Evaluative Research for Social Workers

Evaluative Research for Social Workers by Tony Tripodi is for students and practitioners of social work who are interested in concepts, strategies, and procedures for evaluating social work programs and practices. The methodology of evaluative research is emphasized and applications in a variety of social work settings are illustrated. A process of evaluative research is articulated in which evaluations are conceptualized in relation to stages of program and practice development. The author provides a framework for locating and generating variables for formative and summative evaluations and guidelines are spelled out for choosing available instruments and data sources, or generating new instruments for collecting original data. A logic of research is presented, and different types of designs are employed in the pursuit of different levels of knowledge, from hypotheses to causal relationships; the framework is applied to designs for evaluating singe-case interventions as well as social programs and selected issues in data analysis and the communication of research results are discussed.