SOCWEL 289A
Research Methods and Techniques in Social Welfare
This course is part of a two-semester sequence designed to provide doctoral students a) an orientation to the doctoral research experience and to the academy as an institution; b) a firm foundation in scientific inquiry. Module 1 topics include: cultivating an identity as a scholar, navigating the academy as a doctoral student; Module 2 topics include: an overview of epistemology and ontology, ethics in research, research problem formulation, use of theory, and conceptualization.
Topics
- The core aims of the course are to provide students: 1) insight into the opportunities and challenges social work researchers face as they apply social science and related theory and methods to social work knowledge production, 2) an introduction to the language of research methods from which they can scaffold future methodological and analytic coursework, and 3) an opportunity to apply methodological concepts to their own substantive area of interest.
- Upon completion of this this course, students will be able to: 1. Critically evaluate their role as emerging scholars and future members of the professoriate. 2. Formally assess the state of knowledge in a substantive area to begin to frame a set of research questions; 3. Situate research problems in contexts of: epistemology, social work ethics and values, research ethics, theoretical, and descriptive and causal inferential structures; 4. Formulate a theoretically/conceptually and empirically driven research problem and, if appropriate, resultant questions and hypotheses; 5. Accurately utilize and apply concepts related to theory, methodology, method, and design; 6. Assess the strengths and limitations of scholarship in a substantive area, and; 7. Develop a literature review and research questions to address a focused research problem.
Official catalogue course objectives and student learning outcomes
Sources
- Course catalogue ↗2026-2027