Research Questions and Literature Review
There will be times when a social worker is presented with a case where they are not familiar with the surrounding psychosocial issues. Because social workers are on a continual journey in learning, it is important to read pertinent literature. This Discussion provides an opportunity to visit Walden Library and strengthen your skills in identifying and locating an empirical research article.
To prepare:
- Select one of these three groups: (1) an immigrant individual from a racial or ethnic minority group, (2) a gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender (LGBT) individual, OR (3) an individual who is physically disabled.
- Review the Walden Library resources listed in the Learning Resources.
- Then conduct a library search for an empirical study focused on one of the groups above and the unique psychosocial factors or issues a social worker should be aware of when working with that group
Post:
- Post the APA-style reference for the article you found in the library.
- Describe four specific psychosocial factors that should be taken into account in order to understand the psychosocial context when working with the group you selected. (Two of these factors should be psychologically related and two of these factors should be socially related).
- Identify and explain a psychosocial intervention that addresses one of the four specific psychosocial factors you described above.
- Identify 1 to 2 outcomes you might measure if you were to evaluate the effectiveness of the intervention.
- Evaluate one advantage of using a psychosocial framework in social work practice with the group you chose.
***SOCW 6301 WK4 DISCUSSION Psychosocial Theory and Diverse Groups
In this week’s video, you meet Eboni Logan, a teenager who reveals that she is pregnant. Eboni explains to her social worker that no one at her school talks about methods of birth control, as their only focus is on abstinence. Imagine that you are a social worker in Eboni’s school and you begin to notice an increase in teen pregnancy. This causes you to wonder about the effectiveness of abstinence-only education. This curiosity propels you to investigate further, but you are not sure what you should do first—develop a research question or conduct a literature review.
For this Discussion, review the literature on abstinence education. View the Sessions episode on the Eboni Logan case.
Post
your explanation about what should come first—the development of a research question or a thorough literature review.
Justify your answer by adding your thoughts about which process you believe to be more realistic and/or appropriate, and why.
Finally, describe potential consequences of deciding on a research question without conducting a review of the literature. Please use the resources to support your answer.