Social Work Doctoral Scholarship in Canada

The nature and types of social work research generated in doctoral programs has been well-studied in the US. Doctoral programs in Canada, in comparison, are much younger; the first doctoral program was created in the mid-1970s. To date, there is no systematic understanding of the nature and types of knowledge produced within Schools and Faculties of Social Work. In this study we review 248 dissertations that were published in Canada between 2001 and 2011. Method: A database was created from a search of Canadian social work dissertations published between 2001-2011 using the ProQuest Dissertations and Theses Database (PQDT). To verify the sample, doctoral program directors were contacted and independently confirmed the sample names and dissertation titles by year. Full text dissertations were retrieved for review. Data pertaining to 12 research methodology variables (e.g., quantitative/qualitative/mixed method, presence/absence of hypothesis, primary or secondary data source, sample size, etc., see codebook) was extracted from each dissertation. Inter-rater reliability for a random selection of 1/3 of the cases was 0.82. Conflicts w ere resolved through consensus.