Research Article Critique
Working with Alcohol and Drug Use: Exploring the Knowledge and Attitudes of Social Work Students
Galvani, S. & Hughes, N. (2008). Working with alcohol and drug use: Exploring the knowledge and attitudes of social work students. British journal of social work, 40, 946-962. doi: 1010093/bjsw/ben137.
Study Discussion The target population of this study was social work students. The study population initially consisted of one hundred and fifty-six, and finally one hundred and twenty-one, Birmingham University students participating in BA and MA social works programs as well as in two post-qualifying social work cohorts. The unit of analysis was a self-completion questionnaire which consisted of four sections as well as an additional two questions inquiring about training relevance and self-identified training needs. The study was pre-experimental and designed as a one shot case study. A non-random, convenience sampling was used. The self-completion questionnaire was distributed one time to the initial one hundred and fifty-six participants. This was the only critical measure used in this study.
Study Critique
Target Population, Study Population, Measurement & Unit of Analysis Target Population and Study Population. This study made no hypotheses but instead aimed to assess the knowledge and attitudes of social work students towards working with clients who are substance problems. Their study population was an appropriate sized and not too limited sample consisting of a final one hundred and twenty-one students from Birmingham University’s BA and MA social work programs as well as from two post-qualifying programs specializing in social work with Children and Families. There was about an equal amount of students from the BA, MA and PQ programs (43, 41 and 36 respectively; Galvani & Hughes, 2008) which increased the likelihood of having variability in knowledge and attitudes among the students in the sample that is representative of the larger population
Galvani, S. & Hughes, N. (2008). Working with alcohol and drug use: Exploring the knowledge and attitudes of social work students. British journal of social work, 40, 946-962. doi: 1010093/bjsw/ben137.
Study Discussion The target population of this study was social work students. The study population initially consisted of one hundred and fifty-six, and finally one hundred and twenty-one, Birmingham University students participating in BA and MA social works programs as well as in two post-qualifying social work cohorts. The unit of analysis was a self-completion questionnaire which consisted of four sections as well as an additional two questions inquiring about training relevance and self-identified training needs. The study was pre-experimental and designed as a one shot case study. A non-random, convenience sampling was used. The self-completion questionnaire was distributed one time to the initial one hundred and fifty-six participants. This was the only critical measure used in this study.
Study Critique
Target Population, Study Population, Measurement & Unit of Analysis Target Population and Study Population. This study made no hypotheses but instead aimed to assess the knowledge and attitudes of social work students towards working with clients who are substance problems. Their study population was an appropriate sized and not too limited sample consisting of a final one hundred and twenty-one students from Birmingham University’s BA and MA social work programs as well as from two post-qualifying programs specializing in social work with Children and Families. There was about an equal amount of students from the BA, MA and PQ programs (43, 41 and 36 respectively; Galvani & Hughes, 2008) which increased the likelihood of having variability in knowledge and attitudes among the students in the sample that is representative of the larger population
References: Galvani, S. & Hughes, N. (2008). Working with alcohol and drug use: Exploring the knowledge and attitudes of social work students. British journal of social work, 40, 946-962. doi: 1010093/bjsw/ben137. Rubin, A. & Babbie, E. (2013). Essential research methods for social work. Blemont, CA: Brooks/Cole.