Identifying a social welfare problem
Your first task is to develop a topic for your research report. To identify current social welfare problems, consider some of the following resources.
- NASW Advocacy IssuesWhen looking for a social welfare problem, consider reviewing the issues that NASW has on their advocacy issues page.
Developing your topic
Topic selection is a process, not a single step. You should start with the issue that is of interest to you. Note that you will need to develop this as you go and that your research will inform how your topic develops.
- Picking your topic IS researchThis video from NC State Libraries explains the process through which you might develop your topic. It's a short (about 3 minutes) overview that is helpful in thinking about how to approach topic development.
Finding peer-reviewed journal articles
Click on a database name to search it.
- Social Work Abstracts This link opens in a new window
Produced by the National Association of Social Workers (NASW), this collection provides indexing and abstracts for more than 500 social work and human services journals. Coverage includes therapy, education, human services, addiction, child and family welfare, mental health and more.
- SocINDEX This link opens in a new window
Search extensively indexed books, monographs, and conference papers. This index features citations with subject headings from a sociology-specific thesaurus designed by expert lexicographers. SocINDEX covers all subdisciplines of sociology such as anthropology, criminology, demography, ethnic, racial, and gender studies, marriage, family, and social structures, and social work.
- APA PsycInfo This link opens in a new window
Indexes psychology literature and related disciplines including psychiatry, medicine, nursing, pharmacology, cognitive science, and linguistics. Includes journals and book chapters. Use Historic PsycINFO to identify literature published as early as the 1920s. Links occur to full-text when available.
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