Foundation Of Social Work Research

Catalog description

This foundation year course, the first of two courses in the research sequence, examines the role of social workers as both consumers and practitioners of research. This course elaborates on the mission of Touro University Graduate School of Social Work by preparing students to become effective social workers capable of utilizing evidence-based principles and theories in their practices. This first research course will introduce students to the foundation of sound research concepts as a basis for the expansion of social work knowledge and an opportunity for strengthening practice skills. This course will instruct students on ways to harness information and use it to augment one’s effectiveness as a social work practitioner. The students will learn how to utilize library and on-line resources to strengthen the ability to focus on understanding discrete policy and practice issues. It will train students to develop critical thinking skills, especially the ability to understand how knowledge (theory) is developed and critiqued. Transcending specific content areas, students will learn how to utilize knowledge-building methods with an emphasis on the steps required to conduct a literature review, how to understand key issues presented, how to formulate research questions, with associated hypotheses, and how to write effectively so as to communicate one’s findings from reviews of the literature.