Doing Qualitative Research in Social Work

Bringing key developments and debates together in a single volume, this book provides an authoritative guide for students and practitioners embarking on qualitative research in social work and related fields.  Frequently illustrated with contemporary and classic case examples from the authors’ own empirical research and from international published work, and with self-directed learning tasks, the book provides insight into the difficulties and complexities of carrying out research, as well as sharing ‘success’ stories from the field. Shaw and Holland have long experience of writing for practitioners and students and in making complex concepts accessible and readable, making this an ideal text for those engaging in qualitative social work research at any level.  Ian Shaw is a Professor of Social Work at the University of York and at the University of Aalborg. Sally Holland is a Reader in Social Work at the School of Social Sciences in Cardiff University.

Table of Contents:
What is Distinctive about Qualitative Social Work Research? Qualitative Research and the Social Work Context Researching the Social Work Field Qualitative Methods in Social Work – a Review Doing Qualitative Social Work Research Reviewing Research Qualitative Designs Ethics in Qualitative Research Asking Questions Telling Stories Traces and Deposits in Texts and Documents Living in Place, Space and Time Anticipating Analysis and Making Sense of Qualitative Data Doing Qualitative Analysis The Purposes of Qualitative Social Work Research Researching and Evaluating Interventions and Outcomes Social Justice Qualitative Research and Practice The Consequences of Qualitative Research

About the Author :
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. I am a Reader in Social Work in Cardiff University′s School of Social Sciences, and a former social worker in the field of child and family social work. Previously I was a practitioner in the voluntary and statutory sectors. I have extensive experience of conducting qualitative research projects in social work and have investigated issues related to looked after children, assessment of parenting, family group conferences, child neglect, involving fathers and community safeguarding. I have used a range of qualitative methods to explore these topics, including participative research with children, ethnography, mobile methods, life history interviews and documentary analysis. I facilitate a research advisory group for young people who are care experienced and am deputy chair of my departmental research ethics committee. I am also the author of Child and Family Assessment in Social Work Practice (Sage, 2nd edition, 2011).

Review :
This is an extraordinary book in scope, theoretical sophistication, and practical appeal.  The authors incorporate a variety of  engaging examples highly relevant to social work practice.  They build on and extend the theoretical insights of a diverse array of scholars from various qualitative traditions.   I highly recommend the book for adoption in courses on qualitative methods and also for experienced social work researchers who want to work interpretively with text and image. This excellent text, produced by acknowledged leaders in the field, provides an account of the relevance and rationale for qualitative methods in social work research, placing these methods in the context of historically evolving practices in the US and Britain. The discussion of specific methods will stand as a landmark presentation that will inform research practice for many years to come. Aimed at social work professionals and researchers it will also have a huge appeal to social researchers more widely.