Research: Social Work
Social work is one of the broadest fields in social and human services. The primary theoretical foundation that drives social work is that of developing appropriate interventions. Historically, the focus of interventions has changed due to different theoretical orientations.
Social workers serve in a wide range of capacities including as clinical counselors, professionals in social agencies, child welfare workers, and many other areas of human services (Salem Press Encyclopedia, 2019).
Best Databases for Social Work
The first links are to collections of databases; they allow searching of several databases, but with a more customizable strategy than our discovery layer provides.
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EBSCOhost
This is the platform for all EBSCO database subscriptions, including Academic Search Complete, Business Source Complete, Education Source, ERIC, CINAHL, Education Source, Environmental Sciences, Medline, and all APA databases, as well as ebook and open access resources,
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Proquest
Provides access to all Proquest database subscriptions including Agriculture, Criminal Justice, Social Sciences, Sci-Tech, Proquest Black Studies, and Proquest Historical Newspapers as well as Proquest Dissertations and Theses.
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Sage Journal Collections
It includes international, peer-reviewed journals, including high-impact research titles published on behalf of over 500 scholarly and professional societies.
Electronic access to more than 1,000 peer-reviewed journals (over 1 million articles)
Complimentary access back to 1999 and includes collections in Communication, Psychology, Sociology, Social Work and Social Policy, Urban Studies, Criminal Justice, Education, Nursing, Public Health, Management and Organization as well agriculture. -
Taylor and Francis Online
Taylor and Francis Online contains journal packages for Education, Biology, Agriculture, Environmental Science, Business, Health Sciences, and Social Sciences.
Sometimes it is preferable to search only one database at a time. Here are some of the most useful:
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Criminal Justice Database
This is a comprehensive database supporting research on crime, its causes and impacts, legal and social implications, as well as litigation and crime trends. It includes as U.S. and international scholarly journals, correctional and law enforcement trade publications, dissertations, crime reports, crime blogs and other material relevant for researchers or those preparing for careers in criminal justice, law enforcement and related fields. Coverage 1981-
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Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection
Has full text coverage of nearly 400 journals. Covers topics such as emotional and behavioral characteristics, mental processes, observational and experimental methods.
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Social Work Abstracts
Produced by the National Association of Social Workers, Inc., this database contains more than 45,000 records, spanning 1977 to the present, from social work and other related journals on topics such as homelessness, AIDS, child and family welfare, aging, substance abuse, legislation, community organization, and more.
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Social Work Reference Center
This database is now included in Nursing and Allied Health Reference Source.
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Project Muse Journals-Basic Research Collection
Is a leading provider of digital humanities and social science content for the scholarly community around the world. For over 20 years, Project MUSE has been the trusted and reliable source of complete, full-text versions of scholarly journals from many of the world's leading universities and scholarly societies. Currently, Project MUSE has over 674 journals from 125 publishers and offers over 50,000 books from more than 100 presses.
Organizing and citing sources:
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Zotero"Your personal research assistant." Once it's downloaded into your browser, Zotero allows you to collect, annotate, cite, and share your sources.
Google Scholar
Social and Economic Justice
Social Work is committed to upholding economic and social justice ideals, including fairness, equity, and equality. Examples of areas of service: outreach, grassroots mobilization, lobbying, community development, and public awareness efforts (National Association of Social Workers).
Critical Thinking and Writing
Three common types of professional writing in social work are case notes, assessments, and treatment plans. Each type grows out of good listening skills; accurate case notes, a clear assessment, and an effective treatment plan rely on accurate and objective details recorded during client interviews.
Common tasks for writers in Social Work
- Understand the Task and Revise
- Provide Relevant Details
- Move Beyond Description
- Use Appropriate Evidence
- Use TSU Research Librarians through the research process
- Document sources accurately and ethically
Basic Research Methods
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Essential research methods for social workPhysical Book, Located: Course Reserves, Circulation Desk, 1st Flr - Main HV11 .R83 2016
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Qualitative methods in social work research / Deborah K. Padgett, New York University.Physical Book, Located: Shelf 1st Flr - Main HV11 .P24 2017
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Social work research methods : learning by doingPhysical Book, Located: Shelf 1st Flr - Main HV11 .Y574 2020
Related LibGuides
Government Documents
Most English-speaking countries, including the United States, produce data and reports relevant to social work.
See our Government Documents LibGuide for more information
GPO Catalog is a database of most of the U.S. government documents available in libraries. Some of them are available electronically.
Congressional Research Service Reports contains most of the research requested by members of Congress, covering every area potentially of interest to lawmakers.
usa.gov is the portal for federal government services and information
Statistical information
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Statista
Statista is a global data and business intelligence platform with an extensive collection of statistics, reports, and insights on over 80,000 topics from 22,500 sources in 170 industries.
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Our world in dataStatistics on the world's most pressing problems, such as poverty, energy, and food.
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Social ExplorerIncludes a suite of online tools and data that allow users to visually explore hundreds of thousands of data indicators across demography, economy, health, religion, crime and more. Users can visualize and interact with data, create reports and downloads for offline processing.