Practicing Research

Programs, practices and policies in health, education and social welfare are abundantly available. Only a few are effective and suitable for their intended audiences. In recent years, the public, policy-makers and funders have begun to ask practitioners in the helping professionals to provide valid evidence that their selected programs and practices are based on the best available research findings. These groups are also want proof that practitioners' program selections result in beneficial outcomes for the intended participants. The demand for accountable choices is relatively new in fields like health, education, social work, psychology, criminal justice. New professionals will be expected to have the skills to evaluate research and identify evidence that matters. The purpose of this book is to provide research consumers with the skills necessary for discovering evidence that matters. Evidence that matters comes from high quality research studies. Research consumers use research as the foundation for making justifiable decisions about programs, practices, and policies. Consumers practice research and are concerned with the practical applications of research findings.Research consumers have the skills to distinguish good from poor evidence. They also use clinical judgment and experience to select practices that best meet the needs and values of the individuals and groups they serve.This book is designed for students, practitioners or researchers who are planning to review research for best practices or are actually selecting programs right now. The book assumes that each person who reads it has a passing familiarity with the idea of research, but no special research expertise is necessary. The book has eight chapters corresponding to the skills that research consumers need to discover evidence that matters. The first chapter focuses on evaluation research and evidence-based medicine//evidence-based practice (EBM//EBP). Evaluation seeks to provide research consumers with evidence of program effectiveness, while EBP provides ways to assess the quality of the research. The second chapter focuses on where and how to find programs that may be relevant. The third and fourth chapters discuss the criteria to use to evaluate study quality, while the fifth and sixth cover the ups and downs of collecting valid data.Chapter 7 concentrates on the processA'the actual stepsA'involved in discovering evidence that matters. In chapter 8, the research consumer will find information on how to improve the process of discovery and how to ensure it is done in an ethical manner. The author of this book has paid special attention to facilitating student learning by providing over a hundred examples, flowcharts, tables, and checklists as well as an extensive glossary. [Students who are interested in any specific topic can further their knowledge by using the related website, which contains links to other sites as well as additional examples and exercises.] All the examples are taken from existing research and programs and grounded in the practitioner's reality.