops an interview guide in advance to refer to during the interview (or memorizes in advance of the interview). An interview guide is a list of questions or topics that the interviewer hopes to cover during the course of an interview. It is called a guide because it is simply that—it is used to guide the interviewer, but it is not set in stone. Think of an interview guide like an agenda for the day or a to-do list—both probably contain all the items you hope to check off or accomplish, though it probably won’t be the end of the world if you don’t accomplish everything on the list or if you don’t accomplish it in the exact order that you have it written down. Perhaps new events will come up that cause you to rearrange your schedule just a bit, or perhaps you simply won’t get to everything on the list.

Interview guides should outline issues that a researcher feels are likely to be important. Because participants are asked to provide answers in their own words and to raise points they believe are important, each interview is likely to flow a little differently. While the opening question in an in-depth interview may be the same across all interviews, from that point on, what the participant says will shape how the interview proceeds. Sometimes participants answer a question on the interview guide before it is asked. When the interviewer comes to that question later on in the interview, it’s a good idea to acknowledge that they already addressed part of this question and ask them if they have anything to add to their response.  All of this uncertainty can make in-depth interviewing exciting and rather challenging. It takes a skilled interviewer to be able to ask questions; listen to respondents; and pick up on cues about when to follow up, when to move on, and when to simply let the participant speak without guidance or interruption.

As we’ve discussed, interview guides can list topics or questions. The specific format of an interview guide might depend on your style, experience, and comfort level as an interviewer or with your topic. Figure 9.1 provides an example of an interview guide for a study of how young people experience workplace sexual harassment. The guide is topic-based, rather than a list of specific questions. The ordering of the topics is important, though how each comes up during the interview may vary.

For interview guides that use questions, there can also be specific words or phrases for follow-up in case the participant does not mention those topics in their responses. These probes , as well as the questions are written out in the interview guide, but may not always be used. Figure 9.2 provides an example of an interview guide that uses questions rather than topics.

As you might have guessed, interview guides do not appear out of thin air. They are the result of thoughtful and careful work on the part of a researcher. As you can see in both of the preceding guides, the topics and questions have been organized thematically and in the order in which they are likely to proceed (though keep in mind that the flow of a qualitative interview is in part determined by what a respondent has to say). Sometimes qualitative interviewers may create two versions of the interview guide: one version contains a very brief outline of the interview, perhaps with just topic headings, and another version contains detailed questions underneath each topic heading. In this case, the researcher might use the very detailed guide to prepare and practice in advance of actually conducting interviews and then just bring the brief outline to the interview. Bringing an outline, as opposed to a very long list of detailed questions, to an interview encourages the researcher to actually listen to what a participant is saying. An overly detailed interview guide can be difficult to navigate during an interview and could give respondents the mis-impression the interviewer is more interested in the questions than in the participant’s answers.

Constructing an interview guide often begins with brainstorming. There are no rules at the brainstorming stage—simply list all the topics and questions that come to mind when you think about your research question. Once you’ve got a pretty good list, you can begin to pare it down by cutting questions and topics that seem redundant and group similar questions and topics together. If you haven’t done so yet, you may also want to come up with question and topic headings for your grouped categories. You should also consult the scholarly literature to find out what kinds of questions other interviewers have asked in studies of similar topics and what theory indicates might be important. As with quantitative survey research, it is best not to place very sensitive or potentially controversial questions at the very beginning of your qualitative interview guide. You need to give participants the opportunity to warm up to the interview and to feel comfortable talking with you. Finally, get some feedback on your interview guide. Ask your friends, other researchers, and your professors for some guidance and suggestions once you’ve come up with what you think is a strong guide. Chances are they’ll catch a few things you hadn’t noticed. Once you begin your interviews, your participants may also suggest revisions or improvements.

In terms of the specific questions you include in your guide, there are a few guidelines worth noting. First, avoid questions that can be answered with a simple yes or no. Try to rephrase your questions in a way that invites longer responses from your interviewees. If you choose to include yes or no questions, be sure to include follow-up questions. Remember, one of the benefits of qualitative interviews is that you can ask participants for more information—be sure to do so. While it is a good idea to ask follow-up questions, try to avoid asking “why” as your follow-up question, as this particular question can come off as confrontational, even if that is not your intent. Often people won’t know how to respond to “why,” perhaps because they don’t even know why themselves. Instead of asking “why,” you say something like, “Could you tell me a little more about that?” This allows participants to explain themselves further without feeling that they’re being doubted or questioned in a hostile way.

Also, try to avoid phrasing your questions in a leading way. For example, rather than asking, “Don’t you think most people who don’t want to have children are selfish?” you could ask, “What comes to mind for you when you hear someone doesn’t want to have children?” Finally, remember to keep most, if not all, of your questions open-ended. The key to a successful qualitative interview is giving participants the opportunity to share information in their own words and in their own way. Documenting the decisions made along the way regarding which questions are used, thrown out, or revised can help a researcher remember the thought process behind the interview guide when she is analyzing the data. Additionally, it promotes the rigor of the qualitative project as a whole, ensuring the researcher is proceeding in a reflective and deliberate manner that can be checked by others reviewing her study.

Recording qualitative data

Even after the interview guide is constructed, the interviewer is not yet ready to begin conducting interviews. The researcher has to decide how to collect and maintain the information that is provided by participants. Researchers keep field notes or written recordings produced by the researcher during the data collection process.  Field notes can be taken before, during, or after interviews. Field notes help researchers document what they observe, and in so doing, they form the first step of data analysis. Field notes may contain many things—observations of body language or environment, reflections on whether interview questions are working well, and connections between ideas that participants share.

Unfortunately, even the most diligent researcher cannot write down everything that is seen or heard during an interview. In particular, it is difficult for a researcher to be truly present and observant if she is also writing down everything the participant is saying. For this reason, it is quite common for interviewers to create audio recordings of the interviews they conduct. Recording interviews allows the researcher to focus on the interaction with the interview participant.

Of course, not all participants will feel comfortable being recorded and sometimes even the interviewer may feel that the subject is so sensitive that recording would be inappropriate. If this is the case, it is up to the researcher to balance excellent note-taking with exceptional question-asking and even better listening.

Whether you will be recording your interviews or not (and especially if not), practicing the interview in advance is crucial. Ideally, you’ll find a friend or two willing to participate in a couple of trial runs with you. Even better, find a friend or two who are similar in at least some ways to your sample. They can give you the best feedback on your questions and your interview demeanor.

Another issue interviewers face is documenting the decisions made during the data collection process. Qualitative research is open to new ideas that emerge through the data collection process. For example, a participant might suggest a new concept you hadn’t thought of before or define a concept in a new way. This may lead you to create new questions or ask questions in a different way to future participants. These processes should be documented in a process called journaling or memoing. Journal entries are notes to yourself about reflections or methodological decisions that emerge during the data collection process. Documenting these are important, as you’d be surprised how quickly you can forget what happened. Journaling makes sure that when it comes time to analyze your data, you remember how, when, and why certain changes were made. The discipline of journaling in qualitative research helps to ensure the rigor of the research process—that is its trustworthiness and authenticity which we will discuss later in this chapter.

Strengths and weaknesses of qualitative interviews

As we’ve mentioned in this section, qualitative interviews are an excellent way to gather detailed information. Any topic can be explored in much more depth with interviews than with almost any other method. Not only are participants given the opportunity to elaborate in a way that is not possible with other methods such as survey research, but they also are able share information with researchers in their own words and from their own perspectives. Whereas, quantitative research asks participants to fit their perspectives into the limited response options provided by the researcher. And because qualitative interviews are designed to elicit detailed information, they are especially useful when a researcher’s aim is to study social processes or the “how” of various phenomena. Yet another, and sometimes overlooked, benefit of in-person qualitative interviews is that researchers can make observations beyond those that a respondent is orally reporting. A respondent’s body language, and even their choice of time and location for the interview, might provide a researcher with useful data.

Of course, all these benefits come with some drawbacks. As with quantitative survey research, qualitative interviews rely on respondents’ ability to accurately and honestly recall specific details about their lives, circumstances, thoughts, opinions, or behaviors. Further, as you may have already guessed, qualitative interviewing is time-intensive and can be quite expensive. Creating an interview guide, identifying a sample, and conducting interviews are just the beginning. Writing out what was said in interviews and analyzing the qualitative interview data are time consuming processes. Keep in mind you are also asking for more of participants’ time than if you’d simply mailed them a questionnaire containing closed-ended questions. Conducting qualitative interviews is not only labor-intensive but can also be emotionally taxing. Seeing and hearing the impact that social problems have on respondents is difficult. Researchers embarking on a qualitative interview project should keep in mind their own abilities to receive stories that may be difficult to hear.

Key Takeaways

• Understanding how to design and conduct interview research is a useful skill to have.
• In a social scientific interview, two or more people exchange information through a series of questions and answers.
• Interview research is often used when detailed information is required and when a researcher wishes to examine processes.
• In-depth interviews are semi-structured interviews where the researcher has topics and questions in mind to ask, but questions are open-ended and flow according to how the participant responds to each.
• Interview guides can vary in format but should contain some outline of the topics you hope to cover during the course of an interview.
• Qualitative interviews allow respondents to share information in their own words and are useful for gathering detailed information and understanding social processes.
• Field notes and journaling are ways to document thoughts and decisions about the research process
• Drawbacks of qualitative interviews include reliance on respondents’ accuracy and their intensity in terms of time, expense, and possible emotional strain.
• Field notes- written notes produced by the researcher during the data collection process
• In-depth interviews- interviews in which researchers hear from respondents about what they think is important about the topic at hand in the respondent’s own words
• Interviews- a method of data collection that involves two or more people exchanging information through a series of questions and answers
• Interview guide- a list of questions or topics that the interviewer hopes to cover during the course of an interview
• Journaling- making notes of emerging issues and changes during the research process
• Semi-structured interviews- questions are open ended and may not be asked in exactly the same way or in exactly the same order to each and every respondent

Image attributions

interview restaurant a pair by alda2 CC-0

questions by geralt CC-0

Figure 9.1 is copied from Blackstone, A. (2012) Principles of sociological inquiry: Qualitative and quantitative methods. Saylor Foundation. Retrieved from: https://saylordotorg.github.io/text_...ative-methods/ Shared under CC-BY-NC-SA 3.0 License

writing by StockSnap CC-0

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Social Work Research Guide: The Research Process

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Research Process & Tips

• Searching Tips
• Research Log
• SW3770: Research Methods

Step by Step through the Research Process

• What is the history of the issue? How have events affected it? • What are the arguments that recur? • Which areas of study (e.g., psychology, popular culture studies, religion, science, etc.) have addressed the topic? • Who are the major players? People? Countries? Corporations? • Which terms, combined with the major search terms you've already used, lead you to more detail?

Places to look for background research:  Newspapers, Encyclopedias, and the Web

• How can I distill the issues and their questions into one- or two-word concepts? Are there significant recurring terms or phrases? • What basic subjects do the authors confront? Pharmaceuticals? Government? Law? Health? • For the length of my paper, how many subjects is it reasonable to address?

So, we must break down our research question into concepts and representative terminology in order to find the best information. As you do this for your own research purposes, keep in mind that academic research databases do not behave like Google, Yahoo, or any other open-web search engine. We must learn a different way to search, specifically using Boolean operators.  You will most likely use the three most common Boolean operators: AND, OR, and NOT.  Here is more information on search strategies including  Boolean Operators and Truncation . 

• Have I found enough information to inform or support the explanations/assertions/claims that I have made? • Has the abundance of information provided me with a new direction for my research question(s)? • Have I found that my initial claims are unfounded and need to change direction and approach?

• Is there a straightforward answer to my question(s)? • If not, how can I “read between the lines” and piece together information from various sources to construct an answer? • Can I develop a strategy of support from the materials I have decided to use? • Can I paraphrase general ideas and statements (more than I use direct quotes), which shows I understand each author’s conversation with me? • Can I outline my approach in an organized and logical way?

When you do work through drafting, revising, and editing, don’t forget that you must cite your sources, both in-text and on a references or works cited page.  RefWorks can help you immensely. If you follow the suggestion to keep a running bibliography as you collected sources, this part is super easy. 

Here's another extremely compelling reason to use RefWorks and other documentation guides your instructor or a librarian may recommend: you don’t want to find yourself in a position, intentionally or unintentionally, in which you have to defend yourself against claims of plagiarism. 

Fanning, D.L. (2012). Research and stuff: Tools and strategies for the beginning academic researcher. In C.T. Jordan (Ed.), Open 2010: A composition textbook for WRTG 2010 at the University of Utah . Salt Lake City, UT: University Writing Program, University of Utah. 

• Start with a  specific  topic & broaden or narrow as necessary
• Use different words/synonyms  to describe your topic (different finding tools may use different words/phrases to describe your topic)
• Keep a list of keywords and phrases used in each database. When possible, print a copy of your  search history  from each database
• Check the database  thesaurus  or subject terms to find the terms peculiar to that database
• Search by  keyword
• Use quotation marks " " for a specific phrase: "literature review"
• Truncate  your search term (famil* finds family, families, familial)
• Use Boolean operators ( AND ,  OR ) to combine concepts
• Limit  sources by format and material type
• Use  subjects assigned  to one source to find other sources
• Use the  references  at the end of an article to find other articles
• Use the term “Literature Reviews” combined with your topic
• Export the bliographic information for your resources to  RefWorks
• Keep a list of the databases you search.  Use the Research Log below.
• Research Log Use this log to keep track of the keywords, databases and results of your research.
• Research Log Use this log to keep track of your database searches.
• Research Log Sample
• SW3770 Research Methods Handout Print a handout with an overview of vital library resources available for Social Work research
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• Last Updated: Mar 19, 2024 2:31 PM
• URL: https://libguides.apsu.edu/socialwork

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2.1 Getting started

Learning objectives.

• Find a topic to investigate
• Create a working question

Choosing a social work research topic

According to the Action Network for Social Work Education and Research (ANSWER), social work research is conducted to benefit “consumers, practitioners, policymakers, educators, and the general public through the examination of societal issues” (ANSWER, n.d., para. 2).  [1] Common social issues that are studied include “health care, substance abuse, community violence, family issues, child welfare, aging, well-being and resiliency, and the strengths and needs of underserved populations” (ANSWER, n.d., para. 2). This list is certainly not exhaustive. Social workers may study any area that impacts their practice. However, the unifying feature of social work research is its focus on promoting the wellbeing of target populations.

But as undergraduate social work students, you are likely not yet practicing social work. How do you identify researchable topics then? Part of the joy in being a social work student is figuring out what areas of social work are appealing to you. Perhaps there are certain theories that speak to you, based on your values or experiences. Perhaps there are social issues you wish to change. Perhaps there are certain groups of people you want to help. Perhaps there are clinical interventions that interest you. Any one of these is a good place to start. At the beginning of a research project, your main focus should be finding a social work topic that is interesting enough to spend a semester reading and writing about it.

A good topic selection plan begins with a general orientation into the subject you are interested in pursuing in more depth. Here are some suggestions when choosing a topic area:

• Pick an area of interest, pick an area of experience, or pick an area where you know there is a need for more research.
• It may be easier to start with “what” and “why” questions and expand on those. For example, what are the best methods of treating severe depression? Or why are people receiving SNAP more likely to be obese?
• If you already have practice experience in social work through employment, an internship, or volunteer work, think about practice issues you noticed in the placement.
• Ask a professor, preferably one active in research, about possible topics.
• Read departmental information on research interests of the faculty. Faculty research interests vary widely, and it might surprise you what they’ve published on in the past. Most departmental websites post the curriculum vitae, or CV, of faculty which lists their publications, credentials, and interests.
• Read a research paper that interests you. The paper’s literature review or background section will provide insight into the research question the author was seeking to address with their study. Is the research incomplete, imprecise, biased, or inconsistent? As you’re reading the paper, look for what’s missing. These may be “gaps in the literature” that you might explore in your own study. The conclusion or discussion section at the end may also offer some questions for future exploration. A recent blog posting in  Science  (Pain, 2016)  [2] provides several tips from researchers and graduate students on how to effectively read these papers.
• Think about papers you enjoyed researching and writing in other classes. Research is a unique class and will use the tools of social science for you to think more in depth about a topic. It will bring a new perspective that will deepen your knowledge of the topic.
• Identify and browse journals related to your research interests. Faculty and librarians can help you identify relevant journals in your field and specific areas of interest.

How do you feel about your topic?

Perhaps you have started with a specific population in mind—for example, youth who identify as LGBTQ or visitors to a local health clinic. In other cases, you may start with a social problem, such as gang violence, or social policy or program, such as zero-tolerance policies in schools. Alternately, maybe there are interventions like dialectical behavioral therapy or applied behavior analysis about which you would like to learn more. Your motivation for choosing a topic does not have to be objective. Because social work is a values-based profession, social work researchers often find themselves motivated to conduct research that furthers social justice or fights oppression. Just because you think a policy is wrong or a group is being marginalized, for example, does not mean that your research will be biased. It means you must understand how you feel, why you feel that way, and what would cause you to feel differently about your topic.

Start by asking yourself how you feel about your topic. Be totally honest, and ask yourself whether you believe your perspective is the only valid one. Perhaps yours isn’t the only perspective, but do you believe it is the wisest one? The most practical one? How do you feel about other perspectives on this topic? If you feel so strongly that certain findings would upset you or that either you would design a project to get only the answer you believe to be the best one or you might feel compelled to cover up findings that you don’t like, then you need to choose a different topic. For example, a researcher may want to find out whether there is any relationship between intelligence and political party affiliation—certain that members of her party are without a doubt the most intelligent. Her strong opinion would not be a problem by itself. However, if she feels rage when considering the possibility that the opposing party’s members are more intelligent than those of her party, the topic is probably too near and dear for her to use it to conduct unbiased research.

Of course, just because you feel strongly about a topic does not mean that you should not study it. Sometimes the best topics to research are those about which you do feel strongly. What better way to stay motivated than to study something that you care about? You must be able to accept that people will have a different perspective than you do, and try to represent their viewpoints fairly in your research. If you feel prepared to accept all findings, even those that may be unflattering to or distinct from your personal perspective, then perhaps you should intentionally study a topic about which you have strong feelings.

Kathleen Blee (2002)  [3] has taken this route in her research. Blee studies hate movement participants, people whose racist ideologies she studies but does not share. You can read her accounts of this research in two of her most well-known publications, Inside Organized Racism and Women of the Klan . Blee’s research is successful because she was willing to report her findings and observations honestly, even those about which she may have strong feelings. Unlike Blee, if you think about it and conclude that you cannot accept or share with others findings with which you disagree, then you should study a different topic. Knowing your own hot-button issues is an important part of self-knowledge and reflection in social work.

Social workers often use personal experience as a starting point for what topics are interesting to cover. As we’ve discussed here, personal experience can be a powerful motivator to study a topic in detail. However, social work researchers should be mindful of their own mental health during the research process. A social worker who has experienced a mental health crisis or traumatic event should approach researching related topics cautiously. There is no need to retraumatize yourself or jeopardize your mental health for a research paper. For example, a student who has just experienced domestic violence may want to know about Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) therapy. While the student might gain some knowledge about potential treatments for domestic violence, they will likely have to read through many stories and reports about domestic violence. Unless the student’s trauma has been processed in therapy, conducting a research project on this topic may negatively impact the student’s mental health. Nevertheless, she will acquire skills in research methods that will help her understand the EMDR literature and whether to begin treatment in that modality.

Whether you feel strongly about your topic or not, you will also want to consider what you already known about it. There are many ways we know what we know. Perhaps your mother told you something is so. Perhaps it came to you in a dream. Perhaps you took a class last semester and learned something about your topic there. Or you may have read something about your topic in your local newspaper or in People magazine. We discussed the strengths and weaknesses associated with some of these different sources of knowledge in Chapter 1, and we’ll talk about other sources of knowledge, such as prior research in the next few sections. For now, take some time to think about what you know about your topic from all possible sources. Thinking about what you already know will help you identify any biases you may have, and it will help as you begin to frame a question about your topic.

What do you want to know?

Once you have a topic, begin to think about it in terms of a question. What do you really want to know about the topic? As a warm-up exercise, try dropping a possible topic idea into one of the blank spaces below. The questions may help bring your subject into sharper focus and provide you with the first important steps towards developing your topic.

• What does ___ mean? (Definition)
• What are the various features of ___? (Description)
• What are the component parts of ___? (Simple analysis)
• How is ___ made or done? (Process analysis)
• How should ___ be made or done? (Directional analysis)
• What is the essential function of ___? (Functional analysis)
• What are the causes of ___? (Causal analysis)
• What are the consequences of ___? (Causal analysis)
• What are the types of ___? (Classification)
• How is ___ like or unlike ___? (Comparison)
• What is the present status of ___? (Comparison)
• What is the significance of ___? (Interpretation)
• What are the facts about ___? (Reportage)
• How did ___ happen? (Narration)
• What kind of person is ___? (Characterization/Profile)
• What is the value of ___? (Evaluation)
• What are the essential major points or features of ___? (Summary)
• What case can be made for or against ___? (Persuasion)
• What is the relationship between _____ and the outcome of ____? (Explorative)

Take a minute right now and write down a question you want to answer. Even if it doesn’t seem perfect, everyone needs a place to start. Make sure your research topic is relevant to social work. You’d be surprised how much of the world that encompasses. It’s not just research on mental health treatment or child welfare services. Social workers can study things like the pollution of irrigation systems and entrepreneurship in women, among infinite other topics. The only requirement is your research must inform action to fight social problems faced by target populations.

Your question is only a starting place, as research is an iterative process , one that subject to constant revision.  As we progress in this textbook, you’ll learn how to refine your question and include the necessary components for proper qualitative and quantitative research questions. Your question will also likely change as you engage with the literature on your topic. You will learn new and important concepts that may shift your focus or clarify your original ideas. Trust that a strong question will emerge from this process.

Key Takeaways

• Many researchers choose topics by considering their own personal experiences, knowledge, and interests.
• Researchers should be aware of and forthcoming about any strong feelings they might have about their research topics.
• There are benefits and drawbacks associated with studying a topic about which you already have some prior knowledge or experience. Researchers should be aware of and consider both.
• Writing a question down will help guide your inquiry.

Image Attributions

Transportation/Traffic by Max Pixel CC-0

Justice by Geralt CC-0

Question by Max Pixel CC-0

• Action Network for Social Work Education and Research (n.d.). Advocacy . Retrieved from: https://www.socialworkers.org/Advocacy/answer ↵
• Pain, E. (2016, March 21). How to (seriously) read a scientific paper. Science . Retrieved from: http://www.sciencemag.org/careers/2016/03/how-seriously-read-scientific-paper ↵
• Blee, K. (2002). Inside organized racism: Women and men of the hate movement . Berkeley, CA: University of California Press; Blee, K. (1991). Women of the Klan: Racism and gender in the 1920s . Berkeley, CA: University of California Press. ↵

Scientific Inquiry in Social Work Copyright © 2018 by Matthew DeCarlo is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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