Competency 4: Engage in practice-informed research and research-informed practice

Overview

By successfully completing this assignment, you demonstrate your proficiency in the following competency and specialized behaviors:

Competency 4: Engage in practice-informed research and research-informed practice.
C4.SP.A: Apply leadership skills, decision making, and the use of technology to inform evidence-based research practice to develop, implement, evaluate, and communicate interventions across the specialization of advanced generalist practice settings.
Related Assignment Criterion:

1: Critique single-subject designs.
C4.SP.B: Apply leadership skills, decision making, and the use of technology to inform program evaluation to develop, implement, evaluate, and communicate interventions across the specialization of advanced generalist practice settings.
Related Assignment Criterion:

2: Apply critical thinking in verbal and written communication through the use of leadership and technology.
Assignment Description
After reading Whitfield’s 1999 article, “Validating School Social Work,” you will answer a series of questions aimed at critiquing single subject designs.

Assignment Instructions
Read Whitfield’s 1999 article, “Validating School Social Work: An Evaluation of a Cognitive-Behavioral Approach to Reduce School Violence,” and answer the following questions in an APA-formatted document:

What was the purpose of this study?
What was the sample?
What dependent variables were studied? How were the dependent variables operationalized?
Why was a single-subject design used? What are the strengths of a single-subject design?
What were the key findings (the results of the data analysis)?
How would you critique the findings? What are limitations of a single-subject design?

Validating School Social Work: An Evaluation of a Cognitive-Behavioral Approach to Reduce School Violence

Whitfield’s 1999 article aimed to evaluate a cognitive-behavioral approach to reducing school violence. Specifically, the study aimed to test the effectiveness of this approach on reducing violent behavior and increasing academic performance among high-risk students in a large urban school district.

The sample for this study consisted of six high-risk students who were identified by school administrators as having a history of violent behavior. The sample included four male and two female students, all of whom were in grades 9 through 12. The students were selected based on their prior involvement in violent incidents, poor academic performance, and attendance problems.

The dependent variables studied were academic performance and violent behavior. Academic performance was measured using the students’ grades, and violent behavior was measured using incident reports from the school’s security staff. These variables were operationalized by calculating the students’ grade point averages and recording the number of violent incidents reported during the study period.

A single-subject design was used in this study to evaluate the effectiveness of the cognitive-behavioral approach. The strengths of a single-subject design include the ability to measure individual behavior changes over time, the ability to control for extraneous variables, and the ability to determine causality. In this study, a single-subject design was appropriate because the sample consisted of only six participants, and each participant received individualized treatment.

The key findings of the study indicated that the cognitive-behavioral approach was effective in reducing violent behavior and improving academic performance among high-risk students. The data analysis showed a significant decrease in the number of violent incidents reported and a significant increase in grade point averages for all six participants.

While the study’s findings were promising, several limitations of a single-subject design must be considered when critiquing the results. First, the sample size was small, which limits the generalizability of the findings to other populations. Second, the study lacked a control group, which makes it difficult to determine whether the changes observed were a result of the treatment or other factors. Finally, the study did not address the long-term effects of the cognitive-behavioral approach on students’ behavior and academic performance.

Sources:

Whitfield, E. A. (1999). Validating school social work: An evaluation of a cognitive-behavioral approach to reduce school violence. Social Work Research, 23(3), 167-175.

Sidman, M. (1960). Tactics of scientific research. Basic Books.

Barlow, D. H., & Hersen, M. (1984). Single-case experimental designs: Strategies for studying behavior change. Pergamon Press.