There are 8 discussions that need to be completed in 3 days. The document lists the topics for each discussion, which include research steps and applications, intake processes, locating resources, different types of research, health plans in Canada vs the US, research formats, careers in health and human services, and evaluating qualitative research. Resources on research concepts, statistics, and ethics are provided at the end.

1. There are 8 discussions needed in 3 days (72 hours). I added the
list of all resources used in this class at the end of the
discussions. If anything is needed let me know.
(1)Research Steps and Application
Imagine you are asked to give a half-hour presentation about
research in human services. Since this could cover a vast
number of concepts, you decide to illustrate the steps of a basic
research process using a real-world example from your text.
You may select from any of the “Research in Practice” sections
of your textbook for a real-world example. In your discussion,
state the steps of the research process and propose a fictitious,
yet practical, conclusion. If you cannot come up with a
conclusion from your real-world example, you may locate and
cite a research conclusion from a published article. Explain
how this research conclusion could be used to inform human
service practice with regards to the problem formulation you
selected.
(2)Intake Process
Often when providing services, basic intake information is
required. The researcher could, at the end of a given time
period, examine these intake papers and, based on some need,
compute descriptive statistics using information provided by the
clients / participants. Information such as income, family make
up, and education levels could be used to compute mean values.
However, you may be asked to configure a study that can be

2. called experimental. In this discussion forum you are asked to
compare these two formats and identify in what ways they
differ. In order to determine definitions of descriptive research,
you will need to access
Introduction to statistics, variables, scares of measurement
(Links to an external site.)
,
Excel 2010 statistics 14: Descriptive & inferential statistics
(Links to an external site.)
,
Basic research concepts (Links to an external site.)
, and
The Office of Research Integrity (Links to an external site.)
. Your post should focus on differentiating these two research
types and then discuss their potential contribution to research in
health and human services.
(3)Locating Resources
The ability to locate and utilize information relative to Health
and Human Services is an important component of many health
and human service jobs. Some of the areas included in HHS
programs are:
· Legal/illegal immigration
· Poverty
· Violence in the Media
· Unemployment
· Alcoholism

3. · Gambling
· Sexual Harassment
· Criminal Justice
· Hunger / Homelessness
· Mental Illness
· Health
As an example, the area of “poverty” was selected from the
above list to locate information and relevant reports. To
accomplish this, the following was entered into a search engine
(such as Google or MSN): “Health and human services and
programs dealing with poverty.” One of the 1, 490,000 “hits”
was titled: “Poverty Guidelines, Research and Measurement.”
Upon searching this website, an elaborate set of focus subtitles
was found. Under the heading “Poverty Research Centers” six
more references were discovered. As the interest was focused
on discovering what information was available, the search
centered on “The National Poverty Center.” An examination on
this site under that heading yielded numerous areas regarding
new research opportunities, informing the policy community,
and training for young researchers. Your specific assignment
follows. Start with an exploration of what can be found in
several of the areas listed above. Then, identify one area and
prepare a descriptive post outlining the information in this site.
You may want to experiment with various areas in order to
understand the unusually large number of resources / programs,
but also the kinds of information.
(4)Research Venues

4. Research can be divided into three broad areas: descriptive,
qualitative, and quantitative. Some researchers subsume
descriptive research (archival) as quantitative. However, for
this discussion, we are considering it a separate kind, as
descriptive research can fall into either area: qualitative or
quantitative. Your assignment for this discussion is to prepare
a 250-300 word post differentiating qualitative, quantitative,
and analysis of availability data. Identify those attributes that
form the essence of these three research venues. Respond to at
least two of your classmates' postings.
Questions that might be considered:
· What are the differences in types of data / information among
the three venues?
· What are the expected outcomes when using each kind? For
example, does using available data enable one to determine
cause and effect?
· Which venue utilizes narrative and observation as a data
source?
· What are some advantages / disadvantages for each research
venue?
· (5)Canadian National Health Plan
Research can vary from highly sophisticated experimental
studies to less rigorous short term investigations. Each research
approach has advantages and disadvantages. Among the
different paradigms you could use, two of the more common are
the “positivist approach” and the “interpretive approach”

5. (consult pages 39-40 in the text). If you were interested in
determining if the Canadian National Health Plan was “better”
(better in terms of care, coverage, and choice of doctors) then
the current United States Health Coverage Plan (Obama
sponsored), which approach would you choose to make this
determination? Provide a justification to your answer.
Remember, your decision is about the research paradigm, and
the subject focus (health care plans) provides the context.
Select the responses of two classmates, comparing the position
you take and the justification. If you agree in terms of the
position, discuss any differences of opinion in terms of the
justification.
(6)Research Formats
The research format found in scholarly journal articles has
purpose and direction. Chapters 2 and 4 in the text provide
information as to the logic and makeup of a research effort.
Parallel to the structure of the research format is the notion of
the scientific method as a basic approach to solving problems.
Your task is to analyze these two venues, identifying in what
ways they complement each other, and how each venue is
related to the other. You may want to access outside references
regarding the concepts of research format and the scientific
method.
(7)Careers in HHS
The great variety of careers and occupations within the field of
HHS is growing every year. A review of some of the data bases
in the text will provide opportunities to search and identify
many occupational areas within different governmental

6. departments and programs. Searching, for example, the U.S.
Department of Health and Human Services website will result in
finding many careers such as: social workers, preschool
programs, criminal justice, counseling, gerontology, and drug
and alcohol treatment. After selecting two different websites
related to HHS, identify two career areas in the HHS field and
do the following:
· Record the websites or data bases, listing the careers or
occupations given.
· Prepare a brief description of the career / occupation.
· Respond thoughtfully to the following two questions:
o Selecting one of the career occupation areas, complete the
following sentence: I believe working in the HHS career area
would be right for me because…
o In this career area the kind of work I would be doing would
be… (complete the sentence)
·(8) Research in Practice
Qualitative research in the past 30 years has increasingly been
viewed as making an important contribution to research and
evaluation. For this discussion, you are asked to read two
Research in Practice articles in the text. Evaluate and
synthesize the contribution qualitative researched played with
regard to Research in Practice (5.1, pp. 110) and Research in
Practice (12.2, p 338). Your work should clearly identify the
importance of using qualitative methods and explain in what
ways these methods helped the studies.

7. Required Text
Monette, D., Sullivan, T. & DeJong, C. (2017).
Applied social research
(9th ed.). Retrieved from https://content.ashford.edu
· This text is a Constellation™ course digital materials (CDM)
title.
Required Resources
Introduction to Program Evaluation for Public Health Programs:
A Self-Study Guide (Links to an external site.)
. (2011, May 11). Retrieved from
http://www.cdc.gov/eval/guide/introduction/
Harrell, A., Burt, M., Hatry, H., Rossman, S., Roth, J., & Sabol,
W. (n.d.).
Evaluation Strategies for Human Services Programs (Links to an
external site.)
. Retrieved from
https://www.bja.gov/evaluation/guide/documents/evaluation_str
ategies.html
Johnson, T. (2013, June 29).
Introduction to statistics, variables, scares of measurement
(Links to an external site.)
[Video file]. Retrieved from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mWGMaUlzWFg
ExcellsFun. (2011, June 22).
Excel 2010 statistics 14: Descriptive & inferential statistics
(Links to an external site.)

8. [Video file]. Retrieved from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kkijOAAGYto
The Office of Research Integrity (n.d.).
Basic research concepts (Links to an external site.)
. Retrieved from
http://ori.hhs.gov/education/products/sdsu/index.html
The Office of Research Integrity (Links to an external site.)
. (http://ori.hhs.gov/)
Partners Human Research Committee (Links to an external site.)
. Retrieved from
http://healthcare.partners.org/phsirb/infcons.htm
U.S. Food and Drug Administration Institutional Review FAQ
(Links to an external site.)
. Retrieved from
http://www.fda.gov/RegulatoryInformation/Guidances/ucm1264
20.htm