research skills for social work

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Research Skills for Social Work

• Andrew Whittaker - London South Bank University, UK
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While the book is quite concise, which I think will apeal to undergraduate users in particular, it can be a little dry. For example, in several instances there are lists of definitions, which I think will be a little unappealing for students to read through, especially since many already come in with the expectation that research methods are "boring". Additionally, while too lengthy a book may be unapealing for students, I think book has erred on the side of being too short--some of the entries (for example, on ethnography) are just too short to provide adequate coverage of important methods.

A very good textbook to introduce research to undergrads and post grades and have used it in writing myself. I would recommend to students.

My year 1 students have been struggling with research concepts. This has helped them understand the required concepts. It is clearly written in sensible language. It makes it palatable and easy to apply.

This is a helpful introductory book for social work students on research methods.

A very useful for Access to Social Science students intending to study for a degree in Social work.

This book provides a useful introduction to research concepts and explores key areas in a user friendly manner. It is an informative tool for novice research students to build their knowledge and research skills with useful links to the PCF.

This book is excellent. It provides a really comprehensive and structured description of what students need to do to formulate and conduct their own social work research project. It also provides really nice examples of other student's research projects to help demonstrate how to apply different research methods in practice. I will definitely be recommending it to Master's degree students on the social work degree programme at the University of Wolverhampton. An essential text.

Important book for students dissertations and social work studies.

Text helps to focus practitioners on the essential skills and activities underpining social work research

I like this as a core text for a short course on research in social work. Commentary on recommended further reading and websites is very useful.

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How an MSW can improve your research skills

May 3, 2023

View all blog posts under Articles | View all blog posts under Master of Social Work

Research is a critical component of the social work field . Participating in and learning from research projects allows practitioners to contribute to advances in the industry and benefit from the efforts of their peers. Without research, the social work industry can be left without the big-picture awareness of trends and tendencies needed to develop innovative strategies and understand how macro-level issues impact individual cases. As such, developing research skills is often a key component of working in higher-level positions in the industry. Whether that position is in management or clinical practice, research skills can be helpful.

Pursuing a Master of Social Work degree can help you gain the research skills needed to engage with the analysis taking place in the sector, and coursework on research practices is critical as the social work industry presents unique considerations that aren’t present in other disciplines.

Research in the social work sector

There are certain elements of research that will apply across any industry. For example, professionals hoping to perform or interpret research will need a basic understanding of statistics best practices so they can understand how to make sense of the raw data associated with a study. However, most industries will have their own unique components to research. A report from the Social Care Institute for Excellence explains that social work research does incorporate many practices from other disciplines, such as anthropology and psychology , not to mention sociology. Besides borrowing from these fields, social work research is heavily dependent on a deep awareness of the ethical issues underpinning social work. Researchers must also be aware of their place in the research process, such as if they are providing clinical care to research subjects, potentially creating a bias.

Ultimately, the Social Care Institute for Excellence pointed out two key research priorities that are unique to social work: challenging inequality and oppression in the research process and understanding that the perspective of all participants must be properly incorporated into the research process.

Research and social work practice

The process of incorporating research into everyday social work operations is often built around the idea of evidence-based practice. The National Association of Social Workers (NASW) explained that the idea of evidence-based practice has been applied in diverse ways across a wide range of industries. However, the social work sector has developed a fairly established definition of evidence-based practice that is supported by a wide consensus in the sector. In simplest terms, the NASW defines evidence-based practice as:

• Identifying a client or organizational need that can be used to formulate a clear answerable question
• Evaluating and gathering evidence to answer that question
• Analyzing evidence for quality and applicability
• Applying what has been learned in this process to practice
• Assessing how the adjusted practices based on gathered evidence impacts the effectiveness of your solution

This process of completing research and applying it to practice requires a blend of clinical and research skills. The NASW explained that evidence-based practice also requires a deep understanding of ethics and industry culture.

The importance of evidence-based research creates a situation in which research not only directly informs clinical practice but also occurs in parallel with day-to-day social work operations. Research isn’t exclusively performed in backroom studies, but is often a matter of guided work with clients in which all parties know that the work being done may contribute to a research report. This situation was unpacked in  Social Work Practice in Healthcare , from SAGE Publications. Chapter six of the book is centered around practice-based research in health care social work. It discusses how research provides empirical evidence to assess clinical strategies, such as in evidence-based practice, while also allowing for practice evaluation by building research methods into everyday social work tasks.

According to the publication, social workers often face pressure to demonstrate the effectiveness and value of their efforts, especially when financial issues put a strain on resource availability. Performing practice evaluation using industry research best practices can help practitioners assess the work they are doing. This process requires working closely with clients to get them to participate in the research to gather the feedback necessary to inform conclusions.

Developing social work research skills through an MSW

Social work research is an expansive field, impacting everything from assessing big-picture health trends to performing niche analysis on the value of everyday practices. As such, individuals hoping to engage with research need highly specific skills and a deep understanding of the various industry issues that impact analysis. For example, the ethical issue of how to properly manage research that involves clients is a critical situation. How do you protect patient privacy? How do you organize the research project and integrate it into work with clients so that it doesn’t detract from meeting client goals? These types of questions highlight the kinds of discussions that you can expect to engage in as you pursue an MSW.

Most MSW programs, including the  online MSW at Regis College , provide specific coursework on research in the social work field. These classes cover best practices, practical skills, industry regulations, and similar issues that professionals need to understand as they perform research studies or engage in peer review processes. For the most part, MSW programs will include a single course on research best practices and provide a foundation that could be built upon through more nuanced study for those particularly interested in the subject.

The dedicated study of research best practice in social work isn’t the only way MSW students can expect to develop skills associated with research in the industry. For example, courses will often discuss topics such as ethics and the overarching operational systems that dictate work in the social work sector. These topics are highly relevant to research and can provide critical context into research. Practical experience working under the supervision of a clinical social worker can also be helpful, as that experience may incorporate seeing a research project in action or discussing past research efforts with the supervisor.

Do you want to learn more about how an MSW can help you gain research skills? We’d love to talk some more about how we can help you develop these skills through our online masters social work degree .

Recommended Readings:

What is an MSW degree?

What you can learn about ethics in social work

Research Mindedness from the Social Care Institute for Excellence

Evidence-Based Practice from the National Association of Social Workers

Social Work Practice in Healthcare from SAGE Publications

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Qualitative Research Skills for Social Work

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Malcolm Carey provides social work students, academics and practitioners with a practical guide to completion of a small-scale qualitative research project or dissertation. This clear text takes the reader through the process of beginning and developing a research problem or question, defining their objectives and undertaking empirical or literature-based research that involves data collection, analysis, writing up and dissemination. The book also highlights and details potential obstacles, essential techniques and methods, types of theory and methodology used, and presents case studies and ongoing debates involved in qualitative social work research. It suggests ways by which sometimes difficult processes (such as the literature review, interviews with practitioners, etc.) can be made easier to complete and explores traditional methods such as the focus group or interview alongside less conventional methodologies such as participative, narrative, discourse or ICT-related approaches. Recent investigation has highlighted the lack of research skills held by many social workers in practice. This book overcomes these problems by providing an essential and easily accessible guidebook to qualitative research methods for social work students and practitioners as well as being of interest to tutors who teach research methods to social work students or supervise dissertations.

How to become a research social worker

• How to become a research sw
• What is a research social worker
• What do research social worker do
• Salary and outlook

When people think about social work, research social work is probably not one of the first fields that comes to mind. Nevertheless, research social work actually plays an important role as its findings can dictate not only governmental policy, but also political reform as well as the allocation of funding. 

Research social workers need to be methodical, objective, and thorough in their research. As with any other field of research, the goal is not to confirm what you hope to be true, but rather figure out what is true. 

For example, suppose that a city program offers a $1 million grant to a local community led organization. Before that money can be spent, the grant stipulates that a study must be completed to find out what groups in the community need the most support. 

In this case, although the research social worker might have pre-existing ideas about how the money should be spent, it is their job to put their personal beliefs aside and complete an objective study of the community to determine where resources are lacking. 

The preceding example illustrates a case where a research social worker may be polling hundreds of thousands or people, looking at economic and housing data, and otherwise compiling a macro-view of the community. Research social work can also exist at the micro-level. 

Individual research 

Participatory research refers to research whereby a social worker integrates themselves with a person or family in order to understand the problems they face and, more broadly, what community resources are missing or inadequate. There are both advantages and disadvantages to this “micro-view” participatory research. 

Advantages 

• It’s possible to gain a very detailed view of a single person’s life and how they interact with the community. Much can be learned that would not otherwise reveal itself through a high level poll or questionnaire. 
• Due to the trust that can form between a community member and a research social worker, the “subject” may reveal more than they would with a questionnaire. 

Disadvantages 

• Participatory research is time consuming and resource heavy. For example, if a research social worker spends two days with a family, that’s time that they could have otherwise spent gathering data from hundreds or thousands of community members via more efficient means. 
• It can become very difficult to remain objective as participatory research can lead the researcher to believe that one family’s problems are the most pressing, even if data strongly indicates that other groups are in greater need. 
• Relationships can form between the social worker and the subject. While these are not necessarily negative, they may lead to biases in data collection which wouldn’t otherwise be prevalent with more impersonal research methods. 

Ultimately both macro and micro (participatory) research have a role to play in data gathering. Throughout their careers a research social worker will most likely conduct both kinds of research, and everything in between.

How research social workers need to conduct themselves 

In terms of participatory research it is important for a research social worker to take into account multiple voices from the community. So even if a research social believes they know which groups are most at risk they still need to conduct wide ranging interviews and remain objectively open to the answers that they receive. This really touches upon a key facet of research social work: objectivity. Being open to what the data is saying regardless of whether it confirms or denies existing views held by the research social worker. 

Also, it’s important to realize that research social workers may not be able to divulge the purpose of their research as they’re carrying it out. If participants knew the reason that the social worker was conducting a study they may be biased in how they present themselves or answer the social worker’s inquiries. This can actually prove frustrating for research social workers as they may not be able to answer even the most basic questions about what they’re doing. 

Why social work research is important 

We’ve covered why social research is important in regard to determining needs within a community and how that research can help to allocate funding to the proper areas. But research social work is also important in determining the efficacy of programs that have been implemented in the community. For example, research social workers can, 

• Administer before and after surveys to determine how the implementation of a new program has benefitted (or not benefitted) the community. 
• They may also conduct individual interviews with community members to find out how they feel about new programs. More specifically, these interviews may also be a chance to learn exactly how community members are benefitting from a program and also their thoughts on how it can be improved. 

Research social work is very important in that it helps to determine what programs are needed in a community and after the programs are created it is research social workers who measure their efficacy. 

While a “regular” social worker may spend their life seeing the trees (dealing with individual cases) it is the research social worker’s goal to see the forest. That is, understand the broader macro environment and the role that community programs play in it. 

Educational requirements to become a research social worker 

Most candidates should only consider taking a degree from a CSWE ( Council on Social Work Education ) accredited institution. Educational institutions without this accreditation may lack a rigorous teaching approach and degree holders from non-CSWE universities may find it more difficult to locate a good job. 

Research social work typically requires a candidate to have a Ph.D. as they will be expected to have a comprehensive understanding of statistics and how to compile the data that they collect. Thus research social work typically requires a large commitment in terms of schooling. 

In some cases, however, a social worker with a masters degree may be able to find work in the research field. Typically this person will handle assignments like distributing questionnaires and doing other data collection tasks in the neighborhood. A Ph.D. social worker will then compile that data and present the findings to local and federal government officials, among others. 

Why research social work can be difficult

One of the primary difficulties associated with social work research is that the social research worker’s role isn’t actually to help, but rather to study and gather data. This is not to suggest that the social worker must be robotic and ignore all problems, however, their role isn’t to solve but to observe. A research social worker may suggest that a “regular” social worker get involved but that’s typically the extent of what they can do. 

It can also be difficult doing participatory research, getting to know a subject or a family over the course of a day or two and then having to leave that family and move on. A normal social worker may stay with a family for months or even years, and enjoy a greater reward as that family’s situation improves. 

Thus social work research is suggested for those who understand their limited intervention role and are truly interested in data and devising the most effective ways to measure the efficacy of programs within the neighborhood. Research social workers can get their satisfaction from seeing community programs succeed, rather than working with individual subjects. 

Research social work career outlook 

It can be difficult to determine the career outlook specifically in regard to the research social worker. This is a very niche area of social work, all the more so since it typically requires a Ph.D. That being said, we can still gain valuable information by looking at overall trends for the social work field. 

The BLS (Bureau of Labor Statistics) estimates that from 2021 to 2031 there will be a 9 percent growth rate in the field of social work. In terms of actual numbers, 64,000 new social work jobs will be created by 2031. 

Research social worker salary  

Again, when it comes to determining the salary for a research social worker it’s difficult as there is little data available. That being the case we can still make a fairly good estimation of how much research social workers earn. 

According to HumanServicesEdu.org , “NASW found that a DSW or PhD can boost your earnings by around $17,000 over the baseline numbers you could expect with a bachelor’s.”

Overall we can see that research social workers tend  to earn more than other social workers and their job prospects are very good.

Frequently asked questions

A research social worker conducts research studies and evaluations to gather data and evidence related to social work practice and policies.

They use a range of research methods, such as surveys, interviews, focus groups, observation, or experimental designs, to answer research questions and test hypotheses.

A Bachelor’s degree in social work is the minimum requirement for most entry-level social work positions. However, many research social work positions require a Master’s degree in social work. Gain relevant work experience and develop research skills. You can also pursue a DSW or PhD to further your knowledge and expertise.

Research social workers need to be knowledgeable about different research methods, social policies, be able to analyze and interpret complex data.

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Research Skills for Social Work (Transforming Social Work Practice Series) 1st Edition

• ISBN-10 1844451798
• ISBN-13 978-1844451791
• Edition 1st
• Publisher Learning Matters
• Publication date June 9, 2009
• Language English
• Dimensions 6.75 x 0.5 x 9.5 inches
• Print length 152 pages
• See all details

Editorial Reviews

About the author.

Andrew Whittaker , PhD, is Professor of Social Work Research at London South Bank University, England, where he is head of the Risk Resilience and Expert Decision Making (RRED) research group. His research on risk and decision making has ranged from ethnographic to randomised controlled trial research designs. Andrew recently completed a review of professional decision making for a child death inquiry in Queensland, Australia. He is the Convenor of the Decisions, Assessment and Risk Special Interest Group (DARSIG) of the European Social Work Research Association. DARSIG is the main European network for researchers in the field of assessment, risk and decision making in social work, with more than 80 members in over 20 countries. Andrew is Editor of the Journal of Social Work Practice .

Product details

• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Learning Matters; 1st edition (June 9, 2009)
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• Paperback ‏ : ‎ 152 pages
• ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1844451798
• ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1844451791
• Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 10.9 ounces
• Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.75 x 0.5 x 9.5 inches
• #5,879 in Social Sciences Research
• #9,216 in Social Services & Welfare (Books)
• #10,844 in Social Work (Books)

About the author

Andrew whittaker.

Andrew Whittaker is Professor of Social Work Research and Head of the Risk, Resilience and Expert Decision Making (RRED) research group at London South Bank University. His research focuses upon the risks of violence and exploitation faced by young people and on risk and expert decision-making in health and social care settings. He is Editor of the Journal of Social Work Practice and Convenor of the (ESWRA) European Special Interest Group on Risk, Assessment and Decision making.

He was lead author for the 'Postcodes to Profit' study of street gangs in London and is currently undertaking research on trauma informed approaches, child criminal exploitation and youth violence reduction. He was seconded to the Tavistock Clinic, where he co-authored a study into child abuse linked to witchcraft and spirit possession. He was previously a senior child protection social worker, a therapist in an NHS child and adolescent mental health service and the director of a mental health charity. He has over 30 years experience in social work practice, research and education.

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Social Work Haven

19 Essential Social Work Practice Skills You Should Work on Refining Now

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A social work practice skill is the ability to do a particular social work task well. Social work is a demanding yet rewarding profession that requires an individual to have a wide variety of social work practice skills , techniques and knowledge.

These skills can be innate or acquired through education. Whether these professional skills are acquired or innate, it is important that professionals continually develop them throughout their career.

I have compiled below a list of essential social work practice skills that are vital for all social workers.

This article covers –

• What are the skills in social work practice?

Why are social work practice skills important?

What are the 4 elements of social work practice, what are micro practice skills in social work, what are the 7 roles of social work, what is the most used skill in social work, how can social work practice be improved, what are the three 3 social work practice, what are the 5 stages of social work practice.

• What are the three C’s of social work?

How do you reflect on social work practice?

What are the challenges of social work practice.

• What are the biggest issues in social work now?

What are the biggest issues in social work right now UK?

Is social work a stressful job, what are the social work practice skills.

These are some characteristics and skills of successful social workers. 

1. Critical Thinking, 2. Conflict Resolution, 3. Decision Making, 4. Problem Solving, 5. Communication Skills, 6. Empathy and Compassion, 7. Cultural Competency, 8. Interpersonal Skills, 9. Advocacy and Community Organising, 10. Research and Data Analysis,

11. Supervision and Management, 12. Group Leadership, 13. Assessment skills, 14. Program Planning, Implementation and Evaluation, 15. Collaboration with Multiple Systems (e.g., medical, educational), 16. Risk Identification, Assessment and Reduction Strategies, 17. Professional Development, 18. Self-care, Flexibility and Adaptability, 19. Ethical Decision Making.

1.Critical thinking skills

Critical thinking is one of the most important skills social workers use daily, as it helps them to evaluate situations objectively and make well-informed decisions. It includes being able to think systematically and identify the root cause of an issue or problem, analyse data, assess risks, and evaluate options.

Social workers must also be able to think logically, critically analyse information and draw reasonable conclusions to help those they are working with.

2.Conflict resolution skills

Social work requires professionals to manage challenging situations between individuals or groups of people on a daily basis. Conflict resolution is the art of resolving disputes among people while maintaining relationships and ensuring everyone’s needs are met.

Social workers must be able to identify and address conflicts quickly, use effective communication techniques, facilitate compromise and resolve disputes in a way that is fair for all parties involved.

3.Decision making skills

Social work involves making difficult decisions which can have long-term consequences.

Professionals need to stay informed of the latest developments in their field and think critically to evaluate different perspectives and possible outcomes. They should also consider ethical principles when making decisions, as well as potential unintended consequences of their choices.

4.Problem-solving skills

Social workers must be able to problem solve on a daily basis to help those they are working with find solutions that meet their needs. This includes systematically analysing a problem, brainstorming potential solutions, evaluating options and developing an action plan to address the issue.

Problem-solving requires creative thinking, adaptive reasoning, communication skills and strong interpersonal skills.

5.Communication Skills

Social workers must be able to effectively communicate in various settings with diverse groups of people.

This means being able to listen actively, understand and interpret verbal and nonverbal communication, remain open to different perspectives, convey their own thoughts clearly, provide feedback and facilitate conversations.

They must also be able to adjust their communication style based on the context or situation.

6.Empathy and Compassion

A key part of social work is being able to understand and relate to the feelings of those they are working with. This requires empathy, or the ability to put yourself in someone else’s shoes and see things from their perspective. Understanding simple ways of showing social work empathy can help enhance the social worker – client relationship.

Compassion involves empathising with someone but also taking action to help them. Social workers must strive to be understanding and supportive of those they are working with while advocating for them in a way that respects their dignity and autonomy.

I have detailed 19 Simple Ways to Show Empathy in Social Worker here.

7.Cultural Competency

Social workers must be aware of the various social, cultural and religious influences on behavior and beliefs in order to effectively help those they are working with.

They should be familiar with different cultural practices, values, beliefs and customs, as well as cultural stereotypes. This can help them to better understand their clients’ needs, provide effective interventions and build trust with those they are serving.

8.Interpersonal Skills

Interpersonal skills are essential for social workers as they must be able to interact with and build relationships with clients, colleagues, other professionals and community members.

This includes the ability to show respect, accept criticism, listen actively, be open-minded and maintain appropriate boundaries. Social workers should strive to cultivate strong interpersonal skills in order to better understand their clients and work together to find effective solutions.

9.Advocacy and Community Organising

Social workers must be able to advocate for their clients in a way that respects their autonomy and dignity.

This includes understanding the laws and policies affecting those they are working with, as well as engaging in community organising activities to promote social change. Social workers should also be aware of how systemic oppression can contribute to social issues and work towards dismantling oppressive systems.

10.Research and Data Analysis

Social workers must be able to analyse and synthesise research data in order to inform their practice.

This includes understanding the various types of research methods and how to apply them in different contexts, as well as being able to understand, interpret and communicate research results. Social workers should also be aware of ethical considerations when conducting or using research.

11.Supervision and Management

Social workers must be able to provide or receive supervision in a way that is constructive, supportive and ethical.

Supervision should involve creating a safe space for learning, offering feedback, mentoring and helping social workers make informed decisions.

Social workers should also understand the principles of management, such as planning, budgeting and scheduling, in order to manage their caseloads and overall practice effectively.

12.Group Leadership Skills

Group work is an important part of social work and requires strong leadership skills. Social workers need to be able to facilitate different types of groups such as support, therapy or educational groups.

This includes understanding group dynamics, developing appropriate agendas and facilitating productive conversations. Social workers should strive to foster a sense of safety, openness and respect in the group setting.

13.Assessment Skills

Social workers must be able to assess needs and develop appropriate interventions that are tailored to individual clients.

This includes being familiar with different assessment tools and techniques, as well as understanding how to interpret assessment results in order to develop effective plans.

Practitioners should also be aware of ethical considerations when conducting assessments.

14.Program Planning, Implementation and Evaluation

Social workers must be able to develop, implement and evaluate programs that are tailored to meet the needs of their clients. This includes understanding how to create a program plan, manage resources, and monitor progress. Social workers should also be familiar with different evaluation methods in order to measure the effectiveness of their interventions.

15.Multi-agency Working

Social workers must be able to work collaboratively with other professionals and organisations.

This includes understanding the roles and responsibilities of different stakeholders, developing effective communication strategies, and bridging cultural divides. Social workers should also strive to build trust and foster positive relationships between different organisations in order to ensure the best possible outcomes for their clients.

16.Risk Identification, Assessment and Reduction Strategies

Social workers must be able to identify and assess risks in order to develop appropriate interventions.

This includes understanding different risk factors, being familiar with relevant legal frameworks and developing strategies for reducing or eliminating potential risks. Social workers should also be aware of the ethical considerations when assessing and responding to risk.

17.Professional Development

Social workers should continually strive to improve their practice by engaging in professional development opportunities.

This includes attending seminars, workshops and conferences, reading research reports, joining professional networks and evaluating their own practice.

Social workers should also make sure to engage in reflective practice on a regular basis in order to remain up-to-date with current best practices and ensure they are providing the best possible care for their clients.

18.Self-care, flexibility, and adaptability

Social workers should also strive to take care of their own wellbeing by engaging in activities that promote self-care and resilience.

This includes understanding the importance of self-reflection, setting clear boundaries, and taking regular breaks from work. Social workers must also be flexible and adaptable in order to respond quickly and effectively to changes in clients’ needs or situations.

19.Ethical Decision Making

Social workers must be able to make ethical decisions in line with relevant codes of conduct.

This includes understanding the implications of different choices, being familiar with ethical principles, and actively seeking advice when appropriate. Social workers should also strive to ensure that their decisions are reflective of their own values and beliefs.

These are just some of the practice skills in social work that can help professionals refine their abilities and deliver better results.

Developing these skills takes time, dedication and practice but can cause improved outcomes for those you are working with.

By continuously honing these 19 social work practice skills, a social worker can become an effective and compassionate advocate for their clients.

The four core elements of social work practice are:

1. Assessment and diagnosis – this involves gathering information to understand an individual’s strengths and needs, as well as identifying any potential risks or hazards.

2. Intervention planning – this involves creating a plan that outlines the strategies, resources and goals needed to address the identified needs or issues.

3. Implementation – this involves setting clear goals and objectives for the plan, as well as providing the necessary resources and support to ensure successful outcomes.

4. Evaluation – this involves assessing progress towards achieving the desired results and making any necessary adjustments to ensure these are achieved.

These four elements form the basis of social work practice.

If you are looking for more social work related content, check out the following articles:

• Why You Should Actively Listen as a Social Worker
• Social Work Values & Respect

Professionalism in Social Work

Micro practice skills are the day-to-day tasks that social workers employ to help their clients. These skills include communication, problem solving, and conflict resolution. They also include assessment, interviewing, record keeping and case management.

With these skills, social workers can identify individuals’ needs, develop strategies for meeting those needs, and provide emotional support as needed.

By developing and refining these micro practices skills, social workers will be better equipped to serve the needs of their clients. They can also ensure that outcomes are achieved in a timely and effective manner.

The seven roles of social work are:

1. Advocate – this involves advocating for and protecting the rights, safety and well-being of individuals and groups.

2. Educator – this involves educating clients on issues such as health promotion, mental health, substance abuse and community resources.

3. Manager – this involves overseeing service delivery, developing plans and coordinating resources.

4. Researcher – this involves conducting research in order to inform program design, policy development and evidence-based practice.

5. Clinician – this involves providing direct clinical services such as counseling, psychotherapy and crisis intervention.

6. Lobbyist – this involves engaging with political systems and institutions to promote the interests of clients or specific causes.

7. Mentor – this involves providing guidance and support to individuals in order to help them reach their goals.

By developing these seven roles, social workers can become more effective at serving their clients’ needs and helping them achieve positive outcomes.

Since social work is about building relationships with families and an individual’s support network, communication skills and relationship-building skills would appear to be the most used skill in social work.

Social work practices can be improved by staying current on research and evidence-based practices, increasing cultural competencies and understanding how to effectively collaborate with other professionals. Additionally, social workers should develop their own self-care strategies to reduce burnout, learn new techniques and skills, stay organised, and practice reflective supervision.

The three main areas of social work practice are engagement, assessment, and intervention. These involve building relationships with clients, gathering information to identify needs or issues, and developing strategies to address those needs.

The five stages of social work practice include:

• preparation (gathering resources and assessing situation)
• identification (identifying client’s needs and goals)
• planning (developing action plan)
• intervention (implementing strategies) and
• evaluation (monitoring progress, making adjustments and evaluating results).

Reflection is an important part of social work practice. A social worker can use any of the reflective models to reflect on their practice. Reflective model could be example, Gibbs reflective model, or the WEATHER model.

It involves examining one’s own thoughts, feelings, beliefs, and motivations as they relate to interactions with clients. Reflection can help social workers identify areas of strengths and weaknesses, adjust strategies as needed, and gain insight into the impact they have on their clients’ lives.

Additionally, reflective practice can help social workers to remain aware of their own biases and opinions and helps them to stay objective in their interactions with clients. This, in turn, assists them in making better decisions and delivering more effective services.

Reflection can be done through journaling, discussing with colleagues or supervisors, or engaging in self-reflection activities, such as meditation.

The challenges of social work practice include dealing with a large and diverse caseload, inadequate resources, complex regulations and requirements, time constraints, emotional burden of the job, lack of professional recognition or respect from other professions.

Additionally, poor pay can be an issue for some social workers as well. Social workers also face ethical dilemmas in their practice, as they must weigh clients’ rights and responsibilities with the laws, regulations, and policies of the profession.

These challenges can be difficult to overcome, but social workers should strive to continually improve their knowledge, skills and resources in order to provide the best service for their clients.

Some of the biggest issues in social work right now UK include increasing caseloads due to cuts, lack of resources and support for front line staff, inadequate pay, workplace bullying and discrimination.

Additionally, there are concerns about a growing shortage of qualified social workers, as well as an increase in burnout due to heavy workloads.

There is a need to improve professional development opportunities and resources for social workers, as well as better recognition of the important role they play in society.

Finally, there are ongoing debates about the use of technology in social work practice, as well as how to balance autonomy and accountability when supporting vulnerable people.

Social work can be a very stressful job due to the heavy caseloads and emotional demands of the job. Social workers must also often face difficult ethical dilemmas which can cause stress.

However, social work can also be a rewarding career for those who are able to manage the challenges that come with it. It is important for social workers to have a good support system, and to take time for self-care in order to manage their stress levels.

Without a good support system and attention to self-care, a social worker can easily experience burn out or compassion fatigue in some instances.

Additionally, it is important for social workers to continually seek out professional development opportunities and resources to help them stay informed about best practices and current trends in the profession.

Professional development can help social workers provide more effective services to their clients and feel less stressed.

Socialworkhaven.com Useful Resources

• Social Work To-Do List

Social Work To – Do List: What To Include: We sometimes struggle with managing our daily tasks as social workers. This is not because we do not have the skills. The work load, crisis and challenges we face can be overwhelming. That is why a social work to-do list may help us manage better.

• Recommended Books

Best Social Work Books Every Student Must Read  is a great article full of highly recommended and engaging books. Helping student social workers to equip themselves with knowledge and skills. It is a great way to empower yourself and encourage you to read more.

• Social Work Registration

Social Work Registration: Get it done – is a useful article that walks you through the social work registration process.

• Social Work Burnout

51 Effective Ways to Fight Social Work Burnout helps practitioners explore 51 effective ways to fight Social Work Burnout. Social work burnout can affect the way we execute our role. It can cause social work stress, and a stressed social worker cannot perform their role effectively.

• Active Listening in Social Work

Why You Should Actively Listen as a Social Worker raises awareness of active listening in social work. Social work active listening involves the listener paying close attention to the speaker, making sure not to interrupt, and reflecting on what they have heard. This helps the speaker feel heard and validated, and it can also help them clarify their thoughts and feelings.

• Social Work Humour

Social Work Humour for the End of a Long Day This article explains when social work humour is important. Essential social work skills include empathy, authenticity, resilience and respect. These skills help us cope with situations and meet the needs of service users or clients. However, the best coping mechanism in social work is definitely humour.

• Social Work CV Writing

Social Work CV Writing This article is a must read – whether you are a student, newly qualified, or an experienced social worker, and looking for a new company to work for, you will find these 13 fundamental tips useful if you want to create the perfect Social Work CV/resume that will make you outshine others and get noticed.

• Social Work Values & Respect in Social Work

Social Work Values & Respect in Social Work Social work values include respect, dignity and worth of individuals, pursuit of social justice, integrity and competence. This article explores what ‘respect’ means in social work. Social work values are the beliefs and principles of social workers, which guide their practice and help them to determine the right course of action when making decisions.

• Generalist Intervention Model: Complete Guide

Generalist Intervention Model: Complete Guide The Generalist Intervention Model (GIM) is an approach to working with individuals, families, and communities that is based on a recognition of the interconnections of human systems. It emphasises building partnerships with clients and utilising their strengths to address problems and create solutions.

The model uses an ecological perspective to identify multiple levels of influence in client’s lives, including but not limited to: family, peers, school/work, community, and policy.

• Social Work Quotes

Social Work Quotes Social work quotes  are an important part of understanding the complexities of social work. They can provide insights into how we think about and approach specific problems or situations. Quotes from famous authors,  educational institutions , theorists, and practitioners have been used for centuries to help articulate ideas, promote critical thinking, help with  social work interventions  and offer inspiration.

The Professional Capabilities Framework (PCF) sets capability statements of what is to be expected for all stages of a social worker’s career, from entry into training to the most advanced level of a social work practitioner. Professionalism is a  key capability under the PCF   and it requires upcoming, newly qualified and existing social workers to identify and behave as professional social workers committed to professional development.

• Anger management for autistic children

Anger management for autistic children – Social work  aims to enhance the mental and emotional health of individuals and families by offering psychological services.

Learning basic anger management strategies for children with autism can be useful for both professionals and families to help address and manage instances of anger outbursts.

Social Work Got You Losing Your Mind?

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Essential Skills and Traits for Social Workers

Social work is a dynamic and demanding profession that requires a variety of skills and qualities. Whether these skills are innate or acquired, success in the field requires social workers to continually develop them throughout their career. While this list is not exhaustive, the following skills  are vital for all social workers.

10 Characteristics and Skills of Successful Social Workers

Empathy is the ability to identify with and understand another person’s experience and point of view. NASW defines it as "the act of perceiving, understanding, experiencing and responding to the emotional state and ideas of another person."¹

“Stepping into someone else’s shoes” and recognizing that experiences, perceptions and worldviews are unique to each individual enables social workers to better understand and build stronger relationships with clients. It is a vital skill that helps social workers to determine a client’s needs based on his or her unique experiences in order to efficiently provide services.

¹Barker, R. L. (2003). The Social Work Dictionary. 5th ed. Washington, DC: NASW Press.

2. Communication

Communication – both verbal and non-verbal – is a vital skill for social workers. The ability to communicate clearly with a wide range of people is essential. It is the duty of social workers to advocate for their clients – in order to do this, social workers must understand the client’s needs. In addition to being cognizant of body language and other non-verbal cues, this means communicating appropriately and effectively with clients regardless of cultural background, age, gender, literacy skill level or disability. Social workers must also communicate with care providers, colleagues, and agencies, and must document and report information in a clear manner.

3. Organization

Social workers have busy schedules and a wide range of responsibilities in addition to managing and supporting multiple clients, including documentation, reporting, billing and collaboration. This requires social workers to be very organized and able to prioritize clients’ needs in order to effectively manage cases. Disorganization and poor time management could cause a social worker to overlook a client’s needs and result in negative outcomes.

4. Critical thinking

Critical thinking is the ability to analyze information gathered from unbiased observation and communication. Social workers must be able to objectively evaluate each case by collecting information through observation, interviews and research. Thinking critically and without prejudice enables social workers to make informed decisions, identify the best resources and formulate the best plan to help clients.

5. Active listening

Active listening is necessary for social workers to understand and identify a client’s needs. Listening carefully, concentrating, asking the right questions, and utilizing techniques such as paraphrasing and summarizing also helps social workers to engage and establish trust with clients.

6. Self-care

Social work can be demanding and emotionally stressful, so it is important to engage in activities that help you to maintain a healthy work-life balance. Self-care refers to practices that help to reduce stress and improve health and well-being – engaging in these practices helps to prevent burnout and compassion fatigue and is crucial to having a sustainable career. By taking the time to care for themselves, social workers are better able to provide the best services for their clients. Learn more about self-care with our self-care starter kit .

7. Cultural competence

Working effectively with clients from diverse backgrounds requires social workers to be respectful and responsive to cultural beliefs and practices. Social workers must be knowledgeable and respectful of their clients’ cultural backgrounds and must, as stated by NASW , “examine their own cultural backgrounds and identities while seeking out the necessary knowledge, skills, and values that can enhance the delivery of services to people with varying cultural experiences associated with their race, ethnicity, gender, class, sexual orientation, religion, age or disability.” Possessing a non-judgmental attitude and an appreciation for diversity and the value of individual differences enables social worker to provide clients with what they need.

8. Patience

Social workers encounter an array of circumstances and individuals in their work. It is important to have patience to work through complex cases and with clients who need longer periods of time to make progress. This empowers social workers to understand the client’s situation and avoid hasty decision-making and frustration that can lead to costly errors and poor outcomes for the client.

9. Professional commitment

Being successful in social work requires lifelong learning. Social workers must have a professional commitment to social work values and ethics , and to continuously developing professional competence. This commitment is necessary for fulfilling the mission of social workers – “to enhance human well-being and help meet the basic human needs of all people, with particular attention to the needs and empowerment of people who are vulnerable, oppressed and living in poverty.”

10. Advocacy

Social workers promote social justice and empower clients and communities through advocacy. Advocacy skills enable social workers to represent and argue for their clients and to connect them with needed resources and opportunities, especially when clients are vulnerable or unable to advocate for themselves.

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So why is research important to social work?

As social workers, we train to be able to see the multitude of invisible lines within the systems that hold our lives together, or divide us. We learn to recognize the disconnects, and to help our clients figure out how to reconnect the dots. We view the world through a lens of person-in-environment, that is to say, we seek to understand the context in which our clients live.

The social sciences have an inherent obligation not only to keep abreast of current relevant research, but also to be competent enough to apply new treatments and insights within their practice. Social workers are truly dedicated professionals who have to complete a minimum number of continuing education credits to continue practicing. We don’t get to pick and choose the individuals we help, which is why we have to constantly develop our cultural competencies to identify the strengths of those we are helping. So, research is important to social work because it helps us be effective!

According to the NASW, research in social work helps us:

• Assess the needs and resources of people in their environments
• Evaluate the effectiveness of social work services in meeting peoples needs
• Demonstrate relative costs and benefits of social work services
• Advance professional education in light of changing contexts for practice
• Understand the impact of legislation and social policy on the clients and communities we serve (Retrieved from http://www.socialworkpolicy.org/research)

I still do not know what my research question will be for my senior thesis, but I am beginning to pare down some topics that interest me such as:

• Effects of childhood trauma
• The school-to-prison pipeline
• Trauma-informed therapies within prisons
• Effectiveness of prison diversion programs

8 thoughts on “ So why is research important to social work? ”

try explaining in detail

article quite informing for an amateur in research

In doing any of interventions;evidence based is needed. Not intuition,you need to do assessment of the problem before intervention.Then again you need to to evaluation on the service you provided if has positive impact to your client.

It is a very informative piece of work

try explaining in detail the points listed as to where the nexus between Research and Social work lie

are there means to conduct dual research projects with your institutions?

Akulu muziika zithu zonse ap tisamachiteso kuvutika iyayi 😏😏

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The Pursuit of Quality for Social Work Practice: Three Generations and Counting

Enola proctor.

Shanti K. Khinduka Distinguished Professor and director of the Center for Mental Health Services Research at Washington University in St. Louis

Social work addresses some of the most complex and intractable human and social problems: poverty, mental illness, addiction, homelessness, and child abuse. Our field may be distinct among professions for its efforts to ameliorate the toughest societal problems, experienced by society’s most vulnerable, while working from under-resourced institutions and settings. Members of our profession are underpaid, and most of our agencies lack the data infrastructure required for rigorous assessment and evaluation.

Moreover, social work confronts these challenges as it is ethically bound to deliver high-quality services. Policy and regulatory requirements increasingly demand that social work deliver and document the effectiveness of highest quality interventions and restrict reimbursement to those services that are documented as evidence based. Social work’s future, its very survival, depends on our ability to deliver services with a solid base of evidence and to document their effectiveness. In the words of the American Academy of Social Work and Social Welfare (AASWSW; n.d.) , social work seeks to “champion social progress powered by science.” The research community needs to support practice through innovative and rigorous science that advances the evidence for interventions to address social work’s grand challenges.

My work seeks to improve the quality of social work practice by pursuing answers to three questions:

• What interventions and services are most effective and thus should be delivered in social work practice?
• How do we measure the impact of those interventions and services? (That is, what outcomes do our interventions achieve?)
• How do we implement the highest quality interventions?

This paper describes this work, demonstrates the substantive and methodological progression across the three questions, assesses what we have learned, and forecasts a research agenda for what we still need to learn. Given Aaron Rosen’s role as my PhD mentor and our many years of collaboration, the paper also addresses the role of research mentoring in advancing our profession’s knowledge base.

What Interventions and Services Are Most Effective?

Answering the question “What services are effective?” requires rigorous testing of clearly specified interventions. The first paper I coauthored with Aaron Rosen—“Specifying the Treatment Process: The Basis for Effectiveness Research” ( Rosen & Proctor, 1978 )—provided a framework for evaluating intervention effectiveness. At that time, process and outcomes were jumbled and intertwined concepts. Social work interventions were rarely specified beyond theoretical orientation or level of focus: casework (or direct practice); group work; and macro practice, which included community, agency-level, and policy-focused practice. Moreover, interventions were not named, nor were their components clearly identified. We recognized that gross descriptions of interventions obstruct professional training, preclude fidelity assessment, and prevent accurate tests of effectiveness. Thus, in a series of papers, Rosen and I advocated that social work interventions be specified, clearly labeled, and operationally defined, measured, and tested.

Specifying Interventions

Such specification of interventions is essential to two professional responsibilities: professional education and demonstrating the effectiveness of the field’s interventions. Without specification, interventions cannot be taught. Social work education is all about equipping students with skills to deliver interventions, programs, services, administrative practices, and policies. Teaching interventions requires an ability to name, define, see them in action, measure their presence (or absence), assess the fidelity with which they are delivered, and give feedback to students on how to increase or refine the associated skills.

To advance testing the effectiveness of social work interventions, we drew distinctions between interventions and outcomes and proposed these two constructs as the foci for effectiveness research. We defined interventions as practitioner behaviors that can be volitionally manipulated by practitioners (used or not, varied in intensity and timing), that are defined in detail, can be reliably measured, and can be linked to specific identified outcomes ( Rosen & Proctor, 1978 ; Rosen & Proctor, 1981 ). This definition foreshadowed the development of treatment manuals, lists of specific evidence-based practices, and calls for monitoring intervention fidelity. Recognizing the variety of intervention types, and to advance their more precise definition and measurement, we proposed that interventions be distinguished in terms of their complexity. Interventive responses comprise discrete or single responses, such as affirmation, expression of empathy, or positive reinforcement. Interventive strategies comprise several different actions that are, together, linked to a designated outcome, such as motivational interviewing. Most complex are interventive programs , which are a variety of intervention actions organized and integrated as a total treatment package; collaborative care for depression or community assertive treatment are examples. To strengthen the professional knowledge base, we also called for social work effectiveness research to begin testing the optimal dose and sequencing of intervention components in relation to attainment of desired outcomes.

Advancing Intervention Effectiveness Research

Our “specifying paper” also was motivated by the paucity of literature at that time on actual social work interventions. Our literature review of 13 major social work journals over 5 years of published research revealed that only 15% of published social work research addressed interventions. About a third of studies described social problems, and about half explored factors associated with the problem ( Rosen, Proctor, & Staudt, 2003 ). Most troubling was our finding that only 3% of articles described the intervention or its components in sufficient detail for replication in either research or practice. Later, Fraser (2004) found intervention research to comprise only about one fourth of empirical studies in social work. Fortunately, our situation has improved. Intervention research is more frequent in social work publications, thanks largely to the publication policies of the Journal of the Society for Social Work and Research and Research on Social Work Practice .

Research Priorities

Social work faces important and formidable challenges as it advances research on intervention effectiveness. The practitioner who searches the literature or various intervention lists can find more than 500 practices that are named or that are shown to have evidence from rigorous trials that passes a bar to qualify as evidence-based practices. However, our profession still lacks any organized compendium or taxonomy of interventions that are employed in or found to be effective for social work practice. Existing lists of evidence-based practices, although necessary, are insufficient for social work for several reasons. First, as a 2015 National Academies Institute of Medicine (IOM) report—“Psychosocial Interventions for Mental and Substance Use Disorders: A Framework for Establishing Evidence-Based Standards” ( IOM, 2015 )—concluded, too few evidence-based practices have been found to be appropriate for low-resource settings or acceptable to minority groups. Second, existing interventions do not adequately reflect the breadth of social work practice. We have too few evidence-based interventions that can inform effective community organization, case management, referral practice, resource development, administrative practice, or policy. Noting that there is far less literature on evidence-based practices relevant to organizational, community, and policy practice, a social work task force responding to the 2015 IOM report recommended that this gap be a target of our educational and research efforts ( National Task Force on Evidence-Based Practice in Social Work, 2016 ). And finally, our field—along with other professions that deliver psychosocial interventions—lacks the kinds of procedure codes that can identify the specific interventions we deliver. Documenting social work activities in agency records is increasingly essential for quality assurance and third-party reimbursement.

Future Directions: Research to Advance Evidence on Interventions

Social work has critically important research needs. Our field needs to advance the evidence base on what interventions work for social work populations, practices, and settings. Responding to the 2015 IOM report, the National Task Force on Evidence-Based Practice in Social Work (2016) identified as a social work priority the development and testing of evidence-based practices relevant to organizational, community, and policy practice. As we advance our intervention effectiveness research, we must respond to the challenge of determining the key mechanisms of change ( National Institute of Mental Health, 2016 ) and identify key modifiable components of packaged interventions ( Rosen & Proctor, 1978 ). We need to explore the optimal dosage, ordering, or adapted bundling of intervention elements and advance robust, feasible ways to measure and increase fidelity ( Jaccard, 2016 ). We also need to conduct research on which interventions are most appropriate, acceptable, and effective with various client groups ( Zayas, 2003 ; Videka, 2003 ).

Documenting the Impact of Interventions: Specifying and Measuring Outcomes

Outcomes are key to documenting the impact of social work interventions. My 1978 “specifying” paper with Rosen emphasized that the effectiveness of social work practice could not be adequately evaluated without clear specification and measurement of various types of outcomes. In that paper, we argued that the profession cannot rely only on an assertion of effectiveness. The field must also calibrate, calculate, and communicate its impact.

The nursing profession’s highly successful campaign, based on outcomes research, positioned that field to claim that “nurses save lives.” Nurse staffing ratios were associated with in-hospital and 30-day mortality, independent of patient characteristics, hospital characteristics, or medical treatment ( Person et al., 2004 ). In contrast, social work has often described—sometimes advertised—itself as the low-cost profession. The claim of “cheapest service” may have some strategic advantage in turf competition with other professions. But social work can do better. Our research base can and should demonstrate the value of our work by naming and quantifying the outcomes—the added value of social work interventions.

As a start to this work—a beginning step in compiling evidence about the impact of social work interventions—our team set out to identify the outcomes associated with social work practice. We felt that identifying and naming outcomes is essential for conveying what social work is about. Moreover, outcomes should serve as the focus for evaluating the effectiveness of social work interventions.

We produced two taxonomies of outcomes reflected in published evaluations of social work interventions ( Proctor, Rosen, & Rhee, 2002 ; Rosen, Proctor, & Staudt, 2003 ). They included such outcomes as change in clients’ social functioning, resource procurement, problem or symptom reduction, and safety. They exemplify the importance of naming and measuring what our profession can contribute to society. Although social work’s growing body of effectiveness research typically reports outcomes of the interventions being tested, the literature has not, in the intervening 20 years, addressed the collective set of outcomes for our field.

Fortunately, the Grand Challenges for Social Work (AASWSW, n.d.) now provide a framework for communicating social work’s goals. They reflect social work’s added value: improving individual and family well-being, strengthening social fabric, and helping to create a more just society. The Grand Challenges for Social Work include ensuring healthy development for all youth, closing the health gap, stopping family violence, advancing long and productive lives, eradicating social isolation, ending homelessness, creating social responses to a changing environment, harnessing technology for social good, promoting smart decarceration, reducing extreme economic inequality, building financial capability for all, and achieving equal opportunity and justice ( AASWSW, n.d. ).

These important goals appropriately reflect much of what we are all about in social work, and our entire field has been galvanized—energized by the power of these grand challenges. However, the grand challenges require setting specific benchmarks—targets that reflect how far our professional actions can expect to take us, or in some areas, how far we have come in meeting the challenge.

For the past decade, care delivery systems and payment reforms have required measures for tracking performance. Quality measures have become critical tools for all service providers and organizations ( IOM, 2015 ). The IOM defines quality of care as “the degree to which … services for individuals and populations increase the likelihood of desired … outcomes and are consistent with current professional knowledge” ( Lohr, 1990 , p. 21). Quality measures are important at multiple levels of service delivery: at the client level, at the practitioner level, at the organization level, and at the policy level. The National Quality Forum has established five criteria for quality measures: They should address (a) the most important, (b) the most scientifically valid, (c) the most feasible or least burdensome, (d) the most usable, and (e) the most harmonious set of measures ( IOM, 2015 .) Quality measures have been advanced by accrediting groups (e.g., the Joint Commission of the National Committee for Quality Assurance), professional societies, and federal agencies, including the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. However, quality measures are lacking for key areas of social work practice, including mental health and substance-use treatment. And of the 55 nationally endorsed measures related to mental health and substance use, only two address a psychosocial intervention. Measures used for accreditation and certification purposes often reflect structural capabilities of organizations and their resource use, not the infrastructure required to deliver high-quality services ( IOM, 2015 ). I am not aware of any quality measure developed by our own professional societies or agreed upon across our field.

Future Directions: Research on Quality Monitoring and Measure Development

Although social work as a field lacks a strong tradition of measuring and assessing quality ( Megivern et al., 2007 ; McMillen et al., 2005 ; Proctor, Powell, & McMillen, 2012 ), social work’s role in the quality workforce is becoming better understood ( McMillen & Raffol, 2016 ). The small number of established and endorsed quality measures reflects both limitations in the evidence for effective interventions and challenges in obtaining the detailed information necessary to support quality measurement ( IOM, 2015 ). According to the National Task Force on Evidence-Based Practice in Social Work (2016) , developing quality measures to capture use of evidence-based interventions is essential for the survival of social work practice in many settings. The task force recommends that social work organizations develop relevant and viable quality measures and that social workers actively influence the implementation of quality measures in their practice settings.

How to Implement Evidence-Based Care

A third and more recent focus of my work addresses this question: How do we implement evidence-based care in agencies and communities? Despite our progress in developing proven interventions, most clients—whether served by social workers or other providers—do not receive evidence-based care. A growing number of studies are assessing the extent to which clients—in specific settings or communities—receive evidence-based interventions. Kohl, Schurer, and Bellamy (2009) examined quality in a core area of social work: training for parents at risk for child maltreatment. The team examined the parent services and their level of empirical support in community agencies, staffed largely by master’s-level social workers. Of 35 identified treatment programs offered to families, only 11% were “well-established empirically supported interventions,” with another 20% containing some hallmarks of empirically supported interventions ( Kohl et al., 2009 ). This study reveals a sizable implementation gap, with most of the programs delivered lacking scientific validation.

Similar quality gaps are apparent in other settings where social workers deliver services. Studies show that only 19.3% of school mental health professionals and 36.8% of community mental health professionals working in Virginia’s schools and community mental health centers report using any evidence-based substance-abuse prevention programs ( Evans, Koch, Brady, Meszaros, & Sadler, 2013 ). In mental health, where social workers have long delivered the bulk of services, only 40% to 50% of people with mental disorders receive any treatment ( Kessler, Chiu, Demler, Merikangas, & Walters, 2005 ; Merikangas et al., 2011 ), and of those receiving treatment, a fraction receive what could be considered “quality” treatment ( Wang, Demler, & Kessler, 2002 ; Wang et al., 2005 ). These and other studies indicate that, despite progress in developing proven interventions, most clients do not receive evidence-based care. In light of the growth of evidence-based practice, this fact is troubling evidence that testing interventions and publishing the findings is not sufficient to improve quality.

So, how do we get these interventions in place? What is needed to enable social workers to deliver, and clients to receive, high-quality care? In addition to developing and testing evidence-based interventions, what else is needed to improve the quality of social work practice? My work has focused on advancing quality of services through two paths.

Making Effective Interventions Accessible to Providers: Intervention Reviews and Taxonomies

First, we have advocated that research evidence be synthesized and made available to front-line practitioners. In a research-active field where new knowledge is constantly produced, practitioners should not be expected to rely on journal publications alone for information about effective approaches to achieve desired outcomes. Mastering a rapidly expanding professional evidence base has been characterized as a nearly unachievable challenge for practitioners ( Greenfield, 2017 ). Reviews should critique and clarify the intervention’s effectiveness as tested in specific settings, populations, and contexts, answering the question, “What works where, and with whom?” Even more valuable are studies of comparative effectiveness—those that answer, “Which intervention approach works better, where, and when?”

Taxonomies of clearly and consistently labeled interventions will enhance their accessibility and the usefulness of research reports and systematic reviews. A pre-requisite is the consistent naming of interventions. A persistent challenge is the wide variation in names or labels for interventive procedures and programs. Our professional activities are the basis for our societal sanction, and they must be capable of being accurately labeled and documented if we are to describe what our profession “does” to advance social welfare. Increasingly, and in short order, that documentation will be in electronic records that are scrutinized by third parties for purposes of reimbursement and assessment of value toward outcome attainment.

How should intervention research and reviews be organized? Currently, several websites provide lists of evidence-based practices, some with links, citations, or information about dissemination and implementation organizations that provide training and facilitation to adopters. Practitioners and administrators find such lists helpful but often note the challenge in determining which are most appropriate for their needs. In the words of one agency leader, “The drug companies are great at presenting [intervention information] in a very easy form to use. We don’t have people coming and saying, ‘Ah, let me tell you about the best evidence-based practice for cognitive behavioral therapy for depression,’” ( Proctor et al., 2007 , p. 483). We have called for the field to devise decision aids for practitioners to enhance access to the best available empirical knowledge about interventions ( Proctor et al., 2002 ; Proctor & Rosen, 2008 ; Rosen et al., 2003 ). We proposed that intervention taxonomies be organized around outcomes pursued in social work practice, and we developed such a taxonomy based on eight domains of outcomes—those most frequently tested in social work journals. Given the field’s progress in identifying its grand challenges, its associated outcomes could well serve as the organizing focus, with research-tested interventions listed for each challenge. Compiling the interventions, programs, and services that are shown—through research—to help achieve one of the challenges would surely advance our field.

We further urged profession-wide efforts to develop social work practice guidelines from intervention taxonomies ( Rosen et al., 2003 ). Practice guidelines are systematically compiled, critiqued, and organized statements about the effectiveness of interventions that are organized in a way to help practitioners select and use the most effective and appropriate approaches for addressing client problems and pursuing desired outcomes.

At that time, we proposed that our published taxonomy of social work interventions could provide a beginning architecture for social work guidelines ( Rosen et al., 2003 ). In 2000, we organized a conference for thought leaders in social work practice. This talented group wrestled with and formulated recommendations for tackling the professional, research, and training requisites to developing social work practice guidelines to enable researchers to access and apply the best available knowledge about interventions ( Rosen et al., 2003 ). Fifteen years later, however, the need remains for social work to synthesize its intervention research. Psychology and psychiatry, along with most fields of medical practice, have developed practice guidelines. Although their acceptance and adherence is fraught with challenges, guidelines make evidence more accessible and enable quality monitoring. Yet, guidelines still do not exist for social work.

The 2015 IOM report, “Psychosocial Interventions for Mental and Substance Use Disorders: A Framework for Establishing Evidence-Based Standards,” includes a conclusion that information on the effectiveness of psychosocial interventions is not routinely available to service consumers, providers, and payers, nor is it synthesized. That 2015 IOM report called for systematic reviews to inform clinical guidelines for psychosocial interventions. This report defined psychosocial interventions broadly, encompassing “interpersonal or informational activities, techniques, or strategies that target biological, behavioral, cognitive, emotional, interpersonal, social, or environmental factors with the aim of reducing symptoms and improving functioning or well-being” ( IOM, 2015 , p. 5). These interventions are social work’s domain; they are delivered in the very settings where social workers dominate (behavioral health, schools, criminal justice, child welfare, and immigrant services); and they encompass populations across the entire lifespan within all sociodemographic groups and vulnerable populations. Accordingly, the National Task Force on Evidence Based Practice in Social Work (2016) has recommended the conduct of more systematic reviews of the evidence supporting social work interventions.

If systematic reviews are to lead to guidelines for evidence-based psychosocial interventions, social work needs to be at the table, and social work research must provide the foundation. Whether social work develops its own guidelines or helps lead the development of profession-independent guidelines as recommended by the IOM committee, guidelines need to be detailed enough to guide practice. That is, they need to be accompanied by treatment manuals and informed by research that details the effect of moderator variables and contextual factors reflecting diverse clientele, social determinants of health, and setting resource challenges. The IOM report “Clinical Practice Guidelines We Can Trust” sets criteria for guideline development processes ( IOM, 2011 ). Moreover, social work systematic reviews of research and any associated evidence-based guidelines need to be organized around meaningful taxonomies.

Advancing the Science of Implementation

As a second path to ensuring the delivery of high-quality care, my research has focused on advancing the science of implementation. Implementation research seeks to inform how to deliver evidence-based interventions, programs, and policies into real-world settings so their benefits can be realized and sustained. The ultimate aim of implementation research is building a base of evidence about the most effective processes and strategies for improving service delivery. Implementation research builds upon effectiveness research then seeks to discover how to use specific implementation strategies and move those interventions into specific settings, extending their availability, reach, and benefits to clients and communities. Accordingly, implementation strategies must address the challenges of the service system (e.g., specialty mental health, schools, criminal justice system, health settings) and practice settings (e.g., community agency, national employee assistance programs, office-based practice), and the human capital challenge of staff training and support.

In an approach that echoes themes in an early paper, “Specifying the Treatment Process—The Basis for Effectiveness Research” ( Rosen & Proctor, 1978 ), my work once again tackled the challenge of specifying a heretofore vague process—this time, not the intervention process, but the implementation process. As a first step, our team developed a taxonomy of implementation outcomes ( Proctor et al., 2011 ), which enable a direct test of whether or not a given intervention is adopted and delivered. Although it is overlooked in other types of research, implementation science focuses on this distinct type of outcome. Explicit examination of implementation outcomes is key to an important research distinction. Often, evaluations yield disappointing results about an intervention, showing that the expected and desired outcomes are not attained. This might mean that the intervention was not effective. However, just as likely, it could mean that the intervention was not actually delivered, or it was not delivered with fidelity. Implementation outcomes help identify the roadblocks on the way to intervention adoption and delivery.

Our 2011 taxonomy of implementation outcomes ( Proctor et al., 2011 ), became the framework for two national repositories of measures for implementation research: the Seattle Implementation Research Collaborative ( Lewis et al., 2015 ) and the National Institutes of Health GEM measures database ( Rabin et al., 2012 ). These repositories of implementation outcomes seek to harmonize and increase the rigor of measurement in implementation science.

We also have developed taxonomies of implementation strategies ( Powell et al., 2012 ; Powell et al., 2015 ; Waltz et al., 2014 , 2015) . Implementation strategies are interventions for system change—how organizations, communities, and providers can learn to deliver new and more effective practices ( Powell et al., 2012 ).

A conversation with a key practice leader stimulated my interest in implementation strategies. Shortly after our school endorsed an MSW curriculum emphasizing evidence-based practices, a pioneering CEO of a major social service agency in St. Louis met with me and asked,

Enola Proctor, I get the importance of delivering evidence based practices. My organization delivers over 20 programs and interventions, and I believe only a handful of them are really evidence based. I want to decrease our provision of ineffective care, and increase our delivery of evidence-based practices. But how? What are the evidence-based ways I, as an agency director, can transform my agency so that we can deliver evidence-based practices?

That agency director was asking a question of how . He was asking for evidence-based implementation strategies. Moving effective programs and practices into routine care settings requires the skillful use of implementation strategies, defined as systematic “methods or techniques used to enhance the adoption, implementation, and sustainability of a clinical program or practice into routine service” ( Proctor et al., 2013 , p. 2).

This question has shaped my work for the past 15 years, as well as the research priorities of several funding agencies, including the National Institutes of Health, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute, and the World Health Organization. Indeed, a National Institutes of Health program announcement—Dissemination and Implementation Research in Health ( National Institutes of Health, 2016 )—identified the discovery of effective implementation strategies as a primary purpose of implementation science. To date, the implementation science literature cannot yet answer that important question, but we are making progress.

To identify implementation strategies, our teams first turned to the literature—a literature that we found to be scattered across a wide range of journals and disciplines. Most articles were not empirical, and most articles used widely differing terms to characterize implementation strategies. We conducted a structured literature review to generate common nomenclature and a taxonomy of implementation strategies. That review yielded 63 distinct implementation strategies, which fell into six groupings: planning, educating, financing, restructuring, managing quality, and attending to policy context ( Powell et al., 2012 ).

Our team refined that compilation, using Delphi techniques and concept mapping to develop conceptually distinct categories of implementation strategies ( Powell et al., 2015 ; Waltz et al., 2014 ). The refined compilation of 73 discrete implementation strategies was then further organized into nine clusters:

• changing agency infrastructure,
• using financial strategies,
• supporting clinicians,
• providing interactive assistance,
• training and educating stakeholders,
• adapting and tailoring interventions to context,
• developing stakeholder relationships,
• using evaluative and iterative strategies, and
• engaging consumers.

These taxonomies of implementation strategies position the field for more robust research on implementation processes. The language used to describe implementation strategies has not yet “gelled” and has been described as a “Tower of Babel” ( McKibbon et al., 2010 ). Therefore, we also developed guidelines for reporting the components of strategies ( Proctor et al., 2013 ) so researchers and implementers would have more behaviorally specific information about what a strategy is, who does it, when, and for how long. The value of such reporting guidelines is illustrated in the work of Gold and colleagues (2016) .

What have we learned, through our own program of research on implementation strategies—the “how to” of improving practice? First, we have been able to identify from practice-based evidence the implementation strategies used most often. Using novel activity logs to track implementation strategies, Bunger and colleagues (2017) found that strategies such as quality improvement tools, using data experts, providing supervision, and sending clinical reminders were frequently used to facilitate delivery of behavioral health interventions within a child-welfare setting and were perceived by agency leadership as contributing to project success.

Second, reflecting the complexity of quality improvement processes, we have learned that there is no magic bullet ( Powell, Proctor, & Glass, 2013 ). Our study of U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs clinics working to implement evidence-based HIV treatment found that implementers used an average of 25 (plus or minus 14) different implementation strategies ( Rogal, et al., 2017 ). Moreover, the number of implementation strategies used was positively associated with the number of new treatment starts. These findings suggest that implementing new interventions requires considerable effort and resources.

To advance our understanding of the effectiveness of implementation strategies, our teams have conducted a systematic review ( Powell et al., 2013 ), tested specific strategies, and captured practice-based evidence from on-the-ground implementers. Testing the effectiveness of implementation strategies has been identified as a top research priority by the IOM (2009) . In work with Charles Glisson in St. Louis, our 15-agency-based randomized clinical trial found that an organizational-focused intervention—the attachment, regulatory, and competency model—improved agency culture and climate, stimulated more clinicians to enroll in evidence-based-practice training, and boosted clinical effect sizes of various evidence-based practices ( Glisson, Williams, Hemmelgarn, Proctor, & Green, 2016a , 2016b ). And in a hospital critical care unit, the implementation strategies of developing a team, selecting and using champions, provider education sessions, and audit and feedback helped increase team adherence to phlebotomy guidelines ( Steffen et al., in press ).

We are also learning about the value of different strategies. Experts in implementation science and implementation practice identified as most important the strategies of “use evaluate and iterative approaches” and “train and educate stakeholders.” Reported as less helpful were such strategies as “access new funding streams” and “remind clinicians of practices to use” ( Waltz et al., 2015 ). Successful implementers in Veterans Affairs clinics relied more heavily on such strategies as “change physical structures and equipment” and “facilitate relay of clinical data to providers” than did less successful implementers ( Rogal et al., 2017 ).

Many strategies have yet to be investigated empirically, as has the role of dissemination and implementation organizations—organizations that function to promote, provide information about, provide training in, and scale up specific treatments. Most evidence-based practices used in behavioral health, including most listed on the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration National Registry of Promising and Effective Practices, are disseminated and distributed by dissemination and implementation organizations. Unlike drugs and devices, psychosocial interventions have no Federal Drug Administration-like delivery system. Kreuter and Casey (2012) urge better understanding and use of the intervention “delivery system,” or mechanisms to bring treatment discoveries to the attention of practitioners and into use in practice settings.

Implementation strategies have been shown to boost clinical effectiveness ( Glisson et al., 2010 ), reduce staff turnover ( Aarons, Sommerfield, Hect, Silvosky, & Chaffin, 2009 ) and help reduce disparities in care ( Balicer et al., 2015 ).

Future directions: Research on implementation strategies

My work in implementation science has helped build intellectual capital for the rapidly growing field of dissemination and implementation science, leading teams to distinguish, clearly define, develop taxonomies, and stimulate more systematic work to advance the conceptual, linguistic, and methodological clarity in the field. Yet, we continue to lack understanding of many issues. What strategies are used in usual implementation practice, by whom, for which empirically supported interventions? What strategies are effective in which organizational and policy contexts? Which strategies are effective in attaining which specific implementation outcomes? For example, are the strategies that are effective for initial adoption also effective for scale up, spread, and sustained use of interventions? Social workers have the skill set for roles as implementation facilitators, and refining packages of implementation strategies that are effective in social service and behavioral health settings could boost the visibility, scale, and impact of our work.

The Third Generation and Counting

Social work faces grand, often daunting challenges. We need to develop a more robust base of evidence about the effectiveness of interventions and make that evidence more relevant, accessible, and applicable to social work practitioners, whether they work in communities, agencies, policy arenas, or a host of novel settings. We need to advance measurement-based care so our value as a field is recognized. We need to know how to bring proven interventions to scale for population-level impact. We need to discover ways to build capacity of social service agencies and the communities in which they reside. And we need to learn how to sustain advances in care once we achieve them ( Proctor et al., 2015 ). Our challenges are indeed grand, far outstripping our resources.

So how dare we speak of a quality quest? Does it not seem audacious to seek the highest standards in caring for the most vulnerable, especially in an era when we face a new political climate that threatens vulnerable groups and promises to strip resources from health and social services? Members of our profession are underpaid, and most of our agencies lack the data infrastructure required for assessment and evaluation. Quality may be an audacious goal, but as social workers we can pursue no less. By virtue of our code of ethics, our commitment to equity, and our skills in intervening on multiple levels of systems and communities, social workers are ideally suited for advancing quality.

Who will conduct the needed research? Who will pioneer its translation to improving practice? Social work practice can be only as strong as its research base; the responsibility for developing that base, and hence improve practice, is lodged within social work research.

If my greatest challenge is pursuing this quest, my greatest joy is in mentoring the next generation for this work. My research mentoring has always been guided by the view that the ultimate purpose of research in the helping professions is the production and systemization of knowledge for use by practitioners ( Rosen & Proctor, 1978 ). For 27 years, the National Institute of Mental Health has supported training in mental health services research based in the Center for Mental Health Services Research ( Hasche, Perron, & Proctor, 2009 ; Proctor & McMillen, 2008 ). And, with colleague John Landsverk, we are launching my sixth year leading the Implementation Research Institute, a training program for implementation science supported by the National Institute of Mental Health ( Proctor et al., 2013 ). We have trained more than 50 social work, psychology, anthropology, and physician researchers in implementation science for mental health. With three more cohorts to go, we are working to assess what works in research training for implementation science. Using bibliometric analysis, we have learned that intensive training and mentoring increases research productivity in the form of published papers and grants that address how to implement evidence-based care in mental health and addictions. And, through use of social network analysis, we have learned that every “dose” of mentoring increases scholarly collaboration when measured two years later ( Luke, Baumann, Carothers, Landsverk, & Proctor, 2016 ).

As his student, I was privileged to learn lessons in mentoring from Aaron Rosen. He treated his students as colleagues, he invited them in to work on the most challenging of questions, and he pursued his work with joy. When he treated me as a colleague, I felt empowered. When he invited me to work with him on the field’s most vexing challenges, I felt inspired. And as he worked with joy, I learned that work pursued with joy doesn’t feel like work at all. And now the third, fourth, and fifth generations of social work researchers are pursuing tough challenges and the quality quest for social work practice. May seasoned and junior researchers work collegially and with joy, tackling the profession’s toughest research challenges, including the quest for high-quality social work services.

Acknowledgments

Preparation of this paper was supported by IRI (5R25MH0809160), Washington University ICTS (2UL1 TR000448-08), Center for Mental Health Services Research, Washington University in St. Louis, and the Center for Dissemination and Implementation, Institute for Public Health, Washington University in St. Louis.

This invited article is based on the 2017 Aaron Rosen Lecture presented by Enola Proctor at the Society for Social Work and Research 21st Annual Conference—“Ensure Healthy Development for All Youth”—held January 11–15, 2017, in New Orleans, LA. The annual Aaron Rosen Lecture features distinguished scholars who have accumulated a body of significant and innovative scholarship relevant to practice, the research base for practice, or effective utilization of research in practice.

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The Most Important Research Skills (With Examples)

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Research skills are the ability to find out accurate information on a topic. They include being able to determine the data you need, find and interpret those findings, and then explain that to others. Being able to do effective research is a beneficial skill in any profession, as data and research inform how businesses operate.

Whether you’re unsure of your research skills or are looking for ways to further improve them, then this article will cover important research skills and how to become even better at research.

Key Takeaways

Having strong research skills can help you understand your competitors, develop new processes, and build your professional skills in addition to aiding you in finding new customers and saving your company money.

Some of the most valuable research skills you can have include goal setting, data collection, and analyzing information from multiple sources.

You can and should put your research skills on your resume and highlight them in your job interviews.

What are research skills?

Why are research skills important, 12 of the most important research skills, how to improve your research skills, highlighting your research skills in a job interview, how to include research skills on your resume, resume examples showcasing research skills, research skills faqs.

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Research skills are the necessary tools to be able to find, compile, and interpret information in order to answer a question. Of course, there are several aspects to this. Researchers typically have to decide how to go about researching a problem — which for most people is internet research.

In addition, you need to be able to interpret the reliability of a source, put the information you find together in an organized and logical way, and be able to present your findings to others. That means that they’re comprised of both hard skills — knowing your subject and what’s true and what isn’t — and soft skills. You need to be able to interpret sources and communicate clearly.

Research skills are useful in any industry, and have applications in innovation, product development, competitor research, and many other areas. In addition, the skills used in researching aren’t only useful for research. Being able to interpret information is a necessary skill, as is being able to clearly explain your reasoning.

Research skills are used to:

Do competitor research. Knowing what your biggest competitors are up to is an essential part of any business. Researching what works for your competitors, what they’re doing better than you, and where you can improve your standing with the lowest resource expenditure are all essential if a company wants to remain functional.

Develop new processes and products. You don’t have to be involved in research and development to make improvements in how your team gets things done. Researching new processes that make your job (and those of your team) more efficient will be valued by any sensible employer.

Foster self-improvement. Folks who have a knack and passion for research are never content with doing things the same way they’ve always been done. Organizations need independent thinkers who will seek out their own answers and improve their skills as a matter of course. These employees will also pick up new technologies more easily.

Manage customer relationships. Being able to conduct research on your customer base is positively vital in virtually every industry. It’s hard to move products or sell services if you don’t know what people are interested in. Researching your customer base’s interests, needs, and pain points is a valuable responsibility.

Save money. Whether your company is launching a new product or just looking for ways to scale back its current spending, research is crucial for finding wasted resources and redirecting them to more deserving ends. Anyone who proactively researches ways that the company can save money will be highly appreciated by their employer.

Solve problems. Problem solving is a major part of a lot of careers, and research skills are instrumental in making sure your solution is effective. Finding out the cause of the problem and determining an effective solution both require accurate information, and research is the best way to obtain that — be it via the internet or by observation.

Determine reliable information. Being able to tell whether or not the information you receive seems accurate is a very valuable skill. While research skills won’t always guarantee that you’ll be able to tell the reliability of the information at first glance, it’ll prevent you from being too trusting. And it’ll give the tools to double-check .

Experienced researchers know that worthwhile investigation involves a variety of skills. Consider which research skills come naturally to you, and which you could work on more.

Data collection . When thinking about the research process, data collection is often the first thing that comes to mind. It is the nuts and bolts of research. How data is collected can be flexible.

For some purposes, simply gathering facts and information on the internet can fulfill your need. Others may require more direct and crowd-sourced research. Having experience in various methods of data collection can make your resume more impressive to recruiters.

Data collection methods include: Observation Interviews Questionnaires Experimentation Conducting focus groups

Analysis of information from different sources. Putting all your eggs in one source basket usually results in error and disappointment. One of the skills that good researchers always incorporate into their process is an abundance of sources. It’s also best practice to consider the reliability of these sources.

Are you reading about U.S. history on a conspiracy theorist’s blog post? Taking facts for a presentation from an anonymous Twitter account?

If you can’t determine the validity of the sources you’re using, it can compromise all of your research. That doesn’t mean just disregard anything on the internet but double-check your findings. In fact, quadruple-check. You can make your research even stronger by turning to references outside of the internet.

Examples of reliable information sources include: Published books Encyclopedias Magazines Databases Scholarly journals Newspapers Library catalogs

Finding information on the internet. While it can be beneficial to consulate alternative sources, strong internet research skills drive modern-day research.

One of the great things about the internet is how much information it contains, however, this comes with digging through a lot of garbage to get to the facts you need. The ability to efficiently use the vast database of knowledge that is on the internet without getting lost in the junk is very valuable to employers.

Internet research skills include: Source checking Searching relevant questions Exploring deeper than the first options Avoiding distraction Giving credit Organizing findings

Interviewing. Some research endeavors may require a more hands-on approach than just consulting internet sources. Being prepared with strong interviewing skills can be very helpful in the research process.

Interviews can be a useful research tactic to gain first-hand information and being able to manage a successful interview can greatly improve your research skills.

Interviewing skills involves: A plan of action Specific, pointed questions Respectfulness Considering the interview setting Actively Listening Taking notes Gratitude for participation

Report writing. Possessing skills in report writing can assist you in job and scholarly research. The overall purpose of a report in any context is to convey particular information to its audience.

Effective report writing is largely dependent on communication. Your boss, professor , or general reader should walk away completely understanding your findings and conclusions.

Report writing skills involve: Proper format Including a summary Focusing on your initial goal Creating an outline Proofreading Directness

Critical thinking. Critical thinking skills can aid you greatly throughout the research process, and as an employee in general. Critical thinking refers to your data analysis skills. When you’re in the throes of research, you need to be able to analyze your results and make logical decisions about your findings.

Critical thinking skills involve: Observation Analysis Assessing issues Problem-solving Creativity Communication

Planning and scheduling. Research is a work project like any other, and that means it requires a little forethought before starting. Creating a detailed outline map for the points you want to touch on in your research produces more organized results.

It also makes it much easier to manage your time. Planning and scheduling skills are important to employers because they indicate a prepared employee.

Planning and scheduling skills include: Setting objectives Identifying tasks Prioritizing Delegating if needed Vision Communication Clarity Time-management

Note-taking. Research involves sifting through and taking in lots of information. Taking exhaustive notes ensures that you will not neglect any findings later and allows you to communicate these results to your co-workers. Being able to take good notes helps summarize research.

Examples of note-taking skills include: Focus Organization Using short-hand Keeping your objective in mind Neatness Highlighting important points Reviewing notes afterward

Communication skills. Effective research requires being able to understand and process the information you receive, either written or spoken. That means that you need strong reading comprehension and writing skills — two major aspects of communication — as well as excellent listening skills.

Most research also involves showcasing your findings. This can be via a presentation. , report, chart, or Q&A. Whatever the case, you need to be able to communicate your findings in a way that educates your audience.

Communication skills include: Reading comprehension Writing Listening skills Presenting to an audience Creating graphs or charts Explaining in layman’s terms

Time management. We’re, unfortunately, only given 24 measly hours in a day. The ability to effectively manage this time is extremely powerful in a professional context. Hiring managers seek candidates who can accomplish goals in a given timeframe.

Strong time management skills mean that you can organize a plan for how to break down larger tasks in a project and complete them by a deadline. Developing your time management skills can greatly improve the productivity of your research.

Time management skills include: Scheduling Creating task outlines Strategic thinking Stress-management Delegation Communication Utilizing resources Setting realistic expectations Meeting deadlines

Using your network. While this doesn’t seem immediately relevant to research skills, remember that there are a lot of experts out there. Knowing what people’s areas of expertise and asking for help can be tremendously beneficial — especially if it’s a subject you’re unfamiliar with.

Your coworkers are going to have different areas of expertise than you do, and your network of people will as well. You may even know someone who knows someone who’s knowledgeable in the area you’re researching. Most people are happy to share their expertise, as it’s usually also an area of interest to them.

Networking involves: Remembering people’s areas of expertise Being willing to ask for help Communication Returning favors Making use of advice Asking for specific assistance

Attention to detail. Research is inherently precise. That means that you need to be attentive to the details, both in terms of the information you’re gathering, but also in where you got it from. Making errors in statistics can have a major impact on the interpretation of the data, not to mention that it’ll reflect poorly on you.

There are proper procedures for citing sources that you should follow. That means that your sources will be properly credited, preventing accusations of plagiarism. In addition, it means that others can make use of your research by returning to the original sources.

Attention to detail includes: Double checking statistics Taking notes Keeping track of your sources Staying organized Making sure graphs are accurate and representative Properly citing sources

As with many professional skills, research skills serve us in our day to day life. Any time you search for information on the internet, you’re doing research. That means that you’re practicing it outside of work as well. If you want to continue improving your research skills, both for professional and personal use, here are some tips to try.

Differentiate between source quality. A researcher is only as good as their worst source. Start paying attention to the quality of the sources you use, and be suspicious of everything your read until you check out the attributions and works cited.

Be critical and ask yourself about the author’s bias, where the author’s research aligns with the larger body of verified research in the field, and what publication sponsored or published the research.

Use multiple resources. When you can verify information from a multitude of sources, it becomes more and more credible. To bolster your faith in one source, see if you can find another source that agrees with it.

Don’t fall victim to confirmation bias. Confirmation bias is when a researcher expects a certain outcome and then goes to find data that supports this hypothesis. It can even go so far as disregarding anything that challenges the researcher’s initial hunch. Be prepared for surprising answers and keep an open mind.

Be open to the idea that you might not find a definitive answer. It’s best to be honest and say that you found no definitive answer instead of just confirming what you think your boss or coworkers expect or want to hear. Experts and good researchers are willing to say that they don’t know.

Stay organized. Being able to cite sources accurately and present all your findings is just as important as conducting the research itself. Start practicing good organizational skills , both on your devices and for any physical products you’re using.

Get specific as you go. There’s nothing wrong with starting your research in a general way. After all, it’s important to become familiar with the terminology and basic gist of the researcher’s findings before you dig down into all the minutia.

A job interview is itself a test of your research skills. You can expect questions on what you know about the company, the role, and your field or industry more generally. In order to give expert answers on all these topics, research is crucial.

Start by researching the company . Look into how they communicate with the public through social media, what their mission statement is, and how they describe their culture.

Pay close attention to the tone of their website. Is it hyper professional or more casual and fun-loving? All of these elements will help decide how best to sell yourself at the interview.

Next, research the role. Go beyond the job description and reach out to current employees working at your desired company and in your potential department. If you can find out what specific problems your future team is or will be facing, you’re sure to impress hiring managers and recruiters with your ability to research all the facts.

Finally, take time to research the job responsibilities you’re not as comfortable with. If you’re applying for a job that represents increased difficulty or entirely new tasks, it helps to come into the interview with at least a basic knowledge of what you’ll need to learn.

Research projects require dedication. Being committed is a valuable skill for hiring managers. Whether you’ve had research experience throughout education or a former job, including it properly can boost the success of your resume .

Consider how extensive your research background is. If you’ve worked on multiple, in-depth research projects, it might be best to include it as its own section. If you have less research experience, include it in the skills section .

Focus on your specific role in the research, as opposed to just the research itself. Try to quantify accomplishments to the best of your abilities. If you were put in charge of competitor research, for example, list that as one of the tasks you had in your career.

If it was a particular project, such as tracking the sale of women’s clothing at a tee-shirt company, you can say that you “directed analysis into women’s clothing sales statistics for a market research project.”

Ascertain how directly research skills relate to the job you’re applying for. How strongly you highlight your research skills should depend on the nature of the job the resume is for. If research looks to be a strong component of it, then showcase all of your experience.

If research looks to be tangential, then be sure to mention it — it’s a valuable skill — but don’t put it front and center.

Example #1: Academic Research

Simon Marks 767 Brighton Blvd. | Brooklyn, NY, 27368 | (683)-262-8883 | [email protected] Diligent and hardworking recent graduate seeking a position to develop professional experience and utilize research skills. B.A. in Biological Sciences from New York University. PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE Lixus Publishing , Brooklyn, NY Office Assistant- September 2018-present Scheduling and updating meetings Managing emails and phone calls Reading entries Worked on a science fiction campaign by researching target demographic Organizing calendars Promoted to office assistant after one year internship Mitch’s Burgers and Fries , Brooklyn, NY Restaurant Manager , June 2014-June 2018 Managed a team of five employees Responsible for coordinating the weekly schedule Hired and trained two employees Kept track of inventory Dealt with vendors Provided customer service Promoted to restaurant manager after two years as a waiter Awarded a $2.00/hr wage increase SKILLS Writing Scientific Research Data analysis Critical thinking Planning Communication RESEARCH Worked on an ecosystem biology project with responsibilities for algae collection and research (2019) Lead a group of freshmen in a research project looking into cell biology (2018) EDUCATION New York University Bachelors in Biological Sciences, September 2016-May 2020

Example #2: Professional Research

Angela Nichols 1111 Keller Dr. | San Francisco, CA | (663)-124-8827 |[email protected] Experienced and enthusiastic marketer with 7 years of professional experience. Seeking a position to apply my marketing and research knowledge. Skills in working on a team and flexibility. EXPERIENCE Apples amp; Oranges Marketing, San Francisco, CA Associate Marketer – April 2017-May 2020 Discuss marketing goals with clients Provide customer service Lead campaigns associated with women’s health Coordinating with a marketing team Quickly solving issues in service and managing conflict Awarded with two raises totaling $10,000 over three years Prestigious Marketing Company, San Francisco, CA Marketer – May 2014-April 2017 Working directly with clients Conducting market research into television streaming preferences Developing marketing campaigns related to television streaming services Report writing Analyzing campaign success statistics Promoted to Marketer from Junior Marketer after the first year Timberlake Public Relations, San Francisco, CA Public Relations Intern – September 2013–May 2014 Working cohesively with a large group of co-workers and supervisors Note-taking during meetings Running errands Managing email accounts Assisting in brainstorming Meeting work deadlines EDUCATION Golden Gate University, San Francisco, CA Bachelor of Arts in Marketing with a minor in Communications – September 2009 – May 2013 SKILLS Marketing Market research Record-keeping Teamwork Presentation. Flexibility

What research skills are important?

Goal-setting and data collection are important research skills. Additional important research skills include:

Using different sources to analyze information.

Finding information on the internet.

Interviewing sources.

Writing reports.

Critical thinking.

Planning and scheduling.

Note-taking.

Managing time.

How do you develop good research skills?

You develop good research skills by learning how to find information from multiple high-quality sources, by being wary of confirmation bias, and by starting broad and getting more specific as you go.

When you learn how to tell a reliable source from an unreliable one and get in the habit of finding multiple sources that back up a claim, you’ll have better quality research.

In addition, when you learn how to keep an open mind about what you’ll find, you’ll avoid falling into the trap of confirmation bias, and by staying organized and narrowing your focus as you go (rather than before you start), you’ll be able to gather quality information more efficiently.

What is the importance of research?

The importance of research is that it informs most decisions and strategies in a business. Whether it’s deciding which products to offer or creating a marketing strategy, research should be used in every part of a company.

Because of this, employers want employees who have strong research skills. They know that you’ll be able to put them to work bettering yourself and the organization as a whole.

Should you put research skills on your resume?

Yes, you should include research skills on your resume as they are an important professional skill. Where you include your research skills on your resume will depend on whether you have a lot of experience in research from a previous job or as part of getting your degree, or if you’ve just cultivated them on your own.

If your research skills are based on experience, you could put them down under the tasks you were expected to perform at the job in question. If not, then you should likely list it in your skills section.

University of the People – The Best Research Skills for Success

Association of Internet Research Specialists — What are Research Skills and Why Are They Important?

MasterClass — How to Improve Your Research Skills: 6 Research Tips

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Sky Ariella is a professional freelance writer, originally from New York. She has been featured on websites and online magazines covering topics in career, travel, and lifestyle. She received her BA in psychology from Hunter College.

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