Do social workers evaluate their practice?

Research Training and Professional Social Work Education: Developing Research‐Minded Practice

“…These findings are broadly consistent with previous studies which suggest that students, in comparison with practitioners, tend to have more positive attitudes about the value and relevance of empirical research to practice (Kirk and Rosenblatt, 1981;Mullen et al, 2007). However, a sizable minority of students were less aware and unsure about the benefits of learning about research, a result consistent with surveys into the attitudes and experience of practitioners (Richey et al, 1987).…”

“…Marsh and Triseliotis's (1996) study of social work students' readiness to practise following qualifying level training reported that many students also felt that applied research was often badly taught. Although a number of studies have indicated that social work students tend to be more favourably disposed towards research than practitioners, they also suggest that their interest during training was not sustained upon entry to professional practice (Richey et al, 1987;Mullen et al, 2007). For example, Richey et al's (1987) study of MSW students found that while many had positive attitudes toward integrating clinical practice and research, only about 12% of them literally put what they had learned into practice.…”

Engaging Students in Practice Evaluation: Defining and Monitoring Critical Initial Interview Components

“…Moreover, several schools of social work require students to complete a program or single-case evaluation in their research courses and in their field practicum. Yet, many authors (Mutschler, 1984;Richey, Blythe, & Berlin, 1987;Siegel, 1984) lament the failure of social work practitioners to do systematic, objective monitoring of practice processes and outcomes. Even when social workers are specifically trained to evaluate their own practice, few actually conduct singlesubject or group research studies when these research projects are no longer required to fulfill academic requirements (Gingerich, 1984;Mutschler, 1984;Richey et al, 1987;Seigel, 1984;Welch, 1983).…”

“…Several researchers have focused their attention on implementation of evaluation procedures by agency-based practitioners (Mutschler, 1984;Nesbitt, 1989;Robinson, Bronson, & Blythe, 1988;Richey et al, 1987). They reported that the continued use of evaluation designs to evaluate practice is partly contingent on organizational supports to help practitioners collect, analyze, and interpret data.…”

“…Traditionally, social work educators have taught evaluation of practice in research courses and have placed primary emphasis on operational definition and measurement of desired client outcomes within specific evaluation designs. However, several researchers have concluded that social workers are more likely to use research methods to evaluate their own practice if these methods are relevant to practice goals, provide information to guide interventions, are easy to use and give timely information (Berlin, 1983;Mutschler, 1984;Richey et al, 1987). Moreover social workers who engage in practice evaluation activities do so primarily because they view these activities as treatment aids rather than because the activities promote accountability or knowledge development (Richey et al, 1987).…”