Approved May 23, 2002

SOCIAL RESEARCH:  CONSUMPTION AND DESIGN

Level III

RATIONALE:  Social research significantly affects our lives as members of society and as citizens engaged in public and community service.  Media reports of social research influence public attitudes about groups, institutions, businesses, political issues, social problems, policies, and programs.  Social research affects the content of textbooks and teaching at all levels, from nursery to professional schools.  Studies in many areas guide decisions of policy makers, including legislative committees, judges, and juries.  Social research is used to justify funding (or lack of funding) for new and existing programs.

Public and community service workers need to be able critically to assess social research that affects families, communities, clients, and constituencies.  What is applied social research, who does it, and how is it done?  How can research studies on topics of interest be identified and obtained?  Which social research studies are well-designed and competently carried out?  Which studies are conducted rigorously, responsibly, and ethically?  Are media reports on social research accurate and fair?  This competency requires skills in searching for and obtaining studies from reports and from journal articles on topics of social concern.  Students should develop skills in critically reading media accounts of social research studies by comparing these to original research reports, thereby demonstrating the ability to be critical consumers of social research.

As participants in designing and implementing social research, public and community service workers play important roles in the following kinds of tasks:  defining, explaining, and measuring problems; assessing needs; writing grants; predicting effects; and evaluating programs.  This competency thus also involves demonstration of skills in designing a research study.  Students should demonstrate the components of effective research design by  selecting a topic for social research, framing relevant and researchable questions about the topic, and developing an appropriate and feasible strategy, plan, or design for answering a research question. 


COMPETENCY:  Can demonstrate a basic understanding of the conceptual and practical foundations for applied social research, can use this understanding to obtain and critically assess media reports of social research and original social research studies, and can use this understanding to design a social research study.


CRITERIA:

Part A:  Research Consumption

1.      Choose two studies cited in the press (newspaper, popular journal, and on-line articles) that report on social research.  Retrieve each study from its source, either by writing away for a printed document or printing it from a website.  Review and summarize each study, comparing it to the press report and identifying any inaccuracies or misleading interpretations.

2.      Identify three academic journals and describe the subject that each covers, along with the specific topic addressed in one article in each journal.

3.       Choose three studies from each of the academic journals identified in Criterion 2 and for each identify the research question, sources of data (e.g., survey, social experiment, observation, participation observation, action research, qualitative interviews, documentary evidence), research findings, and any possible ethical issues the research might have needed to address.

Part B:  Research Design

4.      Identify a social issue, policy, or program and develop a research design to investigate it.  The research study need not be implemented, but the plan must address all of the following criteria.

5.      Having selected your social issue, policy, or program, describe its relevance to a population, organization, or institution where it is employed.  Identify the audience for your study (e.g., policy makers, service providers, practitioners in some area).

6.      Using published literature, describe the likely effect and/or outcome of your study.  You may use the materials you developed in Part A.

7.      Formulate a research question that will define the purpose of your study.  Describe expected effects and/or outcomes that your study might make possible or the social issue, policy, or program that might be enhanced through your investigation.

8.      Select a research design or combination of designs that would be most appropriate for answering your research question.

9.      Select an appropriate sample within your design and explain the ways in which you would gain access to that sample.

10.  Develop specific procedures for data collection procedures.  Include a sampling plan that explains your criteria for selecting informants and any constraints or concerns that might affect your sampling strategy.

11.   Explain your plan for obtaining informed consent and for protecting the anonymity and confidentiality of informants.

12.  Prepare a reasonable timetable for the phases of your study.


PORTFOLIO LINKS: You are expected to use the Writing Portfolio criteria and standards as guidelines for the written products required by this competency. Papers written for this competency may be considered for submission to the Writing Portfolio.


STANDARDS: 

Part A:  Research Consumption

1.      For Criterion 1, include the name of the organization or individuals conducting the research, the name(s) of the organization(s) that funded or sponsored the research, the subject of the research, its geographical scope, the population studied, the period during which the research was conducted, the sources of data, and the principal findings.

2.      For Criterion 2, you may select journals that cover a range of subjects or those that are more closely specialized.  Include the title of each journal, its major emphasis (e.g., community development, social problems, public health, disabilities), and at least three articles in each journal that exemplify its subject matter.  Include full bibliographic information for each of the articles.

3.      For Criterion 3, each study must be a full report of primary research authored by those who conducted the study.  Each must include an explanation of the research design, including sources of data and methods of analysis leading to findings.  Summaries should be approximately 300 to 500 words in length.

Part B: Research Design

4.      For Criteria 4 and 5, you must select one of the following:

a.       a community-based program (already in operation or proposed in detail)

b.      a social policy being implemented at the state or community level

c.       a social issue or problem

The topic statement should be about one page in length.

5.      For Criterion 6, the topic description should cite specific sources that provide background on the subject, such as grant proposals, project reports, research articles or reports, or newspaper articles.  (A full literature review is not necessary; several sources are sufficient as long they provide enough detail to understand why research on the topic might be appropriate.)  The description should be about 1,000 words in length.  Sources must be properly cited using a standard format, such as APA.

6.      Criterion 7 should state a single, logical and realistic question, prediction, or recommendation on which your study will focus.

7.      For Criterion 8, your research design must be

a.       quantitative (e.g., survey, experiment, quasi-experiment);

b.      qualitative (e.g., key informant interviews, field observations, focus groups);

c.       comparative (e.g., multiple case studies);

d.      mixed

e.       participatory action research.

You must justify the selection of method by giving reasons that relate to your research question and to the program or issue you are investigating.  You must also consider  resource constraints, especially available time and money, in your choice of method.  You must also explain why other methods would be less appropriate.

8.       For Criteria 9 and 10, you must identify and describe an appropriate sample to investigate.  In what ways is this sample relevant to your study?  If evidence allows, in what ways can the findings from this sample be used to generalize your conclusions or recommendation to similar cases.  For example:

a.       If proposing to use existing data/secondary data analysis, you must explain whether it is quantitative or qualitative, where your data can be found, and how you will obtain access.

b.      For an experiment or quasi-experiment, you must explain how the treatment and control groups will be selected and specify the kind of data to be collected from treatment and control groups.

c.       For qualitative interviews, you must explain who or what kinds of people will be interviewed, how you will find them, and why the data they provide should help to answer your research question.

d.      For field observations, you must determine the setting(s) for the observations,  explain whether the observer is a participant-observer, the degree to which   observations are overt or covert, and the kind of data you expect to find in the setting.

e.       For focus groups or other group methods, you must determine how people will be selected or invited to participate, formulate the types of questions to be explored in the groups, and develop a process to maximize participation and record information.

9.      For Criterion 11, you must show understanding of the basic legal and ethical obligations of social researchers, including awareness of Institutional Review Board human subjects requirements and procedures.  Your discussion of informed consent procedures must include an informed consent form including all of the required elements.

10.  For Criterion 12, the timeline must include specification of major tasks and specific roles and responsibilities of various participants including researchers, clients, and subjects.


EXAMPLES OF DEMONSTRATION:

1.      Prior Learning:  As part of  at the Center for Social Policy at the McCormack Institute, a student participated in the team that developed a policy research grant proposal to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services for studying use of emergency services by low-income people in Massachusetts.  For Part A of the competency, the student prepares written summaries according to the criteria and standards, using popular materials, journal articles, and research reports on emergency services that were assembled for the grant proposal.  For Part B of the competency, the student submits a copy of the proposal, makes an oral presentation, and answers questions from a faculty evaluator about the research design in the proposal.

2.      Independent Learning:  An area that has begun to draw the attention of researchers, advocates, and policy makers is the dramatic increase in older drivers and concerns about potential safety issues.  Once a decision has been reached to stop driving, alternative forms of transportation need to accessible and affordable.  A student examines the national, state, and local response to the transportation needs of the elderly.  For Part A of the competency, the student prepares written summaries according to the criteria and standards, using government reports, media accounts, journal articles, and research reports on transportation policy for elders.  For Part B, the student participates in the development of a research proposal that addresses an issue regarding transportation and elders from either a broad policy or local programmatic perspective.  The student identifies relevant stakeholders, who might include representatives from the Executive Office of Elder Affairs, Area Agencies on Aging, Councils on Aging, and elders themselves, and presents the proposal to a faculty evaluator. 

3.      Course:  A student completes a CPCS course or an appropriate transfer course addressing the competency. 

4.      Field Project:  Together with a research team recruited by the Center for Survey Research, a student participates in planning and conducting interviews with focus groups.  Convened in the early phases of a study of resources available to Boston’s homeless population, the focus groups are a first step in developing a larger study.  For Part A of the competency, the student identifies prior studies of homelessness published by advocacy organizations, foundations, and academic journals.  The student prepares written summaries of these sources according to the criteria and standards.  For Part B of the competency, the student participates in developing the larger study.  The student then submits a written analysis of the research design, makes an oral presentation, and answers questions from a faculty evaluator.