A literature review is important for finding and evaluating peer-reviewed sources for writing a research paper. “Peer-review is the act of carefully evaluating a work by one or more experts of the same field of work, to determine its credibility, research methodology, accuracy, and relevance to the literature” (Camtasia Studio 8, 2014). Using sources that are peer-reviewed is important because “culturally proficient research practices are necessary to dispel destructive myths and stereotypes” and this is necessary so people that are served by social workers are not exploited or harmed and are helped by research. (Krysik & Finn, 2013, p.81).
In addition, this journal entry will discuss some of the biggest challenges for evaluating credible sources such as determining if the research question is exploratory, descriptive, or explanatory and what type of resources are applicable to fit the problem area. Furthermore, the checklist for evaluating the research problem will help guide this process, however, some of the strategies that can be used are finding peer-reviewed sources by doing a literature review first and evaluating those sources that apply to the research problem.
Peer-reviewed sources are important in research because they are credible, relevant sources of data compared to other sources that might be flawed and biased. When doing research it is important that the information that is presented is factual, relevant, and valid because it could cause people to be harmed and exploited from invalid claims. “Unpublished research is no help to anyone. Other researchers cannot see how it was done or use it and as a society we do not base decisions about our family’s health for example, on work that has not been validated and has a higher chance of being flawed” (Sense About Science, 2006). When research has been peer-reviewed and published this helps to distinguish the difference between what is scientific versus was is biased and opinion.
In addition, when doing research social workers must take into consideration the cultural context in which the research will take place and follow guidelines that help to achieve that proficiency in research. “Cultural proficiency involves adding to the knowledge base of culturally competent practices by conducting original research, tailoring research approaches so that they are appropriate for the client’s culture, and publishing the results of research in ways that are accessible to varied cultural groups that may be interested in the research” (Krysik & Finn, 2013, p.62).
Furthermore, when doing research guidelines should be followed when doing a literature review and evaluating sources because applying these methods helps to save time, allows the social worker to find and evaluate what is important for the problem area, and these strategies help to make the social worker competent in practice, research, and to be more effective in helping clients.
A social worker’s biggest challenges when doing research are becoming culturally competent and proficient when doing research and finding resources that apply to the specific problem they are evaluating. “Cultural competence is the ability to perform effectively in multicultural settings based on an understanding of one’s own and others language, customs, values, and beliefs” and “cultural proficiency is the culmination or end-point on the continuum of cultural competence. It is characterized by knowledge, attitudes, and behavior that hold culture in high esteem” (Cross et al, 1989). Social workers strive to do more than deliver just services “they value the positive role that culture can play in their client’s health and well-being and culturally proficiency generally includes self-awareness, knowledge of different cultures, and intervention strategies that are tailored for specific cultures” (Marsiglia & Kullis, 2009).
One way to become more culturally proficient when doing research is to use the guidelines and strategies that are taught to gain the knowledge. These guidelines include recognizing personal biases and having self-awareness of the myths and stereotypes that exist in society and in research. Understanding the three types of biases in existing literature is also important and they include “certain cultural groups might not be represented in the literature because researchers simply failed to study them, a study of a subset of people can overgeneralize the entire group, and research can focus on the negative attributes associated with particular cultures at the expense of acknowledging positive features” (Krysik & Finn, 2013, p.62). As a result, negative attributes can lead to reinforcement of stereotypes and positive features that should be acknowledged are overlooked and biases are formed.
In social services agencies and other organizations bias can limit how diverse populations are studied and in doing so can promote stereotypes. “Bias within an agency can lead to a narrow view of culturally diverse groups and the difficulties they face. For example, social service practitioners have tended to emphasize individual parenting deficits and to ignore external and institutional factors such as poverty and healthcare” (Krysik & Finn, 2013, p.62-63).
In addition, social workers need to learn about cultural groups and their history and acquire knowledge to understand them so they can become culturally competent and proficient in helping clients and groups should be involved in the decision making process because the research problems may be solved through the input of the clients and independently. Final analysis includes knowing the difference in the concept research for versus research on.
“Research for can be conceptualized as an altruistic activity, pursued out of an unselfish concern for the welfare of others and research on can be perceived as an opportunistic activity, viewing the cultural group as merely a subject of study” (Krysik & Finn, 2013, p.63). For social workers cultural competence and proficiency is required because it is part of the NASW Code of Ethics and is stated in Codes 1.04 Competence and 1.05 Cultural Competency and Diversity. Furthermore, culture competency and proficiency is the biggest challenge because when doing research, in practice, and in helping clients it is necessary to have the skills and knowledge to help them and to be effective. Criteria Framework for Evaluating Sources
The Framework Quick Guide in our text is a useful tool when evaluating the credibility of sources in research and it provides the criteria when looking for sources. If each source is rated according to “authority, currency, fairness, intent, and reliability than it can be determined if it is a credible source or not. A score of 0 represents a failing grade, and a score of 5 represents excellence. A total score close to 25 indicates a credible source, a low score suggests that the source should not be used” (Krysik & Finn, 2013, p.61). Since it can be difficult to evaluate sources this process helps to ensure which ones should be used and others that should be excluded.
Finding sources using the Ulrich’s Database was difficult at first, however, after trying different searches there was three relevant peer-reviewed sources that fit the criteria for my paper they include Educating Resilient Practitioners, Compassion Fatigue Among Social Work Students in Field Placements, and A Survey of Burnout Among Australian Mental Health Occupational Therapists and Social Workers. Educating social workers is part of my research question and compassion fatigue and burnout are other areas that are part of the research criteria and these sources do fit and are valid, credible sources.
In addition, another helpful tool for doing research is the checklist guide for evaluating the research question because this helps to establish the purpose or what type of research question is being asked they include exploratory, descriptive, or explanatory research. “Exploratory research is to gain an initial understanding of the problem area. This type of research is especially important when we know very little about the problem” (Krysik & Finn, 2013, p.64). Descriptive research is self-explanatory it describes the characteristics of people or groups that could be affected by the research problem.
Explanatory research is “to explain how and why things happen. They often seek to establish cause-and-effect relationships that enable us to predict future events” (Krysik & Finn, 2013, p.64). Classifying the research question helps when evaluating and reviewing sources because it helps identify what we do know and what we need to find to answer the questions. My research problem reflects explanatory research because we need to know the causes of compassion fatigue and burnout and what can be done to prevent it and how to decrease the number of social workers from suffering from burnout.
The biggest challenges is understanding the research process and learning how to find and evaluate all the sources that are available and having the competence and proficiency to do effective research. Furthermore, in order to do that research guidelines and processes should be followed and using tools and guides is some of the strategies that add to making research easier. To obtain the skills, knowledge, and proficiency for doing research it must first be learned than it is possible to gain cultural competence and proficiency as social workers because we are educated. Strategies in Evaluating Sources
Strategies for overcoming challenges in doing research are using the checklist for evaluating the research problem, using the Quick Guide for evaluating sources and following the guidelines to help achieve culturally proficiency when doing research. In addition, other tools that will be used are the checklist for evaluating the research question, perform the activities when conducting a literature review and using theory as a guide when doing research.
The guidelines provided in the text help provide the tools that are useful for doing research and by following these processes it guides the research through each step. Reading an abstract helps to identify a research-based article and that can also help to identify sources that may or may not be appropriate to the research problem. The authors often follow a format that is similar in nature and that format includes the following listed below.
1.“The introductory or first section of the article consists of a discussion of this problem area addressed by the research study, including information on its relevance to social work” (Krysik & Finn, 2013, p is.80).
2.“A critical analysis of the existing knowledge is based on the review of existing research and theory. The analysis also considers what issues are contested and what is yet to be discerned” (Krysik & Finn, 2013, p.80).
3.“The justification for the research study is customarily framed within the context of prior published work” (Krysik & Finn, 2013, p.80).
4.“The research question is not always explicitly stated, but it may be implied or labeled as objectives of the research” (Krysik & Finn, 2013, p.80).
5.“Hypothesis, if warranted, customarily follow the statement of the research question or study objective” (Krysik & Finn, 2013, p.80).
Following all the guidelines and using the tools that are provided are the strategies for overcoming obstacles when doing research. Furthermore, the research design is the plan for helping to conduct the research in an efficient manner and that is discussed in other chapters in the text that provide the information needed for continuing the research process.
