| Registration
fee is $100 for half-day. Register early—space
is limited!
8:00
am – 12:00 pm Half-Day Workshop
Social Network Analysis
Presenter: Susan A. Murty, Associate Professor, University
of Iowa
Network
analysis is used to analyze relationships among individuals
or among groups. It allows you to measure characteristics
of social networks and to map the relationships. It
offers a way to study the environments in which individuals,
families, and organizations are embedded. It lends itself
well to social work research because it can be applied
at multiple system levels, such as individuals, families,
organizations, and nations. Network data are gathered
concerning relationships and their characteristics and
exchanges. Network analysis has been applied to research
on theoretical concepts such as social capital, social
support, inter-organizational collaboration, diffusion
of innovations, and the spread of contagious diseases
and unsafe health practices. Network analysis has the
potential to add significantly to social work research
and can be used along with typical quantitative and
qualitative data for a combined analytic approach. Results
of network analysis have direct implications for a variety
of social work interventions at multiple levels.
Topics addressed in the workshop include:
• Types of data used in social network analysis
• Methods for collecting social network data
• Types of analysis used
• Interpretation of results obtained in network
analysis
• Software used in network analysis
• Application of network analysis to a various
fields of research including public health, organizational
and inter-organizational relationships, community leadership
and community organization, mental health, and substance
abuse.
• Examples of network analysis research in various
fields of study
Download
Social
Network Analysis (PDF Version)
8:00
am – 12:00 pm Half-Day Workshop
Conducting Qualitative Secondary Analysis From Start
to Finish
Presenters: Katie Greeno, Associate Professor, University
of Pittsburgh; Jonathan Singer, Assistant Professor,
Temple University
Qualitative
databases provide rich opportunities to extend social
work knowledge after the original study questions have
been answered. There are more opportunities than ever
to extend social work knowledge through careful analysis
of existing, qualitative data. Techniques are beginning
to be well established. This workshop will introduce
conceptual and practice aspects of QSA by describing
the presenters’ experiences with an NIMH-funded
interview study. The workshop is structured on the presentation
of a completed QSA. The case study will be used to illustrate
and
introduce general issues concerning QSA, as well as
resources describing these issues.
Topics addressed in the workshop include:
-
Finding and/or developing opportunities to conduct
QSA
-
Getting to know the parent study
-
Conceptualizing the question
• Roles of the original investigative team
-
Research methods applied to QSA
• Design
• Sampling
• Developing the analytic strategy
-
Conducting the analysis
• Creating the codebook
• Determining the main findings
• Use of software
-
Standards for rigor in qualitative design and analysis
-
Writing the results
Special
attention will be paid to standards for rigor in qualitative
design and analysis throughout. At the end of the workshop
participants will be able to identify sources for qualitative
secondary analysis, will be able to conceptualize research
questions in this area, will be familiar with the major
methodological issues in conducing QSA, and will be
able to access resources for further development of
their skills.
Download
Conducting
Qualitative Secondary Analysis From Start to Finish
(PDF Version)
8:00
am – 12:00 pm Half-Day Workshop
Methodological Challenges and Strategies for Conducting
Implementation Research
Presenters: Enola K. Proctor, Frank J. Bruno Professor
and Associate Dean for Research, George Warren Brown
School of Social Work, Washington University in St.
Louis
One
of the greatest challenges for researchers and practitioners
is the translation of knowledge into evidence-based
programs and policies. University-based research yields
a growing supply of new findings which, unfortunately,
are often “lost in translation” for 15-20
years before their incorporation into practice. Within
translational research, implementation research (IR)
constitutes the scientific study of how to move efficacious
practices from clinical research into routine, real-world
use. Implementation research is considered “T2”
research, or the second translational step in
moving discovery into community practice. While dissemination
research addresses the spread of information, implementation
research is concerned with the adoption and use of actual
practices. Implementation research (IR) has been hampered
by underdeveloped concepts and measurement tools, a
dominance of exploratory research yielding barriers
to implementation but not strategies to overcome those
barriers, and complex and expensive research designs.
Methodological limitations prevent us from developing
the knowledge needed by every researcher, administrator,
policy maker and individual practitioner facing decisions
about implementing evidence-based practices. This workshop
will introduce participants to methodological challenges
in implementation research (IR) and present innovative
methods to meet those challenges. It will address the
importance of stakeholder engagement in implementation
research to ensure that implementation is sensitive
to local factors, diverse cultures, and diverse populations
to be served.
Topics addressed in the workshop include:
• Key definitions of implementation research
• Conceptual models of IR and research implications
• Multilevel influences and multiple stakeholders
inherent in implementation processes, to ensure relevance,
acceptance and appropriateness to local context and
populations
• Implementation outcomes and tools for measurement
(acceptability, feasibility, sustainability, etc.)
• Mixed methods of data collection, including
stakeholder assessment methods
• Design challenges and innovative approaches
• Strategies for enhancing efficiency in IR
At
end of this, participants will understand what implementation
research is, be familiar with guiding conceptual models,
understand key methodological choices and tools, and
be able to identify key components in IR and methodological
decision junctures.
Download
Methodologial
Challenges and Strategies for Conducting Implementation
Research (PDF Version)
8:00
am – 12:00 pm Half-Day Workshop
Community-Based Participatory Research: Principles and
Methods for Relevant and Appropriate Research with Diverse
Communities
Presenters: Michael Spencer, Associate Professor, University
of Michigan; Gloria Palmisano, Project Manager, REACH
Detroit Partnership
Community-based
Participatory Research (CBPR) has gained increasing
attention nationally, as evidenced by new NIH funding
streams and the plethora of projects that have implemented
its principles. Rooted historically in participatory
action research (Fals-Borda, 1985; Lewin, 1946), popular
education (Friere, 1970), feminist scholarship, and
post-Marxist/post-colonial approaches, CBPR emerged
from the belief and experiences that traditional “outside
expert” approaches to research on complex social
problems often led to disappointing outcomes and ill
suited interventions. Rather CBPR emphasizes emancipatory
approaches involving people who are most affected by
a problem in practical problem solving for the purposes
of challenging inequality and promoting structural transformation
as its ultimate goal.
The workshop will introduce CBPR, beginning with its
history and describing its principles. Examples of CBPR
projects will demonstrate successes and challenges,
as well as practical recommendations for both summative
and formative evaluation of intervention research. Advanced
topics will include the conduct of process evaluations
for CBPR interventions, the use of experimental designs
and randomized controlled trials, and dissemination
procedures and protocols.
By
the end of the workshop, researchers will be able to:
1) identify appropriate opportunities for engaging in
CBPR, 2) understand the principles and methods associated
with successful CBPR projects, and 3) apply these principles
and methods in designing intervention research for diverse
communities.
Download
Community-Based
Participatory Research (PDF Version)
8:00
am – 12:00 pm Half-Day Workshop
Research With Vulnerable Populations: Strategies for
Complex Issues of Human Participant Protections
Presenters: Rebecca J. Macy, School of Social Work,
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; Susan L.
Parish, School of Social Work, University of North Carolina
at Chapel Hill
Social
work researchers strive to improve the well-being of
disadvantaged, marginalized populations, including people
with disabilities, violence survivors, incarcerated
people, refugees, and those who are impoverished. However,
providing adequate protection to vulnerable research
participants poses unique challenges for researchers
who are working to make meaningful contributions to
practice and policy.
This
workshop is designed to help social work researchers
develop their skills to address such unique challenges
and will address the practical, methodological and ethical
issues of conducting research with vulnerable populations,
based on the presenters’ experiences as researchers
and as a member of a university Institutional Review
Board. Particular attention is given to ensuring that
research designs pass muster with Institutional Review
Boards as well as grant reviewers.
At
the conclusion of this workshop, participants will understand
strategies for successfully developing human participants’
protection plans, structuring research design features
to minimize risk to vulnerable participants, and managing
challenges that arise in the implementation of research.
Topics
addressed in the workshop will include:
1. Demonstrating the meaningfulness of the project:
why are the risks worth taking?
2. Characteristics of vulnerable populations (e.g.,
inability to provide informed consent, coercive monetary
inducements, challenges in retaining participants in
the research over time)
3. Balancing the feasibility and acceptability of research
4. Using community members, focus groups and advisory
boards in the design of studies to improve feasibility
5. Understanding the vagaries and intentions of Institutional
Review Boards
6. Strategies for successful Institutional Review Board
and grant proposals
7. Recruiting vulnerable participants
8. Consenting vulnerable participants and their guardians
9. Preventing and preparing for adverse events (e.g.,
how to use community members and advisory boards to
help anticipate unintended consequences that may lead
to adverse events; developing a safety and referral
plan for potential problems)
10. Handling participants’ disclosure of challenging
and dangerous experiences
11. Safety of the research team
12. Managing the ethical challenges of working with
community partners
Download
Research
With Vulnerable Populations (PDF Version) |
