Intervention Research

This interdisciplinary book presents a comprehensive conceptual and methodological treatment of intervention research, a developing area of empirical inquiry that aims to make research more directly relevant and applicable to practice. Intervention Research contains original chapters by the most highly regarded scholars in the field. These experts explain how to distinguish intervention research from other modalities, demonstrate a new model of research for the design and development of interventions, and provide guidelines for conducting intervention research in practice with individuals, families, and community organizations. Providing useful observations and a wealth of ideas, authors offer conceptual schemes, results from recent design and development studies, and strategies and methodologies to help professionals make their research more usable and meaningful. Chapters cover such important topics as the acquisition of relevant knowledge, meta-analysis in intervention research, methods and issues in designing and developing interventions, and field testing and evaluating innovative practice interventions. The book depicts intervention research through case illustrations and promotes the use of new technologies for developing innovative practice methods. Intervention Research focuses on Intervention Design and Development--the part of intervention research involving the creation of reliable, practical tools of social intervention in user-ready form. It sets forth systematic procedures for designing, testing, evaluating, and refining needed social technology and for disseminating proven techniques and programs to professionals in the community.Intervention Research has a base in social work, but is highly interdisciplinary. Authors contributing to this text come from a variety of fields, including psychology, sociology, education, information science, and communications. Professors and educators working in schools of public health, education, urban planning, nursing, and public administration, or teaching courses in psychology, sociology, or upper-level social work, will find this book full of comprehensive and practical information that is advantageous for their work.

Edwin J Thomas, Jack Rothman

Contents Foreword - Preface - I. Conceptual Overview - An Integrative Perspective on Intervention Research - Conducting Intervention Research--The Design and Development Process - II. Problem Analysis and Project Planning - Problem-Centered Intervention Research--Methods of the Second Type - Planning for Intervention Research - III. Information Gathering and Synthesis - Information Science Methods for Knowledge Retrieval--Basic Approaches and Emerging Trends - Meta-Analysis in Intervention Research--Methods and Implications - Systematic Research Synthesis--Conceptual Integration Methods of Meta-Analysis - IV. Design - Design of Social Intervention - Intervention Design for Practice--Enhancing Social Supports for High Risk Youth and Families - V. Early Development and Pilot Testing - Pilot Testing and Early Development of a Model of Case Management Intervention - Field Testing and Data Gathering of Innovative Practice Interventions in Early Development - VI. Evaluation and Advanced Development - Evaluation, Advanced Development and the Unilateral Family Therapy Experiment - Intervention Research as an Interorganizational Exchange - VII. Dissemination - Skills Training Modules--A Strategy for Dissemination and Utilization of a Rehabilitation Innovation - Disseminating Intervention Research in Academic Settings--A View from Social Work - Afterword--Competencies for Intervention Research - Appendix: Illustrative Practice Tools--Design and Development Products of Intervention Research - Subject Index - Name Index