Nature and Extent of Quantitative Research in Social Work Journals: A Systematic Review from 2016 to 2020

Abstract

Abstract This study reviews 1,406 research articles published between 2016 and 2020 in the European Journal of Social Work (EJSW), the British Journal of Social Work (BJSW) and Research on Social Work Practice (RSWP). It assesses the proportion and complexity of quantitative research designs amongst published articles and investigates differences between the journals. Furthermore, the review investigates the complexity of the statistical methods employed and identifies the most frequently addressed topics. From the 1,406 articles, 504 (35.8 percent) used a qualitative methodology, 389 (27.7 percent) used a quantitative methodology, 85 (6 percent) used the mixed methods (6 percent), 253 (18 percent) articles were theoretical in nature, 148 (10.5 percent) conducted reviews and 27 (1.9 percent) gave project overviews. The proportion of quantitative research articles was higher in RSWP (55.4 percent) than in the EJSW (14.1 percent) and the BJSW (20.5 percent). The topic analysis could identify at least forty different topics addressed by the articles. Although the proportion of quantitative research is rather small in social work research, the review could not find evidence that it is of low sophistication. Finally, this study concludes that future research would benefit from making explicit why a certain methodology was chosen.