You are a social work student who is completing a practicum in a nursing home. You have been assigned to work with a social worker who wants to conduct a study on the effects of having residents interact with pets (dogs who are specially trained for this type of work) to see if it will help alleviate their depression. The social worker has the following research question in mind, “Will residents who interact with specially trained therapy dogs show a decrease in their depression than those who don’t interact with the dogs?” The social worker has a plan to select a depression inventory and measure the resident’s depression before interacting with the therapy dog, then have the residents interact with the dog for one hour a week over an eight-week period, and then measure their depression again using the same scale. She will measure another group’s depression who will not interact with the dog. The social worker has asked you to develop a literature review to help her formulate her research.
CRITICAL THINKING QUESTIONS
Based on the preceding case scenario, answer the following questions:
1. What search terms would you use to conduct your literature review? Give reasons for choosing those particular terms.
2. What databases would you search?
3. Based on your initial search, would you believe that this research would fall into the quantitative or qualitative category? Give reasons for your selection.
4. Do you see any ethical issues that might be presented as a result of this study? If yes, how would you resolve them?
You are a social work student who is completing a practicum in a nursing home. You have been assigned to work with a social worker who wants to conduct a study on the effects of having residents interact with pets (dogs who are specially trained for this type of work) to see if it will help alleviate their depression. The social worker has the following research question in mind, “Will residents who interact with specially trained therapy dogs show a decrease in their depression than those who don’t interact with the dogs?” The social worker has a plan to select a depression inventory and measure the resident’s depression before interacting with the therapy dog, then have the residents interact with the dog for one hour a week over an eight-week period, and then measure their depression again using the same scale. She will measure another group’s depression who will not interact with the dog. The social worker has asked you to develop a literature review to help her formulate her research.
CRITICAL THINKING QUESTIONS
Based on the preceding case scenario, answer the following questions:
1. What search terms would you use to conduct your literature review? Give reasons for choosing those particular terms.
2. What databases would you search?
3. Based on your initial search, would you believe that this research would fall into the quantitative or qualitative category? Give reasons for your selection.
4. Do you see any ethical issues that might be presented as a result of this study? If yes, how would you resolve them?