This open textbook is primarily based on the open textbook, Scientific Inquiry in Social Work by Matthew DeCarlo with additional open source material used from Social Science Research: Principles, Methods, and Practices by Anol Bhattacherjee; Ethical Decision-Making and Internet Research (2012); and Research Ethics in Context Decision-Making in Digital Research (2017) by Annette Markham and Elizabeth Buchanan.  Licensing information can be found in the front matter. The following index details where content from each source was used in this manuscript.  New content (as noted below) indicates major additions, such as chapters, sections, subsections, or key concepts that I created or solicited contributions for from faculty at the University of Texas at Arlington’s School of Social Work.

Minor revisions not noted below include editing language for clarity, length, and flow as well as corrections to hyperlinks and citations.

Chapter 1

Content from DeCarlo

• Chapter 1

Major revisions/New content

• Section 1.3:  New text and a figure (Figure 1.1) on evidence-based practice
• Section 1.3: Spotlight on UTA School of Social Work: An Evidence-Based Program to Prevent Child Maltreatment contributed by Richard Hoefer

Chapter 2

Content from DeCarlo

• Chapter 6 with the exception of some of the material from the Complementary approaches subsection in 6.3

Major revisions/New content

• Section 2.1: New examples of micro-, meso-, and macro-level research were contributed by Brooke Troutman
• Section 2.2:  Spotlight on UTA School of Social Work: Catherine LaBrenz connects social theory and child welfare research was contributed by Catherine LaBrenz

Chapter 3

Content from DeCarlo

• Chapter 5

Content from Markham & Buchanan, 2012, 2017

• Section 3.2 subsection Internet Research was derived from these materials

Chapter 4

Content from DeCarlo

• Chapter 7

Major revisions/New content

• Section 4.4:  Provided a new example of mixed methods research

Chapter 5

Content from DeCarlo

• Chapter 9 except for the “Trustworthiness and authenticity” subsection of 9.4

Major revisions/New content

• Figure 5.2 was revised to exclude “Valid but not reliable” with the rationale that this text wishes to present reliability as a requirement for validity; therefore an instrument could not be valid if it were not reliable
• Section 5.3:  information on Levels of measurement were moved into this section
• Section 5.5:  restructured validity section to include subheadings for types of validity
• Section 5.5:  added and revised information about criterion and construct validity
• Section 5.6:  added headings to levels of measurement, additional explanations for mutual exclusivity,
• Added a line to Table 5.1
• Section 5.4: Spotlight on UTA School of Social Work: Are interactions with a social robot associated with changes in depression and loneliness?
  contributed by Ling Xu and Noelle Fields

Chapter 6

Content from DeCarlo

• Chapter 10 except several paragraphs from 10.1 “Applying sampling terms”

Content from Bhattacherjee

• Content from Chapter 12 was used in Sections 6.1, 6.2, and 6.4 with references to interpretative research replace with the term qualitative research and information about overarching interpretative research paradigm removed to better align with the introductory nature of this new textbook

Major revisions/New content

• Section 6.1: added headers, re-ordered the presentation of inclusion and exclusion criteria
• Section 6.2: changed the section name to Nonprobability sampling and included reference to its use in quantitative research as well as qualitative research
• Section 6.2: clarified that Kogan et al. used respondent-driven sampling which is similar, but different from snowball sampling
• Section 6.3: changed the section name to Probability sampling, added information about proportionate and disproportionate stratified random sampling, added headings for subsections
• Section 6.4: changed the section name to Critical thinking about samples

Chapter 7

Content from DeCarlo

• Chapter 11
• Portions of Chapter 12.4

Major revisions/New content

• Section 7.2: changed the name of the section to “assessing survey research” and added a subsection on response rate
• Section 7.4: created new content about using standardized instruments
• Section 7.1: Spotlight on UTA School of Social Work:  Diana Padilla-Medina conducts survey research contributed by Diana Padilla-Medina

Chapter 8

Content from DeCarlo

• Chapter 12: 12.1, 12.2, and 12.3 (some information from 12.2 was moved to 8.1 under a new heading “Experimental Design in Macro-level Research”)

Major revisions/New content

• Section 8.1: New organization and headings, revised material changing comparison groups to control groups, added some new material in the subsection Experimental Design in Macro-level Research
• Section 8.2: Added headers to subsections, new material about the one-group pretest post-test design, reorganized material about pre-experiments
• Section 8.3: Added additional types of threats to internal validity; Spotlight on UTA School of Social Work: Assessing a teen pregnancy and STI prevention program contributed by Holli Slater and Diane Mitschke

Chapter 9

Content from DeCarlo

• Chapter 9: subsection Trustworthiness and authenticity from 9.4
• Chapter 13, with minor deletions from the sections on Focus Groups and moderate deletions from Analyzing Qualitative Data

Major revisions/New content

• Section 9.4 Added a new Grounded Theory section contributed by Erin Roark Murphy
• Section 9.5 Spotlight on UTA School of Social Work:  Dr. Genevieve Graf conducts research using interviews and focus groups contributed by Genevieve Graf

Chapter 10

Content from DeCarlo

• Chapter 14 Sections 14.1-14.4, with the exception of some content from 14.3 Indirect measures and Analysis of unobtrusive data collected by you subsections, and 14.4 Challenges in secondary data analysis

Major revisions/New content

• Section 10.3: Added a short reflection on cultural humility and cultural competence in Indirect measures subsection; added brief information about analyzing photographs in Analysis of unobtrusive data collected by you subsection
• Section 10.4: Spotlight on UTA School of Social Work:  Secondary data analysis subsection contributed by Kathy Lee

Chapter 11

Content from DeCarlo

• Chapter 15, with some deletions from section 15.2

Major revisions/New content

• Section 11.1: Added a new section on Needs Assessment contributed by Sarah R. Robinson
• Section 11.2: New content written to describe single-subjects design
• Section 11.3: Spotlight on UTA School of Social Work:  Dr. Maxine Davis shares experiences with action research contributed by Maxine Davis

Chapter 12

Content from DeCarlo

• Chapter 16 with moderate deletions from Section 16.2

Major revisions/New content

• • Section 12.2: Added a subsection on peer-reviewed journal articles
  • Section 12.3: Spotlight on UTA School of Social Work:  Reporting research on Texan survivors of intimate partner violence contributed by Rachel Voth Schrag

Glossary

Content from DeCarlo

• Glossary

Practice behavior index

Content from DeCarlo

• Practice behavior index with chapter numbers revised to reflect new organization