Monash University Handbook 2011 Undergraduate - Unit

Refer to the specific census and withdrawal dates for the semester(s) in which this unit is offered.

Synopsis

This unit covers the place of research in social work and in the development of social work knowledge; the process and utilisation of social work research, the most commonly used social work research techniques and skills, emphasising how the various quantitative and qualitative methods may be synthesised within the one research project, and quantitative and qualitative data analysis.

Objectives

After studying this unit students should be able to articulate the place of research in social work; understand and articulate the most commonly used research techniques in social work and the skills required to implement them; demonstrate the ability to critically evaluate existing research literature and understand and demonstrate the capacity to use common data analysis techniques.

Assessment

Three assessment tasks:
Assessment task 1: 750 words (15%) - Critique of a published research article

Assessment task 2: 1500 words (35%) - Identification of social problem, review of literature and development of a research question

Assessment task 3: 2250 (50%) - Proposed methodology

Chief examiner(s)

Dr Catherine Flynn

Contact hours

3 hours per week

Prerequisites

Completion of 48 points at first-year level. Social Work units are available only within the context of the Bachelor of Social work degree, or with permission.