Course overview
This course will enable students to undertake applied social research into a contemporary social work issue with relevance to policy and/or practice, building on their research proposal to produce an honours research report. Students will develop advanced skills in working independently when conducting research and engaging effectively with research supervision practices, applied social research and the contribution of social work research to evidence-based practice and policy through topic selection, literature search and review, design of research methodology and analysis of social work values and ethics in research.
Course learning outcomes
- Develop skills in academic writing, and knowledge of the academic publishing process
- Construct and adapt theoretical concepts relevant to the research project
- Apply advanced knowledge and skills in applied social research to design and implement a research methodology consistent with research aims and questions, including data collection and interpretation
- Critically evaluate the role of social work research in informing evidence-based policy and practice
- Collect and analyse data in a systematic way, grounded in social work theories and ethics
- Apply social research methods in order to contribute to social work understandings of a problem by developing a research report suitable for publication