Social Work Research Evaluation
Major Ethical Issues
Ethics refers to the establishment of a set of moral standards that govern behaviour in a particular setting or for a particular group (Walter, 2006). Ethical research is therefore concerned with ensuring that ethical principles and values always govern research involving humans” Since staff members were interviewers in the study, it was noted that they could have history of working together with the interviewers, which could present a bias. Additionally, the participants selected themselves, rather than being selected, which hampers the sampling process. Moreover, it was noted that all the respondents belonged to the Distance Education program at the Charles Sturt University, as a result of which results could be bent towards issue related to distance education rather than all undergraduate social work programs. These issues have not been appropriately addressed in the study.
Reporting Results
Qualitative research is generally reported in a narrative style possibly with the help of information or quotes from participants (Neuman, 2006). In the study, results and data were analysed using the descriptive approach with the help of SPSS for interview questions – qualitative as well as quantitative in nature. Assumptions were taken with regard to the cross tabulations of the qualitative findings in such cases as the costs appeared to be impacted by the location or placement of the organization. Additional considerations were also taken with regard to the kind of organization – private or government and whether the practicum was primary or secondary.
Result Interpretations
Results are interpreted on the basis of the target audience and the purpose of the research in addition to the political climate within which the research is performed (Neuman, 2006). In this study, results were calculated on the scores from a 5 point scale used by the respondents during the course of the interview. According to these results it was interpreted that twelve percent of the supervisors were of the view that the students made good use of the resources for the business of the agency, while about 55% of them rated it as agency business. 9% of the respondents thought that resources were for university requirements alone while 23% were felt that the resources were being used for all means – agency business as well as the university.
The authors also took into consideration a second resource – supervision time for the supervisor and other staff. Respondents were highly positive with regard to this and an overwhelming majority of over 90% indicated that students did consult one another and agency staff while on practicum. The overall cost of the agency was calculated on a 5 point scale and it was found that 26% of the respondents did not find the costs to the agency costly while only 7% rated it to be costly. There was not a single respondent who gave a very costly rating.
Conclusions
The study had several drawbacks with regard to validity and reliability and the methods of research chosen to reach the vital information. There were few drawbacks in the study – especially with regard to location. The program covered mainly respondents from a distance education program which limits the scope of the study, limiting the results to distance education issues rather than of relevance to all social work programs. There are no steps taken to address this problem in the research. Additionally, the interview questions had been worded in such a way that they initiated some limitations to the research. There was lack of specific enquiry to focus on the indigenous issues which needed to be addressed. The sample was self-selected rather than being selected, which reduces the reliability of the research.
It is recommended that the above issues be addressed in all the future continuing research that follows and the authors take into account the limitations presented in this particular study.(This is only a random excerpt and should strictly be used as a sample only. To view the complete paper, click here)