Week 2 Assignment -Research Topic

Week 2 Assignment -Research Topic

Weight: Ungraded

Due: Week 2 Day 2 by 11:59 PM Eastern Time

Maximum Length: 1 Page

You must run all written assignments through the Originality Check before submitting your final assignment to the grade center. Your assignment will not be considered “submitted” until it has first been run through the Originality Check.

Submit a 1-page paper in which you: (a) describe your chosen research topic; (b) provide references for two empirical studies in this area of investigation using APA format, and (c) state your understanding that the interview subjects chosen to pilot your questionnaire cannot include any individuals from the federally-designated vulnerable populations of children, pregnant women, prisoners, persons at risk of suicidality, and persons with impaired decisional capacity.

Note: The submission of a brief description will allow your section instructor to give you early feedback on your selected area of inquiry.

In developing your research questions, we ask that you NOT plan to interview any “vulnerable populations” which would require IRB oversight. We realize that this may influence the way in which pose your research question. For example, your field placement in a middle school may be raising questions for you about bullying behavior. Although you cannot interview children, you might explore this issue with teachers. You might examine teachers’ beliefs about the prevalence of bullying behavior and techniques they use to discourage this behavior.

We also ask that you do not engage in research which places participants at “greater than minimal risk,” as defined by the federal government as this too requires IRB oversight. According to the federal definition of “no greater than minimal risk,” participants will not be asked questions any personal, sensitive, or incriminating topics or questions that could place subjects at risk (e.g., questions about illegal behaviors could place participants at risk for arrest).

Every research question (topic) should be grounded in the social science and/or social work literature. When we formulate a research question, we want to investigate what has already been explored and/or learned about this topic/issue.

As part of this assignment, you are required to find relevant research, using appropriate, targeted resources in the BU Library system. We would urge you to begin your investigation searching the most recent literature (2007-2015) and studies done with populations that are most similar to your own population of interest.

Please use BU Library resources, through the Mugar Libarary website to conduct your literature search. Do NOT enter your search terms in the first box that appears when you open the home page for Mugar. Instead, choose one or more SEARCH ENGINES that are appropriate for the social sciences (such as PsychInfo or Web of Science). Google is NOT an appropriate search engine to find empirical articles, although Google Scholar may be used.

Below are some steps that may be helpful in developing a question as well as information about vulnerable populations.

Steps or Guidelines to Developing a Social Work Research Focus or Area of Investigation

The first step in conducting the Research 1 assignment is to identify a research question (or research topic) of interest to you. We urge students to develop social work research questions which emerge from their social work experience—whether from a field placement, employment, and/or volunteer experience.

Students should feel free to discuss their research topic choice with your section instructor. Students who expect to use a field placement, work, volunteer, or agency site for this assignment, should discuss the requirements of these assignments with his/her supervisor or the appropriate administrator to insure that necessary permissions are obtained.

Beginning or identifying a specific research topic or question to explore can feel overwhelming. We suggest that you begin by brainstorming—that is, jotting down several possible questions that interest you. To land on a specific research topic, ask yourself two questions:

1. Will it be feasible to explore this topic—that is, will I have access to either people, organizations, or settings in which I will be able to conduct face-to-face interviews with 3 persons?; and
2. Does this research topic/question have social importance—will exploring this topic inform the social work profession?

Chapter 2 in the Engel & Schutt textbook offers helpful insights to developing a social work research question.

Vulnerable Populations

In answering the question about access, it is important to note that the federal government has identified certain "vulnerable populations" for which additional IRB oversight is required. The federally-designated vulnerable populations are: children*, pregnant women, prisoners, persons at risk of suicidality, and persons with impaired decisional capacity.

In developing your research questions, we ask that you NOT plan to interview any "vulnerable populations" which would require IRB oversight. We realize that this may influence the way in which pose your research question. For example, your field placement in a middle school may be raising questions for you about bullying behavior. Although you cannot interview children, you might explore this issue with teachers. You might examine teachers' beliefs about the prevalence of bullying behavior and techniques they use to discourage this behavior.

We also ask that you do not engage in research which places participants at "greater than minimal risk," as defined by the federal government as this too requires IRB oversight. According to the federal definition of "no greater than minimal risk," participants will not be asked questions any personal, sensitive, or incriminating topics or questions that could place subjects at risk (e.g., questions about illegal behaviors could place participants at risk for arrest).

* Note: Students in a research course can simply observe children's public behavior as long as they do not participate in the activities they are observing. Research can also be conducted in established or commonly accepted educational settings, involving normal educational practices, such as (i) research on a regular and special educational instructional strategies, or (ii) research on the effectiveness of or the comparison among instructional techniques, curricula, or classroom management methods.