Carol L. Langer

Establishing Trustworthiness in Qualitative Research in Social Work Implications from a Study Regarding Spirituality

As the use of qualitative inquiry increases within the field of social work, researchers must consider the issue of establishing rigor in qualitative research. This article presents research procedures used in a study of autoethnographies that were written regarding the experience of being Jewish. In this project, the researchers utilized reflexivity, audit trail, triangulation by observer, peer debriefing, member check and prolonged engagement in order to manage the threats to trustworthiness as discussed by Padgett (1998). Implications of the project suggest that research procedures utilized by qualitative researchers to establish rigor are an important way to increase our confidence that the voice of the participants is heard, therefore fitting the mission of the social work profession.

The Research Poem in International Social Work: Innovations in Qualitative Methodology

In this article, the authors explore the use of the research poem, a powerful method of qualitative research, in an international social work context. Using ethnographic poems as data, the authors demonstrate a method for creating research poems. They discuss potential strengths and limitations of this approach and explore implications for social research and international social work practice.

A Qualitative Study of Immigration Policy and Practice Dilemmas for Social Work Students

Social policy shapes the infrastructure wherein social work is practiced. However, what happens when a particular social policy is seemingly incongruent with the social work code of ethics? How do social work students conceive and resolve potential practice dilemmas that may arise as a consequence? In this study, the authors explored potential practice dilemmas as a result of Proposition 200, an Arizona immigration law that would require social workers employed in the public sector to deny services to undocumented clients. The 6-step analysis found that students recognized various practice dilemmas that the policy would present and conflicts between the policy and social work ethics. Students also identified numerous strategies for resolving the above-mentioned dilemmas.

A Model for Teaching Qualitative Research Methods to Undergraduate Social Work Students

Social work students are drawn to qualitative research methods, perhaps because of their experience with interviewing and their interest in process. However, since students need to learn both qualitative and quantitative research methods because both are used in the literature, instructors are challenged to teach both types of methods in one course. The purpose of this article is to illustrate one method used to teach qualitative research methods to undergraduate social work students. The model presents a narrative analysis and moves students from raw data to an analytical model.

Using poetry and photography as qualitative data: A study of a psychiatric hospital in China

The uses of photography and poetry in qualitative research are explored in this article. Selected findings of a photographic exploration of the first psychiatric hospital in China and poems written in response to these images are presented. The authors contextualize these findings with a discussion of the use of the arts in qualitative research, the history of poetry and photography as tools of social inquiry, and an exploration of poetic and photographic studies of mental illness. An in-depth discussion of the complex ethical dilemmas that this research presents is also provided.