Year
2019
Units
4.5
Contact
1 x 1-hour lecture weekly
1 x 1-hour tutorial weekly
Prerequisites
1 SOAD1006 - Ver 1 - Social Planning Theory
1a SOAD1003 - Introduction to Social Planning
2 36 units of any level topics
3 Admission into BEM-Bachelor of Environmental Management
4 Admission into BCMS-Bachelor of Community Services
Must Satisfy: (((1 or 1a)) or (2 and 3) or (4))
Enrolment not permitted
SOAD4214 has been successfully completed
Course context
Bachelor of Social Work
Topic description
This topic provides a balanced introduction to quantitative and qualitative research relevant to social work, social policy and human service planning. It introduces ways of searching the literature, defining research questions, choosing appropriate research tools, using data collection methods, and reporting the results of the data analysis. A range of inferential statistics is introduced.
Educational aims
The aims of this topic are to:

  • Introduce students to the concept of research within a practice context, and show its relevance in their professional setting
  • Differentiate between qualitative and quantitative approaches to research
  • Develop skills to critique research undertaken by colleagues or presented in the literature
  • Enable students to utilise data collection and data analysis procedures
  • Develop students' writing skills

Expected learning outcomes
On successful completion of the topic, students will be able to:

  • Understand how to develop and investigate a research question or hypothesis
  • Understand the different research methodologies available for researching social questions
  • Develop the ability to choose appropriate methodologies for different situations
  • Develop skills in data collection and analysis
  • Show improved writing skills and grammatical presentation