Research and Evaluation in Social Work Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Research and Evaluation in Social Work - Essay Example Further, being able to inform policy by way of their study would increase the researcher's credibility, and make it more likely for the universities and health centres in which they work to have access to funding, as graduate students would be able to work on research projects, and government and private institutions could contract the researchers for more studies. The researchers appear to have designed an objective study in that; a thorough and up-to-date literature review was presented that identified current gaps in knowledge; a cross-sectional survey allowed for sampling of the diversity of organizations providing services to older people; snowball sampling allowed for access to organisations that may have been otherwise neglected, because of their size or their lack of exposure; a selection criteria provides a set of parameters that characterize the sample for future study comparisons; conclusions were drawn based on the data collected from the survey; and the final thesis was submitted for peer-review to be able to be published in a reputable journal. Overall, it was an empirical study, designed and carried out in a systematic manner, with evidence-based conclusion drawn. The Abstract succinctly and parsimoniously reported the main points of the research, summarizing the goal of the project, identifying the population, noting the research methods used, and mentioning the conclusions and implications. However, the abstract did not state the hypothesis of the study and whether it was supported or not. The rationale of the study was clear in its statement: A wide range of community based services and activities have evolved to combat the 'negative' experiences of social isolation and loneliness in later life. The appropriateness and accessibility of most interventions intended to alleviate social isolation and loneliness among older people, however, have remained unclear (p. 150). Also, the research questions were presented in dot point format, which made most of them clear and to the point. However, one goal, 'Explore the involvement of older people in the planning process,' was ambiguous in that it did not state clearly that the exploration would not make use of older person opinions, only those of the organisations servicing older people. All of the research questions were worthy of being answered, as availability of, and access to, social orientated activities is essential to the mental and physical health of older people. However, given that older people were not included in the sample, as a comparison group, it is questionable whether all of the research questions were comprehensively answered.The literature review was adequate in that it included up-to-date research for the UK, and identified gaps in knowledge. The theories drawn on also raised some interesting points, such as many older people do not perceive themselves to be lonely (c.f., Townsend, 1 957; Tornstam, 1995; Victor et al. 2005), despite continuous evidence that experiences of loneliness increase with age (authors,). The relationship between aging and loneliness has been suggested to be the result of changes in living circumstances, such as the loss of a partner, or moving to a nursing home, and changes to subjective health (c.f., Tijhuis et al. 1999). It appears that more research into social support could be the