The SAGE Handbook of Social Work Research

'Overall, then, the Handbook is undoubtedly a great success. It represents a state-of-the-art mapping of the parameters of social work research. Both structure and content lend themselves to what will certainly come to be regarded as a benchmark statement within the field... the editors of the Handbook have undoubtedly fulfilled their ambitions by producing what by any standards is a benchmark text which is well worth the investment - time, effort, money (!) - entailed in getting to grips with the stimulating and rewarding debates within. It is hard to envisage how this undertaking could have been more impressive...'
Qualitative Social Work Journal

This is a highly ambitious, well thought out, carefully constructed, and thought-provoking volume that 'maps' social work research past and present. It differs markedly from most edited texts in its combination of diversity, coherence, and comprehensiveness... an original, stimulating and readable book in which not a single chapter is a rehash of the writer's previously published papers, as happens all too often in edited volumes. The modest term 'handbook' in its title hardly does justice to the book's depth, scope, and quality. While it can certainly serve as a ready reference guide, its thoughtfulness and questioning make it much more than a compendium of information, however rich. It is highly recommended for social work professionals throughout the Western world.

International Social Work Journal

'This is an internationally relevant handbook in the real sense of the word, as it provides a holistic and thorough overview of social work research in its current state... I have had the book for some months now and it fills me with optimism every time I pick it up. It has had a similar effect on nervous final-year social work students studying research, as they have expressed a huge sigh of relief after

examining this text because it offers so much knowledge and expertise in one place. It is clearly a must-have textbook for all final-year undergraduates, postgraduates, post-qualifying and research students because there is something for all inside. I would even go as far as to say it is an unrivalled international text that practitioners should also have if they feel serious about transforming the profession that they are part of.'

British Journal of Social Work

Dr. Ian Shaw is S R Nathan Professor of Social Work at National University of Singapore and Professor Emeritus at the University of York, England. He was the first chair of the European Social Work Research Association (ESWRA) and a founder editor of the journal Qualitative Social Work. He has authored almost 100 peer-reviewed papers, more than 20 books, 60 book chapters, and various research reports. He has written extensively in the journals on issues arising from the relationship between social work and sociology over the last century. His more recent books include Social Work Science (2016) and Research and the Social Work Picture (2018). He is pursuing a graduate programme in creative writing, which sits alongside his interests in gardening, his local church, volunteering in his village shop, playing badminton (badly), and Bob Dylan.

Mapping Social Work Research: Pasts, Presents and Futures - Ian Shaw, Katharine Briar-Lawson, Joan Orme, Roy Ruckdeschel PART ONE: PURPOSES OF SOCIAL WORK RESEARCH The Nature and Purposes of Social Work - f004 Nigel Parton and Stuart Kirk Providing Objective, Impartial Evidence for Decision Making and Public Accountability - Annette Boaz and James Blewett Theory and Knowledge about Social Problems to Enhance Policy Development - Joan Orme and Katharine Briar-Lawson Improving Intervention and Practice - f004 Daniel Gredig and Jeanne C Marsh Researching Our Own Domains: Research as Practice in 'Learning Organizations' - Susan White and Gerhard Riemann Challenging the Dominant Paradigm: Social Work Research, Social Justice and Social Change - f004 Bob Pease PART TWO: CONTEXTS FOR SOCIAL WORK RESEARCH Research and Government - f004 Ian Shaw and Joan Zlotnik Politics and Values in Social Work Research - Haluk Soydan Social Work Research and Ethics - f004 Richard Hugman From Social Work Practice to Social Work Research: An Emergent Approach to a Basic Problem - Steve Trevillion Theory and Theorizing: Intellectual Contexts of Social Work Research - Mikko Mantysaari and Richard Weatherley The Uses of Social Work Research - Roy Ruckdeschel and Adrienne Chambon Places in Time: Contextualizing Social Work Research - f004 Ian Shaw PART THREE: THE PRACTICE OF SOCIAL WORK RESEARCH The Practice of Social Work Research - Jackie Powell and Blanca Ramos Logics, Qualities and Quality of Social Work Research - Ian Shaw Evidence and Practice: The Knowledge Challenge for Social Work - Geraldine Macdonald and Jennie Popay Methods for Enhancing Theory and Knowledge About Problems, Policies, and Practice - Jane F Gilgun Methods for Understanding, Learning and Social Justice - Carmen Lavoie, Judy MacDonald and Elizabeth Whitmore Mixing Methods in Social Work Research - Jennifer C Greene, Peter Sommerfeld, and Wendy L Haight Challenges and Directions in the Practice of Social Work Research - f004 Katharine Briar-Lawson, Robyn Munford and Jackie Sanders PART FOUR: DOMAINS OF SOCIAL WORK RESEARCH Nation - f004 Linda Briskman Community - Karen Staller and Tracie Mafile'o Children, Young People and Families - Mary Ruffalo, June Thoburn and Paula Allen-Meares Health and Well-being - f004 Paul Bywaters and Michael Ungar Disability - Sally French and John Swain Mental Health - f004 Peter Huxley, Michael Sheppard and Martin Webber Social Work Research and Aging - f004 Philip McCallion Social Work in Criminal Justice - Fergus McNeill, Dennis Bracken and Alan Clarke Challenges and Directions in Social Work Research and Social Work Practice - Joan Orme, Roy Ruckdeschel and Katharine Briar-Lawson