The Melbourne Statement on Practice Research in Social Work: Practice Meets Research

Practice Standards for Addressing Social Justice in Social Work Research

“…For the purposes of this article, "research" refers to the deliberative study of particular phenomena to develop new knowledge or understandings (Joubert et al, 2023). "Social work research" is defined as research conducted by one or more professionally educated or credentialed social workers (Sobočan et al, 2019).…”

“…Although the Common Rule defines research in terms of investigations designed to promulgate "generalizable knowledge," the definition of research for the purposes of the proposed standards includes investigations designed to develop and share generalizable knowledge as well as investigations designed for internal use. Accordingly, the research standards apply not only to generalizable research but also to program evaluations or other practice research designed for internal purposes (e.g., to improve one's own services or programs; Joubert et al, 2023). It should be noted that different types of researchers have different roles and contexts of practice, which may affect how they use these standards.…”

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“…For the purposes of this article, "research" refers to the deliberative study of particular phenomena to develop new knowledge or understandings (Joubert et al, 2023). "Social work research" is defined as research conducted by one or more professionally educated or credentialed social workers (Sobočan et al, 2019).…”

“…Although the Common Rule defines research in terms of investigations designed to promulgate "generalizable knowledge," the definition of research for the purposes of the proposed standards includes investigations designed to develop and share generalizable knowledge as well as investigations designed for internal use. Accordingly, the research standards apply not only to generalizable research but also to program evaluations or other practice research designed for internal purposes (e.g., to improve one's own services or programs; Joubert et al, 2023). It should be noted that different types of researchers have different roles and contexts of practice, which may affect how they use these standards.…”