SOCIAL WORKERS AND STATISTICS: . . Preparation, Attitudes, and Knowledge Stanley L. Witkin Jeffrey L. Edleson Duncan Lindsey ABSTRACT. Crrrretrl inleresl in q~~otrlilalive research nec~ssifoles o b.tsic ~rnrlrrslunrlitrg of slarislic~s by suciul work procfilioners. In this sfurly, 128 social workers iwre s~rrveyed obotrl llreir.slofislicu1 Iruining ond orfilrrdes Iowardsslulisli~'~. In orldilio~r. wrkers were asked lo idenrfly eight cotntnon slolislicalsyn~Dols. Kesrrlls indicoled r h ~ f while proclifioners view .YI~II.FI~C,V as tnotleralely valroble, lheir kno wledge of slnlislics is nrinirnol. lmplicarions of /heseresrrllsattdsr~g~es~iotrs forittrprovitrgIltissilrrolionoreoffer~d~ Statistical analysis has become a routine part of social science research. In social work, demands for more "objective" methods of accountability have combined with a growing array of statistical procedures and easily used "canned" computer programs (e.g., Lind- sey, 1977) to make statistical data analysis increasingly popular. As a consequence of this shift toward the use of quantitative analysis, social workers are finding it necessary to interpret and understand the lan- guage of statistics in order to remain critical consumers of the research literature. At the present time, li'ttle is known about the typical social worker's level of competency in the statistical area. Previous surveys of social workers' attitudes toward research have generally revealed an estrange- ment between practitioners and the research process (Casselman, 1972; - - -- Dr. Witkin is Assistant Professor. School of Social Work,l'he Plori- du University, Tullal~asscc. I'L 32306. Dr. Edleson is afnlialed will1 lhc School of Social Work. Univcrsity of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53706. Dr. Lindsey is Assistant Profes- sor, George Warrcn Brown School of Social Work, Wasl~ingtot~ University, St. Louis, MO 63130. Rcqucsls for reprints should be addressed to Dr. Willdn. Downloaded by [University of California, Berkeley] at 20:21 20 March 2016