Uploaded June 2013 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
Bruce A. Thyer, Ph.D., Professor, College of Social Work, The Florida State University. The topic Preparing Current and Future Practitioners to Integrate Research in Real Practice Settings, can be interpreted as involving at least two different tasks. One is to reinforce the use of the best quality available evidence by social work practitioners, in the process of making decisions with clients regarding the assessment and intervention methods they use. In other words, to promote the uptake of empirically-based research knowledge by social work practitioners. A second meaning of my paper's title refers to promoting social work practitioners' design and conduct of original research in their own practice settings. Acknowledging that there is indeed a gap between the techniques commonly used in social work practice, and what research has to say about various methods of assessment and intervention, the two meanings of my topic can be viewed as bridging the gap from two different directions. This paper presents various approaches to encourage practitioners to better consult and integrate research findings into their delivery of social work services, and of ways to encourage researchers, primarily academic-based social workers, to devote more effort to conducting research on social work practice, with a focus on intervention research, and relatively less efforts in the direction of surveys, correlational studies, predictor studies, descriptive research, and theory testing. The academy tends to reinforce mere numbers of faculty publications, and relatively little attention is given to the pragmatic applications of such research to enhanced client well-being and the development of effective policies. The original decision-making process known as evidence-based practice affords a well-developed approach to help practitioners integrate research into their practice, and simple single-subject and group research designs are useful approaches for social workers to use in developing their own original research studies in the field. The academy should differentially reinforce the design and conduct of outcome research using agency-based settings by faculty. Some ways in which this might be accomplished are discussed.
Bruce A. Thyer, Ph.D., Professor, College of Social Work, The Florida State University. The topic Preparing Current and Future Practitioners to Integrate Research in Real Practice Settings, can be interpreted as involving at least two different tasks. One is to reinforce the use of the best quality available evidence by social work practitioners, in the process of making decisions with clients regarding the assessment and intervention methods they use. In other words, to promote the uptake of empirically-based research knowledge by social work practitioners. A second meaning of my paper's title refers to promoting social work practitioners' design and conduct of original research in their own practice settings. Acknowledging that there is indeed a gap between the techniques commonly used in social work practice, and what research has to say about various methods of assessment and intervention, the two meanings of my topic can be viewed as bridging the gap from two different directions. This paper presents various approaches to encourage practitioners to better consult and integrate research findings into their delivery of social work services, and of ways to encourage researchers, primarily academic-based social workers, to devote more effort to conducting research on social work practice, with a focus on intervention research, and relatively less efforts in the direction of surveys, correlational studies, predictor studies, descriptive research, and theory testing. The academy tends to reinforce mere numbers of faculty publications, and relatively little attention is given to the pragmatic applications of such research to enhanced client well-being and the development of effective policies. The original decision-making process known as evidence-based practice affords a well-developed approach to help practitioners integrate research into their practice, and simple single-subject and group research designs are useful approaches for social workers to use in developing their own original research studies in the field. The academy should differentially reinforce the design and conduct of outcome research using agency-based settings by faculty. Some ways in which this might be accomplished are discussed.
