Having completed this course I have a new found respect for those who choose to conduct research. Research is an approach to gathering new data on a subject matter. I learned the different types of research and why it is important. I view the blogging experience as a way to have an outline for the overall proposal. It was fun writing out my thoughts as it pertained to my research proposal and then tying them all together in the final paper. I think from writing the research proposal I was able to understand the importance on conducting research. I wanted to learn more about the connection research have in relation to social work. I now understand how research pertains to social work policy. The insights I gained from this class was to be more aware what information is true or not; knowing that some data can be swayed or changed to fit the criteria of the research design. This class I has helped me in my journey to becoming a social worker.

Before today’s class ethical research didn’t mean much to me because I did not know it existed in the realm of Psychology however I knew ethics is a standard and guideline in which Social Workers live by. During class we watched multiple videos with regard to ethics in research and it pretty much stated similar guidelines as far as honesty; competence, carefulness, integrity and respect when conducting research . By honesty it meant to report data, results, methods and procedures as true as they come, not to falsify data. Competence means lifelong learning and continuing education. Carefulness in regard to errors in research and negligence of your work as a professional. Integrity means striving for consistency with your actions in performing the data collection for research. Lastly, respect, for your colleagues, their property and the usage of data collection giving credit where it is due and also not plagiarizing the work. Im glad there was clarification in the plagiarizing aspect, I never knew you could plagiarize your own work. The implementation of the proposal will allow me to dig deeper in the material and become more aware of the ethical issues that exist in research. It will allow me to get a better understanding and decipher what Im reading as it pertains to articles.

I am usually very well organized and have my assignments planned out well before they are due. But due to the current state of this COVID-19 pandemic; working from home and off-site, homeschooling my daughter, maintaining my own classwork and all the duties it takes to manage my household has been a bit overwhelming to say the least. I can and will say that I have not done my best with planning and implementing my thoughts into this research paper. I have the thoughts in my head but nothing written on paper. I am so use to moving around from different locations and balancing my schoolwork it just seem like these past few weeks have got the best of me. I need more hours in the day honestly to get ahead and manage everything else. After submitting my Literature Review I received valuable feedback and I plan to use the format given when finalizing my research proposal.

After tonight’s class, my understanding for research design became a bit clear. Tonight’s lecture allowed me to identify the different research designs and how important they are when doing studies along with the importance behind choosing the correct design. By choosing the correct design it will help me support the research question by collecting the information, measuring and also analyzing it for further context. I am planning on doing a qualitative research design because I am trying to find more information about job readiness programs; if they are increasing the level of independence of individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities. I plan to give them a Quality of Life questionnaire that asks open-ended questions because the quality of life varies and means something different to each person. With the Qualitative approach it focuses more on the subject matter and it gives the person a voice. It would allow me to gain an understanding from the person-firsts perspective.

I do not have a strong like or dislike for statistics, simply because I have not studied it enough to feel a way about it. However, I will say that the correlation that Math and Statistics have with one another causes me to feel uneasy about it, because Math is not my strong subject. Although Statistics deal with graphs, tables and charts it makes it fun to see as long as you understand the material that is being depicted within the data. I have a hard time understanding probability and how sampling is done. It is something I will have to get a break down understanding before I say this is my strong suit. However, I do understand the purpose of statistics and that it is needed to teach people to use limited sampling to make accurate conclusions. As a class I think a way to appreciate statistics more fully is to give in depth details and not information from the books. It is easier for me when a professor and or peer explains the subject matter in a way not full of terms and definition but by way of real-life examples.

Yes, biases come into account when addressing all topics. I know my personal biases affect the way I interact with individuals, my work ethic and also my judgement on different subject matter. It is important to be aware of my biases when writing a literature review because I do not want to cloud my judgement and allow for my review to be incredible. While writing my review I have to remove those previously stated biases so that they won’t crowd my writing process. The current biases with my research topic are the differences in self-perceptions of participants and the job-readiness evaluations their instructors complete in relation to job readiness self-efficacy and aspects of work personality. How one perceives themselves allow them to have motivation to perform a task, but how others view them may affect their ability to carry out those same tasks. Some individuals aren’t ready to receive constructive criticism. While it is important to have so they can grow and alter their way of performing, some instructors personal feelings and belief may come into play when evaluating the participant. In order to address the biases we have to know that they exist. Once we acknowledge it we can change the bias.

I have come to realize that research is an important aspect in the social work profession. Since starting Grad school I’ve noticed a lot of emphasis put on research; picking a topic, the literature reviews, annotated bibliographies and research paper as a whole. I think the challenge I’ve faced is narrowing down a topic to research, what data is important from the articles , what to use and where to input the information in the paper and what can I contribute to further the research on the specific topic. Research is very important to the Social Work profession because it allows us as Social Workers to see the person where they are, understand the environment in which they live/grew up in, what programs are being utilized or needed from this specific group of individuals. We are also able to apply the data to new policies to help further our practice in the profession. Research provides factual data and analysis as a guide when applying the terms to the various approaches we are learning here in school. Looking into the future I believe research will be helpful as I provide resources to those within the community I serve. The programs, services and community at large will be able to benefit from the use of the research.

I believe I have what it takes to write an effective literature review based upon the videos we were given to review and the exercises we had to complete. I believe this knowledge alone equips me with the tools that are necessary to complete a literature review. I have written one in a previous class and received good feedback on it. I think one of my strengths are finding articles related to complete the review; being able to pull useful details from the sources and utilize them within my literature review. The area that requires more attention is understanding how to measure the variables and how effective they are in measuring the outcomes. I need to get more familiar with the terms, which differ from the other and how to utilize them to the best of my ability to determine the effectiveness of each other.

I honestly don’t remember if I took a Research Class in undergrad due to the many years it has been, but I will say that Research is very important to the field of Social Work. Research does not excite me but I understand the importance of it. Research is vital in this particular field because it allows us to stay up to date with the latest details that will allow us to be better advocates for those we serve. I would like to know how to make researching FUN. Research can be a bit boring and tedious; it is my least favorite thing to do when it comes to schooling. I would like to learn how to make it useful and not dreadful.