From paper to practice : a critical examination of the role local student dissertations have in supporting evidence-based practices in social work

Abstract

This study explored the extent local student dissertations can support evidence-based practices in social work. Dissertations are often an overlooked resource but strategically arranging their position could transform them into contextualised sources of evidence with the potential of narrowing the local research-to-practice gap. Two research questions were formulated to define the scope of the research, one targeting the academic aspect of the dissertations whilst the other targeted their use in practice. A mixed methods approach was employed for this study. First, a quantitative, descriptive analysis paved the way by describing the salient trends and characteristics of all social work dissertations submitted at the University of Malta between 2019 and 2023. Second, eight qualitative semi-structured interviews were carried out with four senior academics and four social services managerial employees to answer each research question, respectively. A deductive thematic analysis was employed to structure the findings obtained from the interviews into six overarching themes. The quantitative findings demonstrated that social work dissertations were condensed at undergraduate level, adopted a qualitative strategy and an observational, descriptive design. Social workers were the most targeted population and governmental intermediary institutions were the most prevalent. Most samples were gathered from Malta and the top four most researched topics were ‘social work practice’, ‘violence against women’, ‘disability’, and ‘substance misuse and addictive behaviours’. The qualitative findings indicated that both academics and managerial employees lack a thorough conceptualisation of evidence-based practices, the research-to-practice gap stems from both human and environmental constraints and published studies are extensively favoured over unpublished ones. The academics demonstrated a clear distinction between the expectations imposed across the different academic levels whereas an underdeveloped publication culture within the Department limits the extent dissertations are shared. Managerial employees are not particularly inclined to refer to undergraduate dissertations because of their limited practicality. It was determined that although undergraduates make up the biggest cohorts, the students lack the necessary analytical skills and field experience to produce dissertations with strong practical implications. Consequently, dissertations are not embedded in the practice toolkit of most practitioners and are overlooked as possible sources of contextualised evidence. To improve the quality and practicality of dissertations, the dynamics surrounding university-agency collaborations are discussed. The concept of research waste is explored to address the current misuse of local research resources. The study will conclude with actionable recommendations to enhance the integration of dissertations into practice.