Teaching Master's and Doctoral Social Work Students to Systematically Evaluate Evidence-Based Interventions

Abstract

Evidence-based research relevant to social work practice has grown dramatically. This article describes a method that was implemented to teach master's and doctoral social work students how to synthesize and evaluate evidence-based interventions for social work–related problems and populations. The method includes eight steps: conceptualize the problem and define the research question(s); conduct a systematic search; define study inclusion and exclusion criteria; identify and categorize types of interventions and outcomes; rate the studies' methodological rigor; determine outcome attainment; combine outcome attainment and study rigor, and compare the evidence across studies. Two examples are presented of the implementation of this approach along with a discussion of the challenges and limitations.

Keywords:

• evaluation
• evidence
• methodological rigor
• intervention
• effectiveness