Acknowledgements and Contributors

This textbook would not be possible without the outstanding source textbooks.  Dr. Blackstone’s textbook is an engaging, approachable, and rigorous work on undergraduate research methods, and I am grateful for her scholarship and generosity. It is also important to recognize the work of the Saylor Foundation in creating and sharing Dr. Blackstone’s textbook. Similarly, the Dr. Frederiksen and Dr. Phelps’ textbook is an important resource for any student seeking to understand literature reviews.  The Rebus Community and Pressbooks are also invaluable contributors to the open textbook community.

I would like to thank two librarians, Jackie Delong of Washington College and Anita Walz of Virginia Tech, for making this book project possible.  I would also like to thank my social work mentors and colleagues at Radford University and Virginia Commonwealth University, particularly Dr. Mary Katherine O’Connor and Dr. Sarah Kye Price, who fostered my interest in multi-paradigmatic research methods.  Additionally, the support of Radford University and the Waldron College of Health and Human Services were invaluable during the writing of this manuscript.

The creation of this textbook would not have been possible without the assistance of student researchers and graduate assistants, who helped in the writing, editing, and testing of this textbook.  In particular, I would like to thank Amanda Parsons, David Cacamis, Daniel Brooks, and Courtney Crenshaw.  Students in my research methods courses further strengthened my understanding of how to teach this topic. I would like to thank Tommy Pennington who assisted with copyediting a draft of this text.

I am particularly indebted to Janine Gancy, MSW for her assistance in creating version 1.4 of this textbook. Janine did a remarkably thorough job proofreading and formatting the most recent edition of the textbook.

In addition, I would like to thank Melissa Ashman, an instructor of business communications at Kwantlen Polytechnic University, for her assistance in editing the 2018 version of this textbook. Janine Gancy’s contributions as editor in 2020 have immensely improved the resource, and I am incredibly grateful for her help.

The Open Social Work Education logo was designed by Courtney Kupersmith.

I also would also like to dedicate this book to my wife, Emily, for carrying the weight of all of my academic projects, however crazy they are, and for carrying our future son.  And to our cat, Chloe, thanks for being the best administrative assistant in the world.