Transcript Slide 1
Social Work
MSWI Reading & Writing
Workshop
Thursday, September 3, 2009
Teiahsha Bankhead, PhD, LCSW
Building on the work of
Susan Eggman, PhD, MSW
What are some of the values of
social work?
Equity-building
Human rights
diversity
Increasing access
social
justice
Challenging oppression,
marginalization &
disenfranchisement
Freedom fighting
Challenging stereotypes
dignity
welfare
Why have a writing workshop for MSW students?
To underscore the
importance of writing
Pause to think about writing
style, techniques, process,
quality of outcome
Requested by practice
community
Grade inflation can allow
for poor writing
Writing as a tool to social justice
Finding your voice
Learning how to use
literature to support
your ideas
Remaining open to
having your ideas
changed or challenged
based on data
A powerful vehicle for
transformation
Exercise 1
Read the handout and tell me what is
important…
What are your purposes for reading?
What do you do when you read?
Generate ideas for writing
Build vocabulary
Understand different viewpoints
Draw inferences
Understand structure and models of topic
Develop writing skills through modeling
Find main ideas and arguments
Learn new information
Are convinced, persuaded
Apply issues to new content
Vicarious experience
Reading Process
Pre-Read
Activate schema – prior knowledge
Survey text
Background info. – author, context, time
Identify purposes for reading material
Determine “how to” read
More focus on text as a whole
With purpose in mind
Use appropriate “active reading” strategies
General comprehension
Connect to personal experience
Focus on details related to purpose
Find clarification
Reconsider the info.
Connect to other ideas
Reading
Re-reading
Creating Good Reading Habits
Acknowledge different types of reading for
different purposes
Know the purpose of reading assignments
and read accordingly
Read for pleasure
Skim
Major arguments
Specific information
In-depth engagement
Allocate time for the process of reading
What is a literature review?
It can be different things to different people
at different times
It can stand alone
It can be part of a larger paper
It can be something you do out of curiosity
Why is writing a literature review often
viewed as difficult or mysterious?
There is not one way to complete it
There is no formula
You may approach it from many different angles
How it is organized depends upon the content, main
points and argument of the piece
Often not taught to undergraduates, but expected of
graduate students
What does a literature review do?
Provides background to a problem & explains the
relationship between previous & current studies
Places research in historical & theoretical context
Identifies risk factors, problems, current trends &
debates in field
Gives direction to the project (recent work cited)
Allows author to contribute new knowledge by analysis
and synthesis of primary works
Requires use of libraries – subscriptions & limitations of
web – (interlibrary loan, reference librarian)
Depends on search methods – synonyms & key words –
relevant article subject headings – use in subsequent
searches
What do we hope to accomplish in
the literature review?
Formal systematic search of
the literature
Mental work – cognitive
processing
Generate useful knowledge Make a contribution to
knowledge by analyzing and
synthesizing existing work
Gain knowledge
Determine what has been
written about a topic
Clearly present and critique
existing findings
Build on existing findings &
point out why and how your
paper adds a unique
perspective
Goal – to constantly refine and
develop and evolve the
research community’s body of
knowledge in any given area
Steps to Completing
Writing Assignments
Choose a topic
Narrow the topic
Research the topic
Reading related manuscripts
Organize your literature
Group themed findings together
Analyze & critique the findings
Conceptualize the paper
Plan the main points & thrust of the paper
What is your central argument and how do you prove
it?
Conceptualization Exercise 2
Assignment:
Write a paper about which consequences of
the current economic crisis have the greatest
impact on low income, marginalized and
vulnerable people.
What are these consequences and how would
you go about writing a paper about them?
Break into groups of 10 and without words show us
what your paper would be about
Process for Clarity in Writing
What is the assignment?
Clarify the purpose and scope
Number of references?
Number of pages?
APA
Example of Writing Criteria
Effective use of knowledge: the integration of concepts, theories, models,
and information from readings, lectures, and class discussions is used in a
way that demonstrates internalization.
Appropriate inclusion of personal points of view along with rationale, logic,
and examples: generalization of ideas, observations, concepts, and
experiences are carefully supported with empirical data, conceptual work
generated by authors, practitioners, or researchers, and/or original
thoughts.
Organization: thesis in introduction, smooth relationship between ideas and
between paragraphs, clear overall structure, and integrative concluding
section. Careful planning is evident in the organization.
Clarity: syntax, grammar, punctuation, and spelling. Sentences and
paragraphs are clear, unified, and coherent.
References in appropriate format (use of APA format).
Problem Statement
What is the difficult situation, item,
relationship or issue for which more
knowledge is needed?
What do you know about it?
How can we know more?
Provide a roadmap to your literature review
Narrowing your research topic…
Sharpen the question
Is the question about who,
what, where, why or when?
What are the variables or
factors under
consideration?
Be specific, relevant &
reasonable for the field?
Targeting the population
Activity or practice
Gender
Age
Race/ethnicity
Region
Program/agency
Sexual orientation
Ability/disability
Illness
A framework
Decide on a topic
Begin your search
Narrow your topic
Search
Conceptualize
Assess the literature
Organize
Synthesize
Summarize
Do what you need to do …
Meditate
Think quietly
Write a zero draft
Engage in challenging
spirited dialogue
Draw it out
Act it out
BECOME CRYSTAL
CLEAR – about what you
want to say
Critically analyzing the literature
What is the research problem addressed in this article? Is the design
(qualitative, quantitative, or mixed) appropriate for the question?
What are the variables in this study? How are they operationally
defined? Are these definitions sensible and appropriate?
What is the population of interest in this study? What is the sampling
frame? Are the subjects used in the study representative of the
population of interest?
What, if any, are the potential problems with the data collection and
analysis procedures used?
Does the research problem apply to diverse groups of people and
populations at risk? Were the methods used ethical and sensitive to
the inclusion of disenfranchised populations?
What conclusions does the author make on the basis of the study?
Does the author discuss implications for social work practice?
Are the conclusions and implications reasonable, based on the
findings of the study? Why or why not?
Common Pitfalls in Literature Review Writing
Poor conceptualization – piece not
thought through
Taking on too much at once – (i.e. you
can do anything but not everything at
once)
Poor organization, opening sentence or
thesis statement
Too broad, too general and lacking depth
Formulaic writing
Fragmented flow of ideas
Colloquial vs. scholarly language
Poor use of references or poor
references
Inaccurate or biased assumptions used
as facts
Anxiety that stifles creativity
What do you mean by poor use of references?
General
Inaccurate
Overuse of a single reference
Overuse of direct quotes
Use of ideas of author’s for which they
have not received credit
Ideas inappropriately referenced
Annotated bibliography
Examples of good and bad reference use
– Depending on purpose
In one study, over 900,000 elders were found to have evidence of
physical abuse (author, year). Another study reported that
“perhaps millions of elders are suffering physical abuse” (author,
year, page number). The National Center for Elder Abuse indicates
that there were 6,000 cases of abuse annually including 4,000
physical, 1,500 financial, 400 emotional, and 100 sexual (year).
Instead, synthesize the multiple sources:
Over a million cases of elder abuse were reported to elder abuse
hotlines nationally in 2005, and the majority of abuse reported was
physical (author, year; author, year; author, year).
How do you know when a paper is in
good enough shape to turn it in?
Well done
Integrated
Synthesized – use of multiple
authors referenced in a
sentence
Convincing
Appropriately critiques and
challenges existing works
Provides details
Lead the reader through a
logical sequence of ideas
Well organized, w/ref. to
begin., mid., end
Impeccable grammar
Makes sense
Poorly done
Fragmented
Disjointed
Leaves gaps in argument
Encourages debate for which
there is no response
Assumes literature is
comprehensive and correct all
the time
General
Illogical presentation of ideas
Poor grammar
Doesn’t make sense
Plagiarism
The word “plagiarize” is defined by
Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary as: “to steal
and pass off (the ideas or words of
another) as one’s own: use (another’s
production) without crediting the source; to
commit literary theft: present as new and
original an idea or product derived from an
existing source” (2006).
REFERENCES ARE YOUR
FRIENDS
Take care of your references
ORGANIZE YOUR REFERENCES
EARLY AND OFTEN
Hierarchical Value of
Scholarly References
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Rated on objectivity
Scrutiny – levels of outside review
Originality – primary vs. secondary
********************************
Peer reviewed journal articles – narrow and current
Government reports & documents – large & not user friendly
Chapters in edited book – secondary data
Researched manuscript – biased w/o peer review
Edited book – biased, secondary
Newspaper article – NY Times, LA Times, Washington Post –
conceptualization is narrow, not scholarly, reactionary
Books – lack peer review, secondary analysis
*********************************
Popular periodicals
Personal testimony
How do you best use
references?
1. Group common themes
2. Critique –
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Methods
Findings
Sample
Time period
Purpose
Assumptions
Gaps
3. Reduce / eliminate use of direct quotes
Examples of proper use of APA style
references in a sentence
1. …(Cox, 2007).
2. …(Cox, 2007; Jones, 2003).
3. …(Cox, 2007, p. 126).
4. …(Cox, Om & Takaki, 2003)
then (Cox et al., 2003).
1. Single author
2. Two authors in a single
sentence, alphabetical
order
3. Direct quote, page
number
4. List all authors first time
mentioned in an article.
If more than two, in
future refs., use first
author, et al.)
APA References in Bibliography
An article in a scholarly journal
Thighs, C. G. (2005, June). War, rivalry, and state building in Latin America.
American Journal of Political Science, 49(3), 451-466.
A book with more than one author
Miller, P. M. & Wilson, M. J. (1983). A dictionary of social science methods. New
York: Wiley.
An edited book
Braithwaite, W. & Bottomore, T. (Eds.). (1993). The Blackwell dictionary of
twentieth-century social thought. Cambridge, MA: Blackwell Reference.
Web page, no publication date, date retrieved and URL – Uniform resource
locator
United States Sentencing Commission (n.d.). 1997 Sourcebook of federal
sentencing statistics. Retrieved December 8, 1999, from
http://www.ussc.gov/annrpt/1997/sbtoc97.htm
References & Guides
APA Publication Manual
Student Writing Handbook
Elements of Style
www.csus.edu/writingcenter
Division of Social Work – tutors
Student peers
Core faculty
Keys to Successful Writing in Graduate School
Be critical of your own work
Write and rewrite – walk away
from your work and reread it at
a later time to assess clarity,
logic and perspective
Be organized and clearly
articulate the position for which
you are advocating
Make sure your positions are
grounded in data
Let your clear vision be your
guide
Your ideas, beliefs and values
may be transformed in
graduate school, so expect this
to be true as well for your
writing
Leave enough time for the
assignment
Be careful of your optimism
about how long writing takes –
manage time
You can get to “good enough”
in your writing but a piece of
serious intellectual work is
never really finished