Statistics In Social Work

Understanding statistical concepts is essential for social work professionals. It is key to understanding research and reaching evidence-based decisions in your own practice—but that is only the beginning. If you understand statistics, you can determine the best interventions for your clients. You can use new tools to monitor and evaluate the progress of your client or team. You can recognize biased systems masked by complex models and the appearance of scientific neutrality. For social workers, statistics are not just math, they are a critical practice tool. This concise and approachable introduction to statistics limits its coverage to the concepts most relevant to social workers. Statistics in Social Work guides students through concepts and procedures from descriptive statistics and correlation to hypothesis testing and inferential statistics. Besides presenting key concepts, it focuses on real-world examples that students will encounter in a social work practice. Using concrete illustrations from a variety of potential concentrations and populations, Amy Batchelor creates clear connections between theory and practice—and demonstrates the important contributions statistics can make to evidence-based and rigorous social work practice.

Written by a social worker for social work students, this is a nuts and bolts guide to statistics that presents complex calculations and concepts in clear, easy-to-understand language. It includes numerous examples, data sets, and issues that students will encounter in social work practice. The first section introduces basic concepts and terms to provide a solid foundation in statistics. It also addresses tools used by researchers to describe and summarize data ranging from single variables to assessing the relationship between variables and cause and effect among variables. The second section focuses on inferential statistics, describing how researchers draw conclusions about whole populations based on data from samples. This section also covers confidence intervals and a variety of significance tests for examining relationships between different types of variables. Additionally, tools for multivariate analyses and data interpretation are presented. Key Features: Addresses the role of statistics in evidence-based practice and program evaluation Features examples of qualitative and quantitative analysis Each chapter contains exercise problems and questions to enhance student learning Includes electronic data sets taken from actual social work arenas Offers a full ancillary digital packet including a student guide to SPSS with accompanying Data Set, an Instructor's Manual, PowerPoint slides, and a Test Bank

Conceptual and Practical Research and Statistics for Social Workers prepares students to intuitively theorize and utilize research and statistics within their social work practice. The book fosters the skills, savvy, and knowledge students need to interpret, apply, and produce studies within the discipline, enhancing their ability to become better consumers and producers of social work research. The book features two main sections, Research and Statistics, and its organization reflects the basic research process. The text begins with coverage of research questions and design and then introduces various data collection methods and instruments. Students then learn how to effectively analyze data and report and disseminate key findings. Throughout, readers build their understanding of methodological, ethical, and logical concepts in research and statistics, become familiar with basic needs assessment and program evaluation, develop the ability to choose appropriate statistics, and more. Employing everyday language, social work examples, metaphors, humor, and visual mapping, Conceptual and Practical Research and Statistics for Social Workers helps students tap into their critical thinking and problem-solving skills to develop key competencies. The text is an ideal resource for both undergraduate and graduate-level programs in social work.

Using real social work examples written specifically to ally student fears Research and Statistics for Social Workers brings research and statistics together bridging the gap to practice. This book covers - conceptualization, ethics, cultural competence, design, qualitative research, individual and program evaluation as well as nonparametric and parametric statistical tests. The tests are explained narratively, mathematically as well as with a comprehensive step-by-step, fully illustrated SPSS computer analysis of social work data.

"In the field of social work, qualitative research is starting to gain more prominence as are mixed methods and various issues regarding race, ethnicity and gender. These changes in the field are reflected and updated in "The Handbook of Social Work Research Methods, Second Edition". This text contains meta analysis, designs to evaluate treatment and provides the support to help students harness the power of the Internet. This handbook brings together leading scholars in research methods in social work." --Book Jacket.

Statistics for Social Workers: Essential Concepts provides students with a reader friendly introduction to statistics and an engaging exploration of how statistics can enrich their future social work practice. The text is practical and conceptual in nature, focusing less on mathematical computation and more on the general information and skill sets that will prove beneficial in professional work. The text demonstrates how statistics can help students understand relevant social issues and obtain insights to their clients' problems by looking at data. Readers learn statistics can bring to light trends and needs in their communities, provide them with information they can use in funding applications, aid in their own development of client and staff reports, and enhance their overall practice. Dedicated chapters cover ethical considerations, measures of central tendency, normal distribution, inferential statistics, hypothesis testing, correlation, selecting the appropriate statistical test, and more. Throughout the text, excerpts from real-world studies, review problems for students, and potential assignments facilitate deep learning and practical application. Designed to demystify statistics for students and help them develop into evidence-based practitioners, Statistics for Social Workers is an ideal resource for social work students.

This book shows the capabilities of Microsoft Excel in teaching social science statistics effectively. Similar to the previously published Excel 2016 for Social Sciences Statistics, this book is a step-by-step, exercise-driven guide for students and practitioners who need to master Excel to solve practical social science problems. If understanding statistics isn’t your strongest suit, you are not especially mathematically inclined, or you are wary of computers, this is the right book for you. Excel, a widely available computer program for students and managers, is also an effective teaching and learning tool for quantitative analyses in social science courses. Its powerful computational ability and graphical functions make learning statistics much easier than in years past. Excel 2019 for Social Science Statistics: A Guide to Solving Practical Problems capitalizes on these improvements by teaching students and managers how to apply Excel to statistical techniques necessary in their courses and work. In this new edition, each chapter explains statistical formulas and directs the reader to use Excel commands to solve specific, easy-to-understand social science problems. Practice problems are provided at the end of each chapter with their solutions in an appendix. Separately, there is a full practice test (with answers in an appendix) that allows readers to test what they have learned.

In Statistics for Social Justice: A Structural Perspective, van de Sande and Byvelds argue that social work research, including statistics, should be taught from a structural perspective and should follow anti-oppressive principles, which view the problems experienced by people as rooted in the social, political and economic structures of society.

Compassionate Statistics: Applied Quantitative Analysis for Social Services (With Instructions for SPSS 14.0) is an attempt to "de-mythologize" a content area that is both essential for professional social service practitioners, yet dreaded by some of the most experienced among them. Using friendly, straightforward language as well as concrete illustrations and exercises from social service practice, author Vincent E. Faherty catapults students and experienced professionals to a pragmatic level where they can handle quantitative analysis for all their research and evaluation needs. Key Features Provides comprehensive coverage of the most important aspects of quantitative analysis: This is a complete, yet pragmatic, resource for social service professionals to use standard descriptive and inferential statistical techniques. Offers an accessible format: Using unpretentious and plain language, this book introduces essential statistical procedures, one-at-a-time, in relatively short chapters in order to assist recall and facilitate new learning. Applies statistical content to social service practice situations: Concrete applications are drawn from counseling, criminal justice, human services, social work, therapeutic recreation and vocational rehabilitation. Presents case illustrations of how statistical material is reported in professional literature: Since social service professionals need to write up the results of their quantitative analysis, this book provides actual illustrations of how the various statistical procedures and tests are presented in published articles. Addresses the use of SPSS on each covered statistical procedure and test: Specific directions are given so students can use the latest version of SPSS to complete each assigned exercise. Includes in-chapter exercises: A series of realistic data sets that students can use to perform a number of planned exercises are offered in each chapter. Intended Audience This is an excellent core or supplemental text for a variety of advanced undergraduate and graduate courses such as Statistics for Social Services, Applied Statistics, Quantitative Analysis for Social Services, Statistics for Social Work, Social Science Research, Research Methods, Program Evaluation, and Grant Writing in the departments of counseling, human services, social services, social work, therapeutic recreation, and vocational rehabilitation.