Question 1

William is an administrator responsible for evaluating social workers within his agency. One of the social workers does excellent work, but always wants to argue with William about petty things. During the course of the evaluation, the administrator takes away points due to being argumentative. Is this a proper course of action?

Accepted Answer

Social work administrators should evaluate others in a fair and considerate manner. The supervisor should follow clearly-stated criteria for determining the work performance of supervisees. Personal conflicts should never play a part in the evaluation process.

Question 2

A geriatric administrator is notified of upcoming continuing education trainings for social workers. Rather than have a shortage of staff, the supervisor hand picks which workers should attend. The newest employees are chosen to go based on their inexperience, while the tenured social workers are denied the opportunity. Is this good practice by the administrator?

Accepted Answer

Administrators and supervisors should take reasonable steps to provide continuing education for all staff. The trainings should address current knowledge and emerging developments within the field of social work. In this scenario, the administrator should have requested the training take place on two separate days. This would eliminate the problem of a staff shortage.

Question 3

Anna is a social worker who has been conducting evaluation and research procedures with one of her clients. She obtained consent from the individual to further knowledge in a specific area, but the client does not want her name mentioned for further purposes. Once the research is completed, Anna conducts a meeting with fellow colleagues to share her findings. What is good practice in this realm of professionalism?

Accepted Answer

Social workers engaged in evaluation and research techniques should protect the anonymity and confidentiality of their participants. Limits of confidentiality and the measures that will be taken to destroy data records after proper usage must be discussed with the client. All identifying information should be omitted unless proper consent has been given.

Question 4

Social workers are under many time restraints with caseloads. Some feel research and evaluation is bothersome, taking away precious time with clients. Social workers should promote and facilitate research and evaluation for what reason?

Accepted Answer

Social workers should complete evaluations and research to contribute to the development of knowledge. It must be utilized in a social worker's professional practice. Emerging knowledge should be kept current and critically examined.

Question 5

Social workers should never conduct research and evaluations that do not use consent procedures. Examples would include researching archived information and naturalistic observations. What is the one exception to this rule?

Accepted Answer

Research and evaluation can be conducted by a social worker without consent in one area only. The findings must be justified because of their prospective educational, scientific, or applied value. Before this takes place, other effective alternative procedures need to take place that do not require a consent waiver.

Question 6

Bethany feels that a specific method will work best in her social work practice. She completes evaluations and research with her consenting clients. Once the findings are available, it is discovered the method is not as effective as others. Bethany does not want her colleagues to degrade her because of this information and changes the findings to present a more positive approach. Is this good practice?

Accepted Answer

Social workers who report findings from research and evaluations must be accurate in their information sharing. They should not falsify or fabricate results and need to take steps to ensure printed data is correct. Bethany will not be providing the best service to her client by changing her research results.

Question 7

A critical approach to assessment starts with a description of research, monitoring, and evaluation. Research in social work is necessary for generating evidence about policy, programs, projects, and practice. Monitoring produces information through processes where one tracks events. The last step is evaluation and is described as what?

Accepted Answer

Evaluation is about making judgments in regards to effectiveness. Judgments are dependent on morals, irrespective of power, status, or position. The information is gathered through research and monitoring. Evaluation is embedded with values that social workers have fought to put back.

Question 8

Social workers conducting research with non-readers and non-writers should ensure the proper consent has been given. This can be completed through a verbal agreement once an explanation has been given to the client. Social workers can obtain written consent from an appropriate relative when necessary. What statement below is incorrect?

Accepted Answer

Social workers engaged in research and evaluation procedures should obtain written and voluntary informed consent from the participants. It should include information in regards to the nature of the research and the duration. Risks and benefits also needed to be stated clearly.

Question 9

Randall completes his research and evaluation on a child abuse case. Once back home, he tells his roommate about the findings. The two discuss qualitative events and unexpected outcomes. Randal's roommate later brings this topic up during a study group discussion at the campus library. One of the members of the study group knows the family that was researched. What happened to cause this breech?

Accepted Answer

Social workers engaged in research practices should discuss collected information only with other professionals. Identifying information should be omitted even when the research is for professional purposes. All research findings need to be reported accurately.

Quiz 1: Administration

Social workers are under many time restraints with caseloads. Some feel research and evaluation is bothersome, taking away precious time with clients. Social workers should promote and facilitate research and evaluation for what reason?

Social workers should never conduct research and evaluations that do not use consent procedures. Examples would include researching archived information and naturalistic observations. What is the one exception to this rule?