| Research
Methods Workshops -Registration
fee is $100. Register early—space is limited!
8:00 am – 12:00
pm Half-Day Workshop
Structural Equation Modeling in Social Work
Research
Presenter: Natasha Bowen, University of North
Carolina at Chapel Hill
Social work researchers in
all fields of social work rely on scales, or
sets of related questions, to measure attitudes,
behaviors, relationships, emotions, and functioning.
Scales are superior to individual items for
measuring complex phenomena. Some of the important
advantages of scales, however, are lost when
scores from the items they comprise are simply
summed or averaged to create a composite score.
Measurement error is included in the composites,
for example, and all items are weighted equally
regardless of their actual relative importance
to the overall construct. Structural equation
modeling (SEM) exploits the advantages of scales
in social work studies, whether they are descriptive,
explanatory, or causal studies, leading to more
accurate findings. Furthermore, confirmatory
factor analysis (CFA), a subset of SEM analyses,
is a mandatory step in the development and validation
of new scales.
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8:00 am – 12:00
pm Half-Day Workshop
Ethnographic Interviewing
Presenter: Summerson Carr, University of Chicago
This workshop will expose participants
to the principles and techniques of ethnographic
interviewing, a method distinguished by its
ability to yield contextually rich, meaningful
data across a wide variety of settings. Indeed,
ethnographic interviews are designed to elucidate
the connections between features of community,
cultural, and organizational environments, on
the one hand, and the meanings that interviewees
assign to and derive from these environments,
on the other. Accordingly, techniques for collecting
ethnographic interviews—including designing
interview schedules, locating key informants,
and establishing communicative competency and
rapport—are geared toward understanding
how interviewees themselves make sense of and
negotiate their social environments. During
the analysis stage, interviewees’ interpretations
are put into dialogue with the interpretations
of the researcher, a strategy that recalibrates
common approaches to establishing research validity
and rigor.
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8:00 am – 12:00
pm Half-Day Workshop
Multilevel and Longitudinal Analysis
Presenter: Andrew Grogan-Kaylor, University
of Michigan
Multilevel models have become
a standard statistical tool for quantitative
research on neighborhoods, communities and schools.
Perhaps surprisingly, the multilevel model for
crosssectional data can easily accommodate longitudinal
data, where study participants are observed
repeatedly over the course of time. This workshop
focuses on the use of multilevel models for
cross-sectional and longitudinal data analysis
for social work research. The workshop is conceptualized
as covering the following topics: (1) the wide
prevalence of clustered data in social research,
and the necessity of statistically accounting
for clustering, (2) the multilevel model for
cross-sectional data, (3) the extension of multilevel
modeling to longitudinal research (i.e. growth
trajectory models), and (4) multilevel models
for categorical outcomes.
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8:00 am – 12:00
pm Half-Day Workshop
Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Secondary
Data!
Presenters: JoAnne McFarland O’Rourke,
Lynette Hoelter, University of Michigan
This workshop will cover three
aspects of archived, or secondary, data that
are important to social work researchers: (1)
finding and using secondary data for your research
purposes, (2) teaching with secondary data,
and (3) sharing the data you collect. In the
first segment of the workshop, sources for secondary
data, as well as data for online analysis, will
be covered. In the second segment, resources
readily available for teaching and learning
with data in undergraduate and early graduate
education will be discussed. The final segment
will include ways researchers can share data,
how they can protect respondent confidentiality
in files they share, and the benefits of data
sharing. Data and resources available from the
Inter-university Consortium for Political and
Social Research (ICPSR), based at the Institute
for Social Research (ISR), University of Michigan
will be the primary focus of the presentation,
though other resources will also be discussed,
such as those from federal agencies.
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Special Sessions
on Research Priorities and Capacity Building
These training-oriented sessions target cutting-edge
topics vital to contemporary social work research.
Registration fee is $15. Enroll
early for these important opportunities to engage
with national experts, funding institutions,
and research colleagues.
8:00 am – 10:00
am
Publish, Not Perish: Essential Strategies for
Writing Peer- Reviewed Articles
Presenters: Brian Perron, University of Michigan;
Michael Vaughn, Saint Louis University
This workshop provides an overview
of strategies for publishing in social work,
social science, and medical journals. Strategies
will cover issues associated with manuscript
preparation, journal selection, submission and
revision processes, collaborations, and overall
productivity. This workshop is tailored to early
stage investigators.
8:00 am – 10:00
am
Research Opportunities at NIH
Presenters: G. Stephane Philogene, NIH/OBSSR;
Denise Juliano- Bult, NIH/NIMH; Denise Pintello,
Jacqueline Lloyd, NIH/NIDA; Peggy Murray, NIH/NIAAA;
Sidney Stahl, NIH/NIA; and Valerie Maholmes,
NIH/NICHD
Representatives from NIH funding
agencies will provide insight into developing
successful approaches to writing a fundable
proposal. In addition, attention will be paid
to updates in funding opportunities as well
as social work priorities. An overview of the
funding mechanisms will be provided to aid in
the identification of appropriate programs and
utilize information and resources from NIH.
8:00 am – 10:00
am
Understanding Private Foundations
Presenters: Maureen Martin, Lindsey Rossow-Rood,
University of Michigan
This session aims to introduce
participants to the opportunities, challenges,
and strategies in obtaining funding from private
foundations. The session will briefly look at
philanthropy broadly in the United States, offer
an overview of relevant national and regional
foundations, provide resources for locating
data on foundations, offer insight into the
building and nurturing of foundation relationships,
and provide examples of best practices in proposal
development.
10:15 am – 12:15
pm
Building Research Capacity in Social Work Education
Programs
Presenters: Ruth McRoy, Boston College; Joan
Zlotnik, National Association of Social Workers;
Jerry Flanzer, San Jose State University; Carol
Lewis, University of Texas at Austin
This session examines current
research infrastructures, status and climate
in social work education programs. It is intended
to be relevant and useful for BSW, MSW and PhD/DSW
programs. Moreover, this interactive session
is designed in a group consultative format so
that deans and directors, faculty, doctoral
students, and others fostering research initiatives
within social work education programs may explore
new directions for building their research plans.
It will include a discussion of specific strategies
for building research infrastructure and capacity,
stimulating funding support for social work
research, as well as administrative challenges
in grant submission and the implementation process.
10:15 am – 12:15
pm
Panel of Recently Funded Scholars
Presenters: A panel of principal investigators
will be available
A panel of recently funded
social work researchers will present on their
experience of applying and successfully competing
for federal research dollars. Each will discuss
the application process, interactions with the
program staff in their respective agency and
share their thoughts on strategies for success
in funding.
10:15 am – 12:15
pm
Foundations: A Local, Regional and National
Perspective: The Community Foundation of Southeast
Michigan, The Council of Michigan Foundations,
and the Annie E. Casey Foundation
Presenters: Randall S. Ross, The Community Foundation
of Southeast Michigan; Michael Litz, Forum of
Regional Associations of Grantmakers; and Benjamin
Kerman, Annie E. Casey Foundation.
A panel of representatives
will talk about how foundations conduct business.
Each will describe their organization and how
they see the future of collaborative partnerships
taking shape between foundations and higher
education partners. Examples of these partnerships,
often models designed to influence policy, will
be discussed.
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