Development and evaluation of interventions in social work practice research

Methodological pluralism is required in social work practice research to enable researchers to answer diverse practice-based questions. This is particularly the case for developing and evaluating interventions for use by social workers in multiple contexts. This paper illustrates the multiple methods required to develop and evaluate social interventions, using the example of Connecting People. The intervention model was developed from an ethnography of social work practice and piloted in a quasi-experimental study. Focus groups and semi-structured interviews were used alongside a further quasi-experimental study to examine its implementation in one particular practice setting. A randomised controlled trial is currently underway to evaluate the effectiveness of the model in another country. Practice researchers need to develop expertise in multiple methods to respond flexibly to the demands of intervention development and evaluation in social work practice research.