Research Methods for Evidence-Based Practice

John Wodarski is a Professor of Social Work at the University of Tennessee. During his 30 years of experience as a research scientist, he has served as the principal investigator for projects that implement and evaluate evidence based interventions and has successfully obtained funding for 75 federal, state, and foundation grants. He has co-edited or coauthored over twenty books and teaches courses in Research Methods. Laura Hopson is an Assistant Professor of Social Work at the University at Albany School of Social Welfare. Her research focuses on evidence-based prevention and intervention in schools and risk and protective factors associated with academic success. She teaches courses in Advanced Clinical Practice and Evaluation of Clinical Practice.

Preface 1. Evidence-Based Practice: An Introduction 2. Criteria for Choosing Knowledge and Assessing Evidence-Based Intervention 3. Transforming Behavioral Science Knowledge into Practie Generalizations 4. Planning for Conducting Research in Community Agencies 5. Choice-of-Outcome Measures and Means for Assessment 6. Traditional Designs 7. Designs for Daily Practice Evaluation 8. Application of Statistical Techniques in the Evaluation of Practice 9. Advanced Statistical Techniques in Social Work Research 10. Development and Use of Management Information Systems for Human Services: A Practical Guide 11. Developing and Formulating Quality Proposals 12. Emerging Trends and Issues Related to Evidence-Based Practice Index

"The text addresses important current issues and provides a "how to" guide for students to evaluate and translate research findings into practice. This is a very crucial, fundamentally important work that discusses the relevance and steps to making EBP (evidence-based practice) a reality for helping professionals. The language is easy to read and the approach is practical, organized, and almost intuitive approach to the content. Students will find the book easy to read compared to the traditional research textbooks. This practice approach enhances the attractiveness of the book as a supplementary text to major research textbooks." -- Adrian Kok "The greatest strength in the proposed text is the text takes the use of evidence-based practice in social work to the next level, namely, identifying the components and areas that need to be focused on. I believe there is a need for a text that walks people through the various stages of implementing evidence based practice, providing the rational and examples of how to accomplish the implementation, and sustainability of using evidence-based practice. All too often, students leave "the need for research" behind once they have completed the course. This text emphasizes the continued need to stay informed on new developments, and techniques in the social work field." -- Ameda A. Manetta "The text enables students to understand how to become an evidence-based practitioner - this is an important part of training students as practitioners." -- Emmerentie Oliphant