Brooks/Cole Empowerment Series: Essential Research Methods for Social Work (SW 385R Social Work Research Methods)

Amazingly and surprisingly, this book was fun to read (research is usually dull and mundane). The authors are smart and added some humor in this book as well as informal, conversation-like dialogue to describe aspects of research to capture your attention and keep you interested in reading more (surprising, isn't it?). However, there were some chapters that lived-up to the stereotype that research is anxiety-inducing and frustrating (i.e. makes you quickly age or grow old), since research involves searching and searching again and again and again and again, etc. for information (hence the name "re-search") for relevant information to be included in research papers (don't forget not to plagiarize...). If you enjoy research, you must love sitting in front of a computer all day as well as being a masochist.

as expected ... saved me a fortune over buying the new edition and honestly I barely even needed the text for the class other than to reference some basic terminology that has not changed through the editions... the only difference between this one and the new is the order of the chapters and a few photos.... two chapters were scaled down and merged into one and other than that it's the same text.... buy the older if you can it saves ya $

Purchased for a class. The content and page numbers were accurate when compared to books that were purchased from university book stores.

I purchased this book due to taking a doctoral level research methods class and thinking the prescribed textbook wasn't giving me the nuts and bolts I needed. This book fills that gap and pairs well with a more in-the-weeds book like the Shadish textbook.

Research is NOT an easy subject in the field of social work, but this text made it easier to follow along and comprehend the many different layers that come along with the topic. It also helped that my professor was fantastic, and made a dry, boring class as fun as she possibly could, but that has nothing to do with the text itself.

Good book

This book is very clear and concise. I used it for a masters level research class and it was very helpful. Overall, easier to understand than other research books and includes lots of information. I highly recommend it.

This text can be useful when backed into a corner if you are using its readings for course assignments in University. I used this in my Research in Social Work course during my BSW program, probably opened it 10-15 times. The content just is not as helpful as the literature title leads you to believe. I used my Brooks/Cole Human Behavior and the Social Environment 9th Ed. when i was in this course more than the Research Methods material they required. Primarily because the HBSE text is more informative and less repetitive, as well as far less "dry" reading.I read this whole book. I learned things. But if you can find a more integrated research methods text, go for that!The references and resources cited are also more commonly than not, outdated and cannot be cited as they are far too old.