The steps at the heart of single-system (subject) research are part of the everyday practice of social work. Each day social wor

SOCIAL WORK CASE STUDIES: CONCENTRATION YEAR

70

Social Work Research: Single Subject

Chris is a social worker in a geriatric case management program located in a midsize Northeastern town. She has an MSW and is part of a team of case managers that likes to continuously improve on its practice. The team is currently using an approach that inte- grates elements of geriatric case management with short-term treatment methods, particularly the solution-focused and task- centered models. As part of their ongoing practice, the team regu- larly conducts practice evaluations. It has participated in larger scale research projects in the past.

The agency is fairly small (three full-time and two part-time social work case managers) and is one of several providers in a region of approximately 50,000 inhabitants. Strengths of the agency include a strong professional network and good reputation in the local community as well as the team of experienced social workers. Staff turnover has been almost nonexistent for the past 3 years. The agency serves about 60–70 clients at any given time. The clients assisted by the case management program are older adults, ranging from their early 60s to over 100 years of age, as well as their caregivers.

To evaluate its practice approach, the team has decided to use a multiple-baseline, single-subject design. Each of the full-time case managers will select one client new to the caseload to partici- pate in the study. The research project is explained to clients by the respective case manager and informed consent to participate is requested.

George was identified by Chris as a potential candidate for the evaluation. As a former science teacher who loved to do research himself, he agreed to participate in the project. George is 87 years old, and although he is not as physically robust as he once was, at 5 feet 9 inches tall, he has a strong presence. He has consistent back pain and occasional flare-ups of rheumatoid arthritis. His wife of 45 years passed away two summers ago after a long fight with cancer. After his initial grief, he has managed fairly well to adapt to life on his own. George entered the program after being

RESEARCH

71

hospitalized for fainting while at the grocery store. A battery of medical tests was conducted, but no specific cause of his fainting attack could be found. However, the physicians assessed signs of slight cognitive impairments/dementia and suggested a geriatric case management program.

An initial assessment by the case manager showed the need for assistance in the following areas: 1) personal care, 2) decrease in mobility, and 3) longer-term planning around living arrangement and home safety. The case manager also thought that George could benefit from setting up advance directives, which he did not want to discuss at that time. They agreed that the case manager could bring this topic up again in the future.

As part of the practice process, the case manager used clini cal rating scales that were adapted from the task-centered model. At the beginning of each client contact, case manager and client collaboratively evaluated how well the practice steps (tasks) under- taken by client and/or case manager were completed using a 10-point clinical scale. Concurrently, they evaluated changes to the respective client problems, also using a 10-point clinical scale. George was able to actively participate in the planning and implementation of most care-related decisions. During the course of their collaborative work, most needs were at least partially addressed. Two tasks were completed regarding personal care, two regarding mobility, and three addressing home safety issues. Only personal mobility was still a minor problem and required some additional work.

SOCIAL WORK CASE STUDIES: CONCENTRATION YEAR

72

After finishing the reassessment at 3 months, Chris completed gathering and evaluating the data for the single-subject design (SSD). As promised, she also provided George with the finished SSD findings. The following is an overview of the data that was collected for this case:

TABLE 1. TASK COMPLETION SCORES

WEEK: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Area:

Personal Care

7 10

Mobility 2 N/A 10

Home Safety

10 10 10

TABLE 2. PROBLEM CHANGE SCORES

WEEK: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Area:

Personal Care

3 3 8 5 8 9 9

Mobility 5 5 2 5 7 7 7

Home Safety

4 4 4 9 10 10 10

Locating Assessment Instruments

Kevin Corcoran and Nikki 1-lozack

T his c hapter nddr es.es how to locate inst r ume nts for oocial wor~ reseJr.:h a nd p ract ice. T h is task m ay not seem too challeng ing, but it is. Locating in,trument includes being familiar with a number of sou rces of men surement in.)trumems and knowing what it is one \·ants to measure or observe in t he first place.

To locate 3Jl instrum ent, the researcher mu't know 1• hat he or she intends to mea sure. This includes a well-defined construct or conceptual domain of study. fbe mea- sureme nt too l is t he operation a.lizntion o f the v.tria b le, and it is impossible to locate an •ppropria te mea1u rement u nless t h e resea rcher is certJin w hat is to be measu red. Knowing what to obsen·e includes precise definitions of the independent and depen dent vari,tbles. I nstruments often are .t>sociated with operationalizing the dependent variables (e.g., m nl"i t al discord in a single-syste m design o f a couple in counseling, din- teal depr~s;,ion in a <Ontrolk-d experiment o r •n epidemiological ' urvey). As dependent variablt·>, instruments chiefly ascertain the ob<crvations about one's o"'n behavior or t h e behavioral obsc,·vat io n> by some relevant Other, such as a spouse or case manager. lly design, instruments intend to sy~tematically quan tify som e affeo, co gnit io n, o r con duct in some e nvironment or setting and provide numerical estimates of affect, cogni · tion) or conduct.

Inst ruments also are useful in opc1·a tio nalizing independent va riables. I n experimc n tal design>, this is considered a o1anipulation check. The reason for using a measurement of the independent ,·ariables, as tl1e phr..se suggests, is to determine "hether the manip- u latio n o f th e in dependen t 1•ar iablc was su c(.essful. Po t· exa mple, assu me th at the rcsearchc t· is conduuiog a study comparing in -home counseling services to ca;e ma n agement services. The researcher "ould want to be reassured rhat t h e coumcling group was actually getting "cou nseli n g" fro m the cou nselor and that the case rn.Ulagemcnt g roup wa> not getting some fo rm o f cou nseling fro m t he case mao.1gers. W ith o u t the fonner,the researcher would not be certain that the counseling groups actually had •uf- licient exposu re to tru ly be considered under the treatment condition of counseling. By measuring t he independent va r iab le, the resca,·che r ca 11 also dete rmine whe th c,· expo sure to some form of therapeu t ic relat ionship wit h the ca•c manager contam111ated the com parison group. fo conduct a manipulation check hke this, the researcher mitht decide to administe r the Workin g illhm ce Inventory (l torvath & Green berg, 1989), which ascertains th ree elements of t h erapeutic relationsh ips: go•l orientn tion. t ask

65

66 Pt.n1' I • Q uMml't. n ·; c API'RUA<: uts: Fo u :.JOAtiONS Of Ot.rA Com CliON

directedness, and bo nding. T he resea rchers would expect that th e r esearch participants in I he experimental cond ition "~Nould have stro nger indicators o f a the rapeutic relation · ship and th at those in the control group would not.

l n su m mar y, the challenge of locating measures includes determ in ing what weU ·definecl co nstruct o r concept of either the independent or dependen t variable is to be observed. Once that is deter mined, t he challenge is to marshal through a number of mea· sures as to fin d appropriate ones that are reliable and valid. T his chapter p.-ovides a number of resources to locate instruments but does not promise to enable the reader to do a complete search for all c;, is ting instr uments. T hat is becomi ng increasingly difficu lt wi t h the development of mo re instrum ents and new outlets of availability (e.g., t he Internet). T he scope of the resources in th is chapter, howe,•er, is sufficiently broad to tocate an adequate number of instrumen t~ filr research " " " practice, and in alllikeli· hood, the social wo r k researcher will find many appropriate instruments and not too few.

Sources for Locating Instruments

Th~re are a number of sources of instr uments. T his chap ter considers fo ur major sources: profess io nal journals, boo ks, commercial pu blishing houses speciali2ing ill marketing measurement tools, and t he Internet. '

Professiona l Journals Instruments are of little value unless they are psychometrically ~ound (i.e., r eliable and valid) . Because the development of a good instrument itself involves research to estimate reliability and validi ty, professional journals often are t he fi rst o utlets for new instru· me:nts. Jo urnals are also o ne of t he fi rst outkk~ for norma tive da ta on more established instruments. Because of the rapid change in the knowledge base of the behavioral and soc ial sciences, jo urnals probably <He the best way in which to l<cep up wi th t he latest inst ruments.

Many scholarly journals are excellent sources of inst ruments. Some focus chietlr on me.,surements (e.g., journal of Personr~litr ;ssessmenl, Psrchologicaliissessrnent). Other journal~ might p ubl ish instruments that are relevant to the pr ofessio nal o r scholarly djs- cip[ine of the readersh ip (e.g., Research on Social Work Pmctice, Family Process). ·n,ble 5. 1 contains a number of scholarly and professional journals useful in locating new instrn· ments and published normative data. Most journals can be found in a good uni,•ersi ty libr ary. In addition, most are also available via t he Inter net. lt should be noted that while som e joLu nals have their own Web sites, o thers c.an be accessed from multi ple sites tJ1at wi li allow access to t he articles. ,vtan)' of the URLs in 1bble 5. 1 are such links, and it sho uld be noted t hat if the address no longer wo r ks, typ ing the journal name into an Internet sear ch engine should suffice to bri ng up many other so urces.

Boo ks f n addition to the journals, numero us reference books available describe instr umen ts .. and about a dozen actually reprint the instruments. Reference books fo r inst-ruments review measurement tools and provide citations for further information on locating the actual measurement tools. Three widely nOted examples are the MentfJilvleasuremellts Yearbook ( Conoler & KnHner. ! 989, 1995), Tem in Prir11: (Mitchell & Buros Institute, 1983), "nd

TAou 5.1 Selected Journals Frequently Publishing New Measurement Tools

Journal

Amencan Joumol of P~ychiorry

Applied Behoworo/ A~tO$uremenL

Jooma/ of 1'5ychopolhology ond Behu~o/A$s~tnt

8€Mvior Thuopy

fducationol and Psyt.hologlcOI Measurement

Evaluouon tn Fom11y l'loctiU

Fomily Procts5

HISpomc Journal of 8titOIIoraf Sc'ences

Jovrnal of 8ehuvintal SCiences und

P<ychopathology

Jou111ol of Block PsychoiiXJy

Joumol of Clinico/ Psychology

Joumol of CottWillttg ond ClmHJII

P>ychology

Joumol of NeMNJS and Muotol Drsease

Joumal of Petsonolo'ry Assusment

Mwsuremeul ond Cvoluut10n m CQJJnscling and Development

Psychologrcal Asst~ment

Resoorrh in Social WO<k Proctke

Journal Web Sile

ajp.psyr.hlittryonline.org

No Web site Jvailable; only hard cop!es '" lht univetity library

www.ptir'lqerlmk.com/content/ 10S340

wvNt.aabt.org/mentalhealth/joJmatsl?fa:;,olJ

WIV.5C18t~C.cd•tctt.tom/science/journai/OOOS7967

epm.sagcpub.com

No Web Site avdllable; only hard -co pi~ iu the ur-iver•ty 1brary

WWW lamliyPIOCOSS.OflJ

nJb~gcpub com

www springedink.com/coment/0882· 268q

jtm.sag~pub.com

v.wwl intersc ence "'i!ey.corn/jo•JrnaJ/31171/ttr.me

www.apa.org/JournaiS/ccp

WNYi jonmd tom

www.persona~~ty org/jpa.hL'1'1t

www.couns(l'ling.org /Psbhca tions/ JournalS w~px

wvM.apa. o 1 g/ JOU rna is/ pas

tSw.ugepub.com

W•'W Ra"ATI~..Ofo/Ptibhcanons/iOt,..rnaiYreo,catth/sw r ~tro hll"

T~ts (Key<er & Sweetland, 1990) and arc usua lly avnilnblc in university Jibrnrics or ror purchase via the I ntcrnel.

A number of book~ reference and actually •·cprint the instruments. Son1e are relevant to topics of social work practice (Schune & MaloutT, 1995), whereas others arc more •·ele- va nt to r<'searc.h (Robin>On & Shaver, 1973). A couple of books are more specific to cer- tain populations (e.g., families (McCubbin, .<tcCubbin, & Thompson, 1996)) and topics

(e.g., str~ !Cohen, Kcs;ler, & Gordon, 1995) and anxiety (Antony, On.illo, Roemer, & Association for Ad,·ancement of 6cha,•ior Therapy, 2001)). Ahogether, there are more than l 00 reference books for instruments; a good university lib•·<~ry may be needed. Thblc 5.2 lists several books for instnuncnLS, all published since 1980.

TABLE 5.2 Selected Books

Boola That Reprin l and Refere.nct

Measurement Too l s

Caulel• ( 1977, 1981)

f&heo •nd to<co•an (200/A 2007b)

Hudson ( 1982. 1992)

McCubl.~~r1 and Thorn pwn (1991)

1o:C<Ji>bm Thornpo;on. and M'Cubt>n ( 1996)

•.icDo¥.<1. •nd Newell (19<)6)

Robiur.on and Shaveo (1913)

Schutte nnd Malooff ( 1995)

Boo k s Th a i Desc ri be a nd Refeu:nce Me.asures

A:ken (1996)

AnastaSI (191!8)

Bellack .1nd Hersen (1988<1 1988b)

B!Od"'y •'d ~·mtt.ero an ( 1983)

wrio, Brown, E<lv.'il'll>. l(orMal<, ond ~ewm•n (1986)

Gonoleyllnd Kramer ( t9S9, 19$5)

Daoa (1993)

Fredman .1nd Sherman (1987)

Crotevant <md Carlsoo ( 1989)

Hariog•.>n (t986)

Hc1'!1an (1983)

Hube1 and lle.atth Outcou (:) ln~titutc ( 19 <)11)

K"':enb.l um and Wollam' ( 1988)

~ ;u>d ~nd ('9'JO)

Kumpler. Shur, Ross. Bunnell. l 1brert, and Mrll waod ( 1992)

,•.~cOo…: and t>ev.<:t' ( t987. 1996)

'l.cleynolds (1981)

MllLhell (1985)

Milt hell and Buros ln<tilute (198J)

Ol1•nd Keatu1ge ( 1998)

Ptrlrnutter, Strao~ ,md Touhatos ( 1990)

S.Jwin. HarnqJn, ctnd Woog ( 199!.1)

SouU.v.O<th. Burr, ••d C… (1980)

s.,,~·tland and Kt)'''" (1991)

lhompson (1989)

Van Rrelen and Sc911 ( 1988)

Wevlcr (1989)

Boo k s That Dist u<s Mtasute mtnt Methods

S.•low (1981)

OuiChcr (2002)

Chn5<cnsen, Oelulro, arld lambeot (1983)

Coldman, Stem. and Cueny (1983)

Htr.,..rr and Ollcndrtt (19n)

J"ob and Tenneubaurn (191!8)

>:a..,plaus and ReynOlds (1990)

Lann, Rutter. and Turroa (1988)

Lauflcr ( 1982)

"'·""and Tenia! ( 1988)

Me1'c<, Ponteoono, and Surot.i (1996)

Mcrluni, Glass, and C.onest (198 1)

Oql..,, Lambert. .,><1 Maste<s (199b)

l'tcola ( 1995)

Sedcrer and Dickey (1996)

SttefnM and Norm an ( 1989)

WOOdy ( 1980)

( HAI' H R 5 • l QC:.t.nN(. ASSES$).1(1IT h iSTftUl>IENtS 69

Commercial Publishing Houses T he researcher may locate instruments from commercial publishing houses that special- ize in marketing measurement tools. T his outlet for instruments bas a number of advan- tages, iJJcluding security from the liabilit y o f co pyr ight infri ngements, access to established instruments, and relative nor mative data that might be available only from the stream of commerce. Examples of this last point indude the Bed< Depression Inventory, wh ich is available through Psychological Corporation, and Hudson's ( 1992) po pular clini- cal measurement package, which is available from WALMYR P ublishing (see 1tble 5.3). Most of t he instruments marketecl b)' publishi ng houus are available at a rea•onable fee. Others instruments are available at no cost, such as t he widely used Physical and Mental Health Summary Scales, also known as the SF-36 and the SF-12 ( Ware, Kosinski, & Keller, 1994a, 1994b). T hese instr uments are available through the Medical Outcomes Trust (see Table 5.3).

Table 5.3 lists a variety of publishing houses pro,~ding instruments. It is far from a complete list given that there arc nearly 1,000 publishing houses marketing assessment tools, not to mention a large number of presses that publish on ly a few special ty instru- men ts. One of the most thorough lists is found i n Conoley and Kramer (1995). When available, we have included the URL to facilitate your search.

The Internet An other valuable source for locating instrumerLIS is the Internet. T his remarkable source is truly a fountain for info rm ation worldwide and provides acce~s to actual measurements from commerc iai Web sites, not-for-profit sites, research centers, pub- tidy tr aded companies, and even individual authors <v ho have made t heir own pub – lished instrum ents available (Simpson & McBr ide, 1992 [http://www.ibr.tcu.edul) . Al though the Internet provides seamless access to infor mation, it is n ot without some limitations. One of the most critical ones is the exponential gn>wth of in for mation available. T his r ate of change often mea ns that as Web sites come, so may they go. Unlike a lib rary, t he infor mation retrieved might not contin ue to be available to others n eeding i t in the futllre. It is also importa nt to note that t he l nternet may allow access or availability to measurements that yo u need a professio nal license and t he proper training tO adm inister and may requir e permission to use. As stated by the Emo ry Universit y Library ( 2006), " l n order to obtain and adm inister p ublished psycho logical tests (sometimes called commercial tests), one must be a licensed professional or in some cases, a graduate student.''

Although there are l iteral!)' thousands of.Veb sites practical for locating these instr u- men ts, the most useful are those that weave together a number of sires. These arc not sim- ply "hot links" t hat are designed to pro,•ide access to other relevant sites but Web sites designed as partnerships around var ious sources of information on instr uments. O ne extremely useful example is ERlC/ AE Test Locator (http:l/ericac.netltestcol.htm) . Test IA>catot is a joint project of the ERIC Clearinghouse of Assessment and Evaluation of the Catholic University of America, the Ed ucational Testing Service, the Huros Institute of Mental Measurement of the University of Nebraska, George Washington University, and t he test p ublisher Pro -&1. Each of t hese sponsors provides access to and reviews of instru- ments. For example, the Educational Testing Ser vice page reviews more t han 25,000 mea- surement tools. The combined sponsorship of Bllros and Pro-Ed provides citations of publications using educational and psychological instnnn ents, as well as access to th ree val uable refe rence books cited ear lier: lvfental Mwsuremem s Yearbook, Tests i11 J'r i11t, and

70 P~o11r 1 • QoPa TATP/f APPROACHES: Fou»OATIOtiS. Of Ot.T:. Co lUC11 0to~

TABLE 5.3 List of Selected Publishers' Marketing Measurement Tools

• Academic Th'.e,r.11r/ Pab!lv;t.ic)n~, JO (.()rn:rneaial Boulevard. Navato, Cf:.. 9•1947; -..v .. •.r•;.f,lr.adr:micthtirfJf)'~·:corn

• Achenbach, l'h(.;mas M .. Depar~me nt of PS}1Chiatry, University orVerrnont, I S .. ?rc!oper.t S:reet, R!J!Ii,JQI.Ort. VT 05,101·3444

• llmerican Guidance SeMCB,. 420 WcOOiand Road, P.O. Sox 99, Cirde Pil-1l'S. ···lN ssmo::;; 'A\''}1QS.:'ICt.OOJ)) • ~sedates t01 P.esea;dl in ~eh.ci•liOI In<…, The Science Ceorer. 34th and l•:larket, f'h.ladl';ir,h ·a. PA 1Ql 04

• 4·iorn etrics ~esearch. New Yolk State Psychiatric Institute, 77~ 16".AC1) $1 f€-?.l~ Room 54 1. No:.w York, NY 10032; ·Nww.Vfi)tC.pitted'u/ research/biQrfletJk:s/ind ex.htm

• Ca1ifumia Test 8ure .. 1u, 20 Ryan Ranch Road, Mo:ntf}rey, CA 93~10: ww~·:.db.com

• C.er1te~ fo1 F.pi~lerrllolog_ic ShJdies, Department. of He.a!ril and Huma.rl Sctvicr:s, 56'()0 fiSIJel$ Ul :-re. Roc..<<tlle, MD 20857

~ Conu ~rrn P5ydo!o;Ji.sts Pre». lr;t,, S77 College-Ave, P.O. Box 11636, ~loAi to.C.4. 9·1306; w~·Nl;(flt-·.OOrn

• Ed t.cii!ienal .ana lndusuiaHesting Sc:l~ces, P.O. "Box 77311 , San ()i~g6, (.r 92 10.7;".'t•;w.edits.net

• Institute fnr i'crsonal'ty and Ability· T¢"St.irtO, hiC •• P.O. BOx 188. 1062 CC.rbnodb' Elti·:e, Cf,ampa1gr;, IL 6~820; www.ipat.com

• Mo:f c.al OtHOOrti(!S frus~ 20 Park Plaza, Suite 1014, Boston, fi.~2n6·431J; … .-… … t.'.oui.(.OmS!$-tn:slor£

• M~ltl·hea:lth Systems, Inc., 908 ('.liagara ralls Bou le•:ard, North'Tonav:i-!ndJ-, NYrl4120; 'iNPN.n:.hs.::um

• Peat:;.or ASS-Q$sme;nts {formalilj NCS 1-S.Sessments). 5605 Green CirdeC;i_.'1). ~0. Ot':}: H 6, t•:linreap .is. MN 55440; 'IAWJ.peJ tsont:ssessm;,:nts.com

• "hJJS:ng Re::.er)r<,h: .4S$c)d ate 3'!52 Cummins Street f.au Claire, WI 54701

• Pers~n·O·.'<letrics, Inc., EYJhmion <lnd Otvelo~MMI Se.viw, 20S04 Wi;liamsburg Bdad. De~rbom H~~iUhts, Ml 48127

•. Pro·Ed, 5:700 Shoa~ Creek Boute·tard, Austin, 'JX 78JS7; w•Nw.proedinc..oom

• P_sy::·1ologiul A})es5rnent f!esotm.es,lnc.. P.O. Box 998, Odt.ss,l, rl 3 l 5515; Wl.'<.'.pcu illC.Ct:·m

• l>!.)'tho,ogicat Corporatkm, 555 Ar..ademic Cou1t, Sun .4nlonio, IX 78204: w.-..,,•.harco~u1assessinem.com

• Psv.:bclogicat Publical.ious~ Inc,, 290 Conejo Ri dge Road. Suite 100, T'nousa;)d Oak$; (.A 913-{)1-:

'")Wt.tjta:<om

• Psyc.hdogical Ser.·i(:es. lrJC .. 3400 ·Vilshire Boulevard,. Suite- 1200, tos .t.,:11}~} P.S, GA 900-10; •.'JWW.psionlinc.com

• Reseacr.h .Press~ P.O Box 917760, Champaign, ll6l820; vtww.reseaf.hp:r~s.s.t<l::n

• )RlVMcGrzwl (for;ral~· [email protected]~ Rc~t<.h Associates, tr·IC.). 155 No(th Wack~r Dr:ve, Chicag.:;., II. 606{)6~ w•.vw.sraor: line.oom

• Scott. f.oresm~1n & Company, Test Division. 1900 ta-St Lake /venue, Glen·.1ew, IL60025

• Sigma Assessme;:~:- Sys.:-ems .. ~ic., P.O. Bcx 610984~ PoJt Hlm)n, Ml ti $.1)1)'1·09B4: .• , .• ,,w.stgmf!a$scs-;rrt~nts:;~terns..wrn

•· $1A Product Croup. londord'lo"!.ls.!'. 9701 We~.t Hi9g im> Fcoad, Rosemont, ll 60018

• U.S. Departrnr:r;.c of Ode~$e:, Testing Directorate, Headquarters, M:titaw Et~!istmc:m: P({.IC~~$kig C.ol"milr.u. Mtention MEPCT. fortShe1idan, ll600.17

• U.S. Oepa1tmcnt o~ Lnbc1, "Division ofTes~ing l:mployment and Training Admini~,tration! V•ft1.1hi JitJC~1.

DC 20213

• WAU . .f'r'n Puf)Jish:r·g Company, P.O. Box 122171 Tallahassee, fl.}2317·22l7; 'lN."/l.'.•aiJUJ·r.r..:.l(tl

• We:~ie.Jn Ps.ycholcgical SePJices, 12031 Wtlsllirc BOLI~vard, I()S Angeles., CA 9<..'025: 'NNo•.wrspublis!tr:om • 'NonCe~l :c Personnel Tcsr, Inc., l50~ N. Milwaukee A•enue, l.Jberty-AIIe,n 60040•1380; . '

Cu APT£11 5 • Loc … nNG Asuss~1E t1 T lusTRUl.1Eurs 71

Tests. T he site includes t he names and addresses of nearly I ,000 commercial publishers of instruments. T he scope of this Web site is broad and includes inform ation on qualitative research and measures, professional standards, and much more. It is an excellent i nitial step in locating instruments on the Internet.

Search engines are a useful and easy way to search for measurements or in formation on measurements. A few different types o[ searches will help the researcher ~nd the instru- ments needed . By simply typing a name of a known measurement. many sites '~ill be identified. For example, typing "Beck Depression I nventory'' (Beck, 1972) in Coogle brings up many Web sites referencing t he measurement. By exploring t he links, much information can be fo und regard.ing uses of the instrument, normative data, and where the researcher might be able to purchase or access t he measurement. If t he type of mea- surement is undecided, a search by general topics, such as "psycholog ical measurements," ~ill bring up many sites that provide lists of measmements, such as v.•ww.psychology .orgllinks/Environment_Behavior_Relationships/Measuremen tl. A search t hat is more specific. such as ··depression measurements.," may narrow the specLr um of attides t V("O furt her, although it should be noted that the resulting sites may take time to filter through. '.~lile some of the links may be usable, many articles viii o nly cite the instr u- menl.$ instead o f providing t he information the researcher is seeking.

It may be more helpful to look up the me_asurement somce on the Internet, such as the author or publisher of the instr umen ts, as well as t he book or journal in wh ich it is

' located . Although all source searches can as.~ist the researcher in loca ting measurements, the most efficient route takes us back to where our pursuit began, that is, to professional and scholarly journals. Wit h the advent of electronic information , many online journals and articles are available to you as students at your university or college that are not nor- mally offered to the public. T his may include reviews of usefnl Web sites and publication of important Web site locations for special topics. One excellent example of this type of Web sute citation is found in Psychiatric Sen •ices (http:/lpsychservices.psychiatr)'Online.orgl), which routinely publishes the Internet locations of a wide range of mental health info r- mation, including instruments.

Conclusion

This c hapter has attempted to show the reader how to locate instruments. What might have seemed like a simple task, it was shown, may actually be quite ditficult. There are a number o f sources of instruments to help with this challenge. T his chapter considered four •najor ones: professional journals, books, commercial publishing houses, and the Internet. Each offers access to a wide range of measurement tools for multitudes of vari- ables of study in social work research and p ractice.

T he resources presented to help locate instruments arc far from complete; nonetheless, the outcome of a search us i11g the provided resources is likely to produce more choices t han expected, rather than too few for a relevant instrument. This is due to the rapid cre- ation of new instr uments, their use in an expanding number of social work research and practice settings, and t he need for accountability by profession<~ ls . lu the future, it is likely t hat even more and be!ler measurement tools will become available. Beca use old instru- ments do not fade away (e.g., Beck Depression Inventor)' [Beck, 1972]) and new o nes emerge, t he search for instruments will become increasingly challenging. It is hoped that t he resources presented in this chapter will help the reader navigate through this infor- mation and locate instruments for social work research and practice.

72 1'1AR I I • O VA«TITA'II Vf AP PII OACII(S: F'OU II OAHONS oF D AlA Cou .Ecnou

References

Aiken. L. R. (1996). Rat;ng smles dtJd checklists: Evaluating behavior, per.roualitj~ amf anitur./e$. New York: John Wiley .

.Amstasi, A. ( 1988). P;ycl!ologicalllming (3rd ed.). New York: Macmillan. Antony. ~L M .. Orsillo, S. rvt.. Roemer, L. & Associalion for tdvanccmt~nt of Behavior Therapy.

(2001). Practitioner's guide to empirically btl$td measures of anxiety. New York: KluoJ'et AcademidPienum.

ll~rlow, D. H. (Ed.). (1981). PsydJOlogical testing(6th ed.). New York: l'>oacrnill<ln . Beck, A. T. (1972). Depre;sion: Causes and treatnltnf. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania

Press. BcUack, A. S., & Hersen, M. ( 1988ai. Behavioral assessment: A pmctical handbook (3rd eel.). New

York: Pergamon. Beii:H:k, A. S .• & Hersen, M. {198Sb). DictiotJary of behavioral asses.imem: rechrtiques. New York:

Perg3mon. Brodsky. S. L., & Smitherman, H. 0 . ( 1983). Handbook ()!scales for research i~1 crilne rmd delin –

quency. New York: Plenum. ilutcber, ). N. (2002). C/i,ical persomrlity assessmem: Practical nppmachet (2nd ed.). New York

Oxfo rd University Press. Cautela) ]. R. (1977). Bf~havior tmalysi~ forms for clinicr1l intervention Champaign~ IL: Research

Press. • Cautda, ). R. ( 1981). Behavior analysis forms for clinical interver:tion (Vol. 2). Champaign, IL:

Research Press. Cht·istensen, 10. R., DeJulio,$. $., & Lo rn bert, M. ). ( 1983 ). The asswment of psycltorl~erapy outcome.

New Yo rk: John Wiley. Ciarlo~ J. A. ~ Brown, T. R.> E.d •A•a rd'i, D. V., Ki~·es<tk. T. J .• & Neottnan. f. L. ( 1986). Assessing metJt(l/

l~o?altlt treatment outcome measurement techniques {DHHS P·ub. No. [ADM] 86- 1301). Rockville, lvlD: U.S. Department of Health a nd Human Services.

Cohen. S.> Kessler. R. c .> & GOI'don, L. u . ( 1995). MCtt$llrittg stress: A guide for henlr/J and socinl sci· entis1s. New York: Oxford Univcrsit'f Pr('Ss.

Coooley, ). C., & Kramer,). J. ( 1989). T/;e lOth menwl measurements yearb<Nk. Lincoln, NE: Buros Institute of ~·(ental Measurement.

Co no ley, ). C., & Kramer, ). J. ( 1995).

Collepals.com Plagiarism Free Papers

Are you looking for custom essay writing service or even dissertation writing services? Just request for our write my paper service, and we'll match you with the best essay writer in your subject! With an exceptional team of professional academic experts in a wide range of subjects, we can guarantee you an unrivaled quality of custom-written papers.

Get ZERO PLAGIARISM, HUMAN WRITTEN ESSAYS

Why Hire Collepals.com writers to do your paper?

Quality- We are experienced and have access to ample research materials.

We write plagiarism Free Content

Confidential- We never share or sell your personal information to third parties.

Support-Chat with us today! We are always waiting to answer all your questions.