Statistical Training for Social Workers

Abstract

The increased emphasis on research content in the last few years has prompted confusion and disagreement over the extent and type of research content to be included in curricula. The debate has been particularly intensive over the extent to which social workers should be trained in statistics, resulting in an enormous variation among social workers in their ability to understand and undertake statistical analyses. This paper establishes the value of statistical training for social workers, assesses current levels of training, presents general educational principles for statistical training, and proposes bachelor's, master's, and doctoral statistical curricula that will cover the continuum of statistical methodologies in three separate, but interrelated segments.