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Assessing social work effectiveness in child care practice: the contribution of randomized controlled trials
Author(s) -
Newman T,
Roberts H
Publication year - 1997
Publication title -
child: care, health and development
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.832
H-Index - 82
eISSN - 1365-2214
pISSN - 0305-1862
DOI - 10.1046/j.1365-2214.1997.00055.x
Subject(s) - randomized controlled trial , psychological intervention , work (physics) , psychology , social work , welfare , medicine , applied psychology , political science , psychiatry , engineering , mechanical engineering , surgery , law
This article discusses the role of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) in evaluating the impact of social work interventions with children. While recognizing the difficulties of applying RCTs to all aspects of practice, we argue that controlled trials can provide the most convincing evidence of the impact of social work activities on the welfare of children and families. Accumulating evidence of the effectiveness of interventions, we propose, should constitute the core business of social work research. To this end, it is necessary to recognize the primacy of the randomized controlled trial in exploring the relationship between social work activities and client outcomes.