Quantitative research is composed of peoples lives and experiences turn into numeric representations, while qualitative research is “data with a soul.” So which of these would work best to research the specific topic of the foster care system? On the one hand, there is a wide array of data from the foster care system, and often, decisions have to be made quickly to minimize the possible trauma and to create a stable environment for children as soon as possible. It is clear than how quantitative research could really be beneficial for such a cause. The ‘simplicity’ of numbers to provide a rank order of options is hard to pass up. However, in what discipline would it be more important to capture the soul of the person being researched than in social work. These children in foster care have stories and perspectives that are impactful. They are in a situation that only they know about. These stories can not be discounted, and yet, large decisions are hard to make based on stories. Therefore, both types of research need to be done in this area to really achieve a well-rounded view of the state of the foster care system in America and how we can work together to make it better.
Resources
Systematic Reviews for Foster Care
While the importance of systematic reviews is evident in most fields of study, I believe this type of reviews are of particular importance in the social work field, and are incredibly relevant to my area of interest- the foster care system. There are a vast array of strategies on how to handle situations where children are unable to be cared for by their parents. Being that childhood is one of the most important stages in human development, and childhood trauma can have such a major and lasting impact on an individual, a systematic review that is able to efficiently and effectively synthesize the literature surrounding this broad topic is crucial. Also, the foster care system can have an impact on children and their families regardless of race, cultural background, religion, and socioeconomic status. With such a large population of influence, the sole finding a one or two studies would be insufficient, because those studies wouldn’t have been able to accurately account for all of the different variable of population. Also, the foster care system spans all over the country and, in fact, all over the world. Not only do we have to account for all of the possible differences in populations, but also the possible variables that can occur at different locations. All of these could not possibly be sifted through by one individual. Especially if this individual is looking for the best option for their client in foster care. A systematic review dealing with this topic would be the most effective at providing the needed information about best plan of care and all while eliminating a large portion of possible biases held by individual studies.
Qualitative v. Quantitative Research Reflection
Initially, after learning, reading, and researching about these to methods of approaching research in the social work field, I found myself immediately drawn towards quantitative research. Numbers make sense to me and it seems incredibly logical and convenient in theory for me to be able to reduce the human experience into a data set of numbers which I can then calculate and compute to give me a meaningful answer. However, it’s become clear to me over these past few weeks through studying and reading more qualitative studies, that they can be an incredibly valuable resource to actually understanding with and sympathizing with the material we are researching. I believe that qualitative research gives the researcher as well as the person applying the conclusions reached from the research into practice a good understanding of the human component and nuances that go into implementing interventions. Often, it seems that qualitative research can explore the complexities a little more delicately than quantitative research might be able to because the data is becoming synthesized into numbers. Qualitative research does have it’s downfalls though. While all forms of research is subject to various biases, it would seem that qualitative research has a higher risk because, instead of interpreting numbers and calculations, we must interpret human thoughts, feelings, and experiences, which are much less concrete variables. It also may be harder to reach a definitive, mathematically supported answer to the question being posed. Ultimately, I believe mixed methods approach could take the advantages of both methods and combine them so that the research covers both the concrete evidence presented through quantitative researched with the complex insight of the qualitative research.