Required Readings: Yegidis, B. L., Weinbach, R. W., Myers, L

Required Readingsyegidis B L Weinbach R W Myers L L 2018

Choose one phenomenon or issue that a client may be dealing with (for example, depression, anxiety, or family conflict). Consider how you would evaluate the client’s progress in this area. Create questions with response options that would capture this phenomenon or client issue. By Day 3, identify the phenomenon you would measure and explain how you conceptualize this phenomenon.

Provide at least 3 questions you would use to measure this phenomenon and explain how these questions operationalize the phenomenon. Define reliability in 2-3 sentences and give one example of how you would establish reliability for the questions you created. Define validity in 2-3 sentences and give one example of how you would establish validity for the questions you created. Create a measurement plan to assess the phenomenon. Describe the methodology you would use to collect data using your measurement tool (your method for acquiring this research data). Explain the advantages and disadvantages of your choices.

Paper For Above instruction

Effective measurement of psychological and social phenomena is fundamental in social work research and practice. Selecting and designing appropriate instruments to evaluate client progress requires a comprehensive understanding of the phenomena and the methodological rigor to ensure reliable and valid results. This paper explores the process of conceptualizing a phenomenon, creating measurement questions, and establishing the validity and reliability of these instruments, along with a suitable data collection methodology.

Phenomenon Selection and Conceptualization

The phenomenon chosen for this study is "family conflict," a common issue among clients in social work who struggle with interpersonal relations within their families. Family conflict refers to disagreements, tension, or discord among family members that can negatively impact mental health and overall well-being. Conceptually, family conflict encompasses behaviors such as frequent arguing, misunderstandings, feelings of resentment, and lack of communication. Operationally, it can be measured through specific questions that capture the frequency, intensity, and impact of these conflicts on the individual.

Measurement Questions and Operationalization

Based on the conceptualization of family conflict, I propose the following three questions:

1. “In the past month, how often have you experienced disagreements or arguments with family members?” (Response options: Never, Rarely, Sometimes, Often, Very Often)
2. “On a scale of 1 to 5, how emotionally draining do you find conflicts within your family?” (1 = Not draining at all, 5 = Extremely draining)
3. “How satisfied are you with the level of communication within your family?” (Response options: Very Dissatisfied, Dissatisfied, Neutral, Satisfied, Very Satisfied)

These questions operationalize family conflict by measuring its frequency, emotional impact, and perceived communication quality, thus capturing multiple dimensions of the phenomenon.

Reliability and Validity

Reliability refers to the consistency of a measurement instrument over time or across different raters. An example of establishing reliability for these questions would be conducting a test-retest procedure, administering the same questions to the same clients after a set period and assessing the stability of responses through correlation analysis.

Validity pertains to whether the instrument accurately measures the intended phenomenon. To establish content validity, I would consult with experts in family therapy and social work to review the questions, ensuring they comprehensively cover aspects of family conflict. Construct validity can be assessed by examining the correlations between these questions and other established measures of family conflict or related constructs such as family cohesion or communication scales.

Measurement Plan and Data Collection Methodology

The measurement plan involves administering the questions through a structured interview or a self-administered questionnaire, either online or in person. The chosen method will depend on resource availability and client accessibility. The questionnaire can be distributed electronically for efficiency or in paper form for clients with limited internet access.

Advantages of this approach include ease of data collection, potential for large sample sizes, and standardization of questions that facilitate comparison across clients. Disadvantages include potential response biases, such as social desirability or misunderstanding of questions, and the challenge of ensuring confidentiality, which might influence honest responses.

In conclusion, careful conceptualization, question design, and methodological planning are essential in developing reliable and valid measurement tools for social phenomena like family conflict. The combination of theoretically grounded questions and rigorous validation processes ensures the collection of meaningful data to inform intervention strategies and evaluate client progress effectively.

References

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