Reflection SWK 3910

Fall 2022
Holly Thompson
The portfolio assignment in Understanding Social Research included a research proposal

which was uncharted territory for me in the social work setting. This assignment made me learn

and understand the complexities that involved researching and the inclusions of surveys and

studies. Dr. Savage’s class was difficult for me at first but once she explained the assignments

and contributed videos pertaining to assignment, I found her to be an outstanding professor. She

helped me to understand how important social research is and the important role it plays in the

social work profession.

When doing this assignment, I learned how to conduct surveys and questionnaires

pertaining to topics related to social work. I learned how to measure variables and form a

research question and hypothesis in order to find answers to the topic of discussion. It introduced

me to quantitative and qualitative data as well. I learned about independent and dependent

variables which is crucial in research. I found this assignment to be relatively different from

other papers I have conducted in the past. Also, it gave me a sense of gratitude to be able to

understand and comprehend the context and requirements of the paper which ended in receiving

a high score grade.

When doing research, I learned there are samples that must be determined for research

purposes which include probability sampling and the number of participants for study. There in

the process of inclusion and exclusion criteria when doing the sampling process as well. What I

never realized until doing this assignment is there is a variety of steps I had to go through before

doing the study which made me feel inadequate considering I had never done a project like this

before. It was a humbling experience and made me critically think and understand steps of the
process can not be missed. The participants identities in these studies must be protected so they

are required to sign confidentiality clauses and other non-disclosure agreements, in some cases.

My research involved adolescent mental health challenges which has mainly been my

platform throughout my junior and senior year for most of my portfolio assignments/papers. I

have been conflicted with whether I wanted to work with adolescents after graduation and during

the time I have been doing my fieldwork, I came to realize that it is not a group of individuals I

desire to offer service delivery. My experiences working with them have led me in another

direction, but my options will remain open for the future.