Eco Maps: A Tool to Bridge the Practice-Research Gap

The social work profession has played host to a continuing dialogue about the interplay between research and practice. Traditionally, practitioners collect data that have real-world usefulness and are relevant to the intervention process with particular clients. Researchers, on the other hand, are skilled in designing and conducting studies that result in data that can be generalized to build the profession\u27s foundation of knowledge. Data collection tools and techniques that are both relevant to practice and germane to knowledge-building are needed. This paper demonstrates the use of the eco map, a common practice tool, to collect and organize data about families, thus bridging a gap between practice and research functions

Life Stories: A Practice-Based Research Technique

Social work, like many other practice-based professions, has historically been concerned about the discontinuity between practice and research. This discontinuity is frequently reduced to a debate between qualitative and quantitative methodology, placing the profession in a dilemma and further alienating practitioners. This article describes a qualitative data collection and analysis process as it was in a large-scale study exploring issues of family development. The use of open-ended story telling and ethnographic content analysis are recommended for use in practice and in practice-based research. Adoption practice and chemical dependency settings are presented as examples

Looking Forward to Adolescence

One hundred five parents were surveyed about their expectations for what their relationship with their sixth-grade child would be like when their child becomes an adolescent. Parents rated a series of items concerning how much they felt they could influence their child's behaviors and interests currently and when their child becomes an adolescent. Parents also rated their child's level of pubertal development on several items, as well as the quality of their current relationship with their child Findings suggest that mothers and fathers do not differ in their expectations for how their sons or daughters will change as they move into adolescence. Nevertheless, the relation between the gender of the child and parental expectations, taking the child's pubertal status into account, is mediated by current parent-child relationships in predicting parental expectations for change during adolescence. These findings are discussed in terms of the impact current parent-child relationships can have on future relationships.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/66944/2/10.1177_0272431693013004007.pd