Suppose you are a social worker with a program that provides services to grandparents who are raising their grandchildren while their own children (the parents of their grandchildren) are serving lengthy prison sentences. You want to find out more about the challenges faced by the grandparents and what could be done to support them.
1. Explain how you could use participatory action research to address the questions. What are the strengths and weaknesses of this approach?
2. How might you use case studies to address the questions? What are the strengths and weaknesses of this approach?
Suppose that you have the opportunity to interview several social workers who have profoundly influenced the practice of social work in your state. They have been leaders in social justice and empowerment and have “fought the good fight” even in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds.
1. How might you conduct an informal conversational interview with these social workers? What would the strengths and limitations be?
2. Suppose you decide to use the interview guide approach. Outline what you might include in the guide. What are the strengths and limitations of this approach?
Suppose you are conducting a qualitative analysis of the use of social media to communicate during natural disasters. Lofland and Lofland (1995, pp. 127–145) suggest six different ways of looking for patterns in a particular research topic: frequencies, magnitudes, structures, processes, causes, and consequences.
1. What sorts of patterns related to frequency and magnitude might you observe in your analysis?
2. Continue with your qualitative analysis of the use of social media to communicate during natural disasters. What other patterns might you observe? How would Lofland and Lofland categorize those patterns?
1. Conduct an Internet search using the key term “qualitative data analysis.” Briefly describe the data analytic approaches used in two qualitative research studies you find.
2. Discuss how qualitative data analysis can be compromised by researcher bias. Identify and discuss at least two ways in which the risks associated with bias can be minimized. Why is this not just an issue of research methodology but also one of ethics? Cite and discuss at least one ethical standard that could be compromised by bias in the conduct of research.
