Science and Social Work: Are They Compatible?

Abstract

This article was originally presented in 1995 as the keynote address of the National Conference of the Australian Association of Social Workers. The author analyzes some of the sources of resistance to accepting scientific methodology within social work, including political, philosophical, and quasi-religious ones. The strength of scientific methods, as opposed to other ways of knowing, includes their utility in proving that some "findings" are indeed false and their skeptical attitude toward new claims.