Social Intervention Research
- LAST REVIEWED: 26 July 2017
- LAST MODIFIED: 26 July 2017
- DOI: 10.1093/obo/9780195389678-0254
- LAST REVIEWED: 26 July 2017
- LAST MODIFIED: 26 July 2017
- DOI: 10.1093/obo/9780195389678-0254
Introduction
This article is about social intervention research. A general definition of intervention is any interference that would modify a process or situation. In social work, interventions are intentionally implemented change strategies which aim to impede or eradicate risk factors, activate and/or mobilize protective factors, reduce or eradicate harm, or introduce betterment beyond harm eradication; thus social work intervention encompasses a range of psychotherapies, treatments, and programs. Interventions may be simple or complex. Yet simple interventions may have multiple elements that contribute to their effectiveness. Although social intervention research is an essential aspect of social work as a profession and research discipline, it is clearly multidisciplinary in its nature. The current knowledge base of social intervention research draws on knowledge gained from a wide variety of behavioral, psychological, and health interventions as well as from disciplines as diverse as psychology, education, medicine, public health, social work and other caring sciences. Social intervention research is vital to social work practice as professional decisions should be informed by evidence of both the potential benefits and harms of alternative interventions. Social intervention research focuses on the effects of an intervention under study. Of primary importance is understanding changes in the health and well-being of a target population. Subsequent results are then, ideally, used for decisions on future service provision. The goal of social intervention research is to bring about change in individuals, groups, or entire communities, and requires research methods that are most appropriate for achieving this goal.
Introductory Works
Intervention research has a long history dating back for more than a century. A brief history of intervention research can be found in Oakley 1998. In the United States, the period from the early 1960s to the early 1980s was one in which there was a burst of activity in applying the randomized controlled trial in the evaluation of public policy. Introductory works for social intervention research include some of the early published studies of this type—for example, Institute for Research on Poverty & Mathematica, Inc. 1973; McCord 1978; Meyer, et al. 1965; and Mullen and Dumpson 1972. In addition to these, the key publications Campbell and Stanley 1963, Cook and Campbell 1979, and Fisher 1966 have influenced the continuous development in the field and include description and guidance on the design of experiments for assessing the outcome of social interventions. Fisher 1970, originally printed in 1925, describes the development of statistical methods for analysis of social intervention data as well as the application of these developments in the then real world of social intervention practice.
Campbell, D. T., and J. C. Stanley. 1963. Experimental and quasi-experimental designs for research. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.
This early work on experimental and quasi-experimental design draws from a broad range of social science research to form an all-encompassing and broadly applicable methodological presentation and provides recommendations for conducting social intervention research.
Cook, T. D., and D. T. Campbell. 1979. Quasi-experimentation: Design and analysis issues for field settings. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.
This early work considers the problems associated with answering, in real world settings, the question of whether treatment X causes the outcome of Y.
Fisher, R. A. 1966. The design of experiments. 8th ed. Edinburgh: Oliver and Boyd.
This early work presents an examination of widely successful experimental designs for valid inference. This book focuses on aspects of experimental design that impact unambiguous interpretation.
Fisher, R. A. 1970. Statistical methods for research workers. 14th ed. New York: Hafner.
This early work in mathematical statistics aimed to supply practical experimenters with a connected account of the application of statistics in conjunction with laboratory work. In addition, this work presents then recent advances in statistical theory and their relationship with the problems of experimental design. Originally printed in 1925 (Edinburgh: Oliver & Boyd).
Institute for Research on Poverty & Mathematica Inc. 1973. The New Jersey graduated work incentive experiment summary report. Washington, DC: Department of Health, Education and Welfare, Office of Economic Opportunity.
This report describes an early carefully controlled field test of a social intervention and compares the differential effects of eight different negative income tax or benefit formulas on changes in labor supply and other outcomes.
McCord, J. 1978. A thirty-year follow-up of treatment effects. American Psychologist 33.3: 284–289.
DOI: 10.1037/0003-066X.33.3.284
This article presents a thirty-year follow-up of the Cambridge-Sommerville Youth Study, an early experiment within social work where the outcomes of participants provided to a social worker were compared to the outcomes of participants that did not have a social worker assigned to their case. Results indicated that the participants who had regular contact with a social worker did worse than those who did not.
Meyer, H. J., E. F. Borgatta, and W. C. Jones. 1965. Girls at vocational high: An experiment in social work intervention. New York: Russell Sage Foundation.
This book describes an early experiment undertaken within social work in collaboration with a vocational high school in New York. It gives an initial experimental look into the lives of delinquent adolescent girls and raises questions on the effectiveness of case work in diverting deviant careers in this group.
Mullen, E. J., and J. R. Dumpson. 1972. Evaluation of social intervention. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
This early study reviews sixteen evaluation projects and concludes that social welfare programs have only limited success and often fail to achieve their goals. An in-depth review of the reasons for failure is given along with reform recommendations.
Oakley, A. 1998. Experimentation and social interventions: A forgotten but important history. British Medical Journal 317:1239–1242.
DOI: 10.1136/bmj.317.7167.1239
This piece presents a short history of social intervention research, from its start in the 1870s to the golden age of evaluation in the 1960s to early 1980s, when randomized experiments were considered the optimal design for evaluating public policy interventions in the United States.
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- Abolitionist Perspectives in Social Work
- Abortion
- Adolescent Depression
- Adolescent Pregnancy
- Adolescents
- Adoption
- Adoption Home Study Assessments
- Adult Protective Services in the United States
- African Americans
- African-Centered Social Work
- Aging
- Aging out of foster care
- Aging, Physical Health and
- Alcohol and Drug Abuse Problems
- Alcohol and Drug Problems, Prevention of Adolescent and Yo...
- Alcohol Problems: Practice Interventions
- Alcohol Use Disorder
- Alzheimer's Disease and Other Dementias
- Anti-Oppressive Practice
- Asian Americans
- Asian-American Youth
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- Baccalaureate Social Workers
- Behavioral Health
- Behavioral Social Work Practice
- Bereavement Practice
- Bisexuality
- Brief Therapies in Social Work: Task-Centered Model and So...
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- Canadian Social Welfare, History of
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- Central American Migration to the United States
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- Child Poverty
- Child Sexual Abuse
- Child Welfare
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- Child Welfare and Parents with Intellectual and/or Develop...
- Child Welfare Effectiveness
- Child Welfare, Immigration and
- Child Welfare Practice with LGBTQ Youth and Families
- Children
- Children of Incarcerated Parents
- Christianity and Social Work
- Chronic Illness
- Clinical Social Work Practice with Adult Lesbians
- Clinical Social Work Practice with Males
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- Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy
- Community
- Community Development
- Community Policing
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- Comparative Social Work
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- Conflict Resolution
- Council on Social Work Education
- Counseling Female Offenders
- Criminal Justice
- Crisis Interventions
- Cultural Competence and Ethnic Sensitive Practice
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- Dementia Care
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- Depression and Cancer
- Development and Infancy (Birth to Age Three)
- Differential Response in Child Welfare
- Digital Storytelling for Social Work Interventions
- Direct Practice in Social Work
- Disabilities
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- Disasters
- Divorce
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- Early Pregnancy and Parenthood Among Child Welfare–Involve...
- Eating Disorders
- Ecological Framework
- Economic Evaluation
- Elder Mistreatment
- End-of-Life Decisions
- Epigenetics for Social Workers
- Ethical Issues in Social Work and Technology
- Ethics and Values in Social Work
- Ethnicity
- European Institutions and Social Work
- European Union, Justice and Home Affairs in the
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- Evidence-based Social Work Practice: Finding Evidence
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- Experimental and Quasi-Experimental Designs
- Families
- Families with Gay, Lesbian, or Bisexual Parents
- Family Caregiving
- Family Group Conferencing
- Family Policy
- Family Services
- Family Therapy
- Family Violence
- Fathering Among Families Served By Child Welfare
- Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders
- Field Education
- Financial Literacy and Social Work
- Financing Health-Care Delivery in the United States
- Forensic Social Work
- Foster Care
- Foster care and siblings
- Gay Men
- Gender, Violence, and Trauma in Immigration Detention in t...
- Generalist Practice and Advanced Generalist Practice
- Grounded Theory
- Group Work
- Group Work across Populations, Challenges, and Settings
- Group Work, Research, Best Practices, and Evidence-based
- Harm Reduction
- Health Care Reform
- Health Disparities
- Health Social Work
- History of Social Work and Social Welfare, 1900–1950
- History of Social Work and Social Welfare, 1950-1980
- History of Social Work and Social Welfare, pre-1900
- History of Social Work from 1980-2014
- History of Social Work in China
- History of Social Work in Northern Ireland
- History of Social Work in the Republic of Ireland
- History of Social Work in the United Kingdom
- HIV/AIDS
- HIV/AIDS and Children
- HIV/AIDS Prevention with Adolescents
- Homelessness
- Homelessness: Ending Homelessness as a Grand Challenge
- Homelessness Outside the United States
- Housing
- Human Needs
- Human Trafficking, Victims of
- Immigrant Integration in the United States
- Immigrant Policy in the United States
- Immigrants and Refugees
- Immigrants and Refugees: Evidence-based Social Work Practi...
- Immigration and Health Disparities
- Immigration and Intimate Partner Violence
- Immigration and Poverty
- Immigration and Spirituality
- Immigration and Substance Use
- Immigration and Trauma
- Impact of Emerging Technology in Social Work Practice
- Impaired Professionals
- Implementation Science and Practice
- Indigenous Peoples
- Individual Placement and Support (IPS) Supported Employmen...
- In-home Child Welfare Services
- Intergenerational Transmission of Maltreatment
- International Human Trafficking
- International Social Welfare
- International Social Work
- International Social Work and Education
- International Social Work and Social Welfare in Southern A...
- Internet and Video Game Addiction
- Interpersonal Psychotherapy
- Intervention with Traumatized Populations
- Interviewing
- Intimate-Partner Violence
- Juvenile Justice
- Kinship Care
- Korean Americans
- Latinos and Latinas
- Law, Social Work and the
- LGBTQ Populations and Social Work
- Life Span
- Mainland European Social Work, History of
- Major Depressive Disorder
- Management and Administration in Social Work
- Maternal Mental Health
- Measurement, Scales, and Indices
- Medical Illness
- Men: Health and Mental Health Care
- Mental Health
- Mental Health Diagnosis and the Addictive Substance Disord...
- Mental Health Needs of Older People, Assessing the
- Mental Health Services from 1990 to 2023
- Mental Illness: Children
- Mental Illness: Elders
- Meta-analysis
- Microskills
- Middle East and North Africa, International Social Work an...
- Military Social Work
- Mixed Methods Research
- Moral distress and injury in social work
- Motivational Interviewing
- Multiculturalism
- Native Americans
- Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders
- Neighborhood Social Cohesion
- Neuroscience and Social Work
- Nicotine Dependence
- Occupational Social Work
- Organizational Development and Change
- Pain Management
- Palliative Care
- Palliative Care: Evolution and Scope of Practice
- Pandemics and Social Work
- Parent Training
- Participatory Community Based Research
- Personalization
- Person-in-Environment
- Philosophy of Science and Social Work
- Physical Disabilities
- Podcasts and Social Work
- Police Social Work
- Political Social Work in the United States
- Positive Youth Development
- Postmodernism and Social Work
- Postsecondary Education Experiences and Attainment Among Y...
- Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
- Poverty
- Practice Interventions and Aging
- Practice Interventions with Adolescents
- Practice Research
- Primary Prevention in the 21st Century
- Productive Engagement of Older Adults
- Profession, Social Work
- Program Development and Grant Writing
- Promoting Smart Decarceration as a Grand Challenge
- Psychiatric Rehabilitation
- Psychoanalysis and Psychodynamic Theory
- Psychoeducation
- Psychometrics
- Psychopathology and Social Work Practice
- Psychopharmacology and Social Work Practice
- Psychosocial Framework
- Psychosocial Intervention with Women
- Psychotherapy and Social Work
- Qualitative Research
- Race and Racism
- Randomized Controlled Trials in Social Work
- Readmission Policies in Europe
- Redefining Police Interactions with People Experiencing Me...
- Refugee Children, Unaccompanied Immigrant and
- Rehabilitation
- Religiously Affiliated Agencies
- Reproductive Health
- Research
- Research Ethics
- Restorative Justice
- Risk Assessment in Child Protection Services
- Risk Management in Social Work
- Rural Social Work in China
- Rural Social Work Practice
- School Social Work
- School Violence
- School-Based Delinquency Prevention
- Services and Programs for Pregnant and Parenting Youth
- Severe and Persistent Mental Illness: Adults
- Sexual and Gender Minority Immigrants, Refugees, and Asylu...
- Sexual Assault
- Single-System Research Designs
- Social and Economic Impact of US Immigration Policies on U...
- Social Development
- Social Insurance and Social Justice
- Social Intervention Research
- Social Justice and Social Work
- Social Movements
- Social Planning
- Social Policy
- Social Policy in Denmark
- Social Security in the United States (OASDHI)
- Social Work and Islam
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- Social Work and Social Welfare in Europe
- Social Work Education and Research
- Social Work Leadership
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- Social Work Luminaries: Luminaries contributing to the fou...
- Social Work Luminaries: Luminaries Who Contributed to Soci...
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- Social Work Regulation
- Social Work Research Methods
- Social Work Theory
- Social Work with Interpreters
- Solution-Focused Therapy
- Strategic Planning
- Strengths Perspective
- Strengths-Based Models in Social Work
- Substance Use Disorders
- Suicide
- Supplemental Security Income
- Survey Research
- Sustainability: Creating Social Responses to a Changing En...
- Syrian Refugees in Turkey
- Systematic Review Methods
- Task-Centered Practice
- Technologies to Improve Social Work Practice and Education
- Technology Adoption in Social Work Education
- Technology for Social Work Interventions
- Technology, Human Relationships, and Human Interaction
- Technology in Social Work
- Terminal Illness
- Terrorism
- The Impact of Systemic Racism on Latinxs’ Experiences with...
- Transdisciplinary Science
- Translational Science and Social Work
- Transnational Perspectives in Social Work
- Transtheoretical Model of Change
- Trauma
- Trauma-Informed Care
- Triangulation
- Tribal child welfare practice in the United States
- Unions
- United States, History of Social Welfare in the
- Universal Basic Income
- Veteran Services
- Vicarious Trauma and Resilience in Social Work Practice wi...
- Vicarious Trauma Redefining PTSD
- Victim Services
- Violence
- Virtual Reality and Social Work
- Welfare State Reform in France
- Welfare State Theory
- Women and Macro Social Work Practice
- Women's Health Care
- Work and Family in the German Welfare State
- Workfare
- Workforce Development of Social Workers Pre- and Post-Empl...
- Working with Non-Voluntary and Mandated Clients
- Young and Adolescent Lesbians
- Youth at Risk
- Youth Services