Experimental Research Designs in Social Work

Bruce Thyer is Distinguished Research Professor and former dean at the College of Social Work at Florida State University. He is the founding and current editor of the journal Research on Social Work Practice and coeditor of the Child and Adolescent Social Work Journal and the Journal of Evidence-based Social Work. He is a founding board member of the Society for Social Work and Research. He is the author of more than 290 journal articles, 130 book chapters, and more than thirty-five books in social work, psychology, behavior analysis, and psychiatry. He is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association, the Association for Psychological Science, and of the National Academies of Practice. His most recent co-authored books are titled Program Evaluation: An Introduction to an Evidence-based Approach (Cengage, 2016, now in its sixth edition), and Science and Pseudoscience in Social Work Practice (Springer, 2015).Bruce A. Thyer is a distinguished research professor and former dean at the College of Social Work at Florida State University as well as an extraordinary professor with the Optentia Research Unit, North-West University, South Africa. He is the editor of the journal Research on Social Work Practice and coeditor of the Child and Adolescent Social Work Journal.

David R. Hodge, Arizona State University:
Outcome studies are essential to know whether or not an intervention is effective. This text—written by one of the foremost experts in experimental research—is an invaluable resource for anyone interested in designing, conducting, or evaluating intervention research.

Harold Briggs, University of Georgia:
Thyer skillfully presents the key principles and importance of experimental designs to social work. Easy to follow yet intellectually invigorating, this book seamlessly integrates theory, practice, and research methods.

Eileen Gambrill, University of California Berkeley:
Bruce Thyer has been a long-term advocate for clients receiving careful appraisals of potential service outcomes. Experimental Research Designs in Social Work is an important contribution for its extensive account of social work experiments and an up-to-date description of how to discover opportunities to evaluate practices and policies, adding to our knowledge about outcomes.

Joseph Himle, University of Michigan:
I wish I had this book years ago! This comprehensive and beautifully written volume will be useful to both aspiring and seasoned experimental researchers. Experimental Research Designs in Social Work will be a work I reach to again and again as I plan and execute my next experimental trial.