Social work in the laboratory: Using microworlds for practice research

British Journal of Social Work

Volumn 41, Issue 4, 2011, Pages 744-760

  Wastell, David ^a   Peckover, Sue ^b   White, Sue ^c   Broadhurst, Karen ^d   Hall, Chris ^e   Pithouse, Andy ^f  

^a UNIVERSITY OF NOTTINGHAM   (United Kingdom)

^b UNIVERSITY OF HUDDERSFIELD   (United Kingdom)

^c UNIVERSITY OF BIRMINGHAM   (United Kingdom)

^d LANCASTER UNIVERSITY   (United Kingdom)

^e DURHAM UNIVERSITY   (United Kingdom)

^f CARDIFF UNIVERSITY   (United Kingdom)

Author keywords

computer based simulation; culture; Laboratory experimentation; microworlds; practice research; professional reasoning; systems design

Indexed keywords

EID: 79959721248     PISSN: 00453102     EISSN: 1468263X     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1093/bjsw/bcr014     Document Type: Article

References (33)

1. Brehmer, B. and Dörner, D. (1993) 'Experiments with computer-simulated microworlds: Escaping both the narrow straits of the laboratory and the deep blue sea of the field study', Computers and Human Behaviour, 9(2-3), pp. 171-84.
2. Broadhurst, K., Wastell, D., White, S., Hall, C., Peckover, S., Thompson, K., Pithouse, A. and Darey, C. (2010) 'Performing "initial assessment": Identifying the latent conditions for error at the front-door of local authority children's services', British Journal of Social Work, 40(2), pp. 352-70.
3. Cleaver, H., Walker, S., Scott, S., Cleaver, D., Rose, W., Ward, H. and Pithouse, A. (2008) The Integrated Children's System: Enhancing Social Work and Inter-Agency Practice, London, Jessica Kingsley Publishers.
4. Dillon, A. (2004) Designing Usable Electronic Text, New York, CRC Press.
5. Dorner, D. (1996) The Logic of Failure, New York, Basic Books.
6. Dorner, D. and Pfeifer, E. (1993) 'Strategic thinking and stress', Ergonomics, 36(11), pp. 1345-60. (Pubitemid 23332164)
7. Fowler, P., Patrick, M., Carleton, A. and Merrin, B. (1998) 'Transition packages: An experiment in expediting the introduction of requirements management', Requirements Engineering, 6, pp. 138-45.
8. Funke, J. (1997) 'Computer-based testing and training with scenarios from complex problem-solving research: Advantages and disadvantages', International Journal of Selection and Assessment, 6, pp. 90-6.
9. Garrett, P. M. (2005) 'Social work's "electronic turn": Notes on the deployment of information and communication technologies in social work with children and families', Critical Social Policy, 25(4), pp. 529-54.
10. Gillingham, P. and Humphreys, C. (2009) 'Child protection practitioners and decision-making tools: Observations and reflections from the front line', British Journal of Social Work Advance Access published December 23, 2009. doi:10.1093/bjsw/bcp155.
11. Gorman, P., Lavelle, M., Delcambe, L. and Maier, D. (2002) 'Following experts at work in their own information spaces: Using observational methods to develop tools for the digital library', Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, 43(14), pp. 1245-50.
12. Greene, J. C., Sommerfield, P. and Haight, W. (2010) 'Mixing methods in social work research', in Shaw et al. (eds), The Sage Handbook of Social Work Research, London, Sage, pp. 315-31.
13. Hall, C. (1997) Social Work as Narrative: Storytelling and Persuasion in Professional Texts, Aldershot, Ashgate.
14. Hockey, G., Wastell, D. and Sauer, J. (1998) 'Effects of sleep deprivation and dialogue control on the management of a complex system: A test of the compensatory regulation hypothesis', Human Factors, 40, pp. 233-53. (Pubitemid 28378072)
15. Hockey, G. R. J., Sauer, J. and Wastell, D. G. (2007) 'Adaptability of training in simulated process control: Comparison of knowledge- and rule-based guidance under task changes and environmental stress', Human Factors, 49, pp. 158-74. (Pubitemid 46175389)
16. Hutchins, E. (1995) Cognition in the Wild, Cambridge, MA, MIT Press.
17. Kaber, D. B., Wright, M. C., Prinzel, L. J. and Clamann, M. P. (2005) 'Adaptive automation of human-machine system information-processing functions', Human Factors, 47(4), pp. 730-41.
18. Klein, G. (2008) 'Naturalistic decision-making', Human Factors, 50, pp. 456-60.
19. Kleinmann, M. and Strauss, B. (1998) 'Validity and application of computer-simulated scenarios in personnel assessment', International Journal of Selection and Assessment, 6, pp. 97-106.
20. Kluge, A. (2008) 'Performance assessments with microworlds and their difficulty', Applied Psychological Measurement, 32, pp. 156-80.
21. Lipshitz, R., Klein, G., Orasanu, J. and Salas, E. (2001) 'Taking stock of naturalistic decision making', Journal of Behavioral Decision Making, 14, pp. 331-52.
22. Parasuraman, R. and Wickens, C. D. (2008) 'Humans: Still vital after all these years of automation', Human Factors, 50(3), pp. 511-20. (Pubitemid 352029812)
23. Parton, N. (2008) 'Changes in the form of knowledge in social work: From the "social" to the "informational"', British Journal of Social Work, 38, pp. 253-69.
24. Reissman, C. K. (1993) Narrative Analysis, Newbury Park, CA, Sage.
25. Satterwhite, R. and Schoech, D. (1996) 'Multimedia training for child protective service workers: Initial test results', Computers in Human Services, 12(1/2), pp. 81-97.
26. Shaw, I. (2005) 'Practitioner research: Evidence or critique', British Journal of Social Work, 35(8), pp. 1231-48.
27. Shaw, I., Bell, M., Sinclair, I., Sloper, P., Mitchell, W., Dyson, P., Clayden, J. and Rafferty, J. (2009) 'An exemplary scheme? An evaluation of the integrated children's system', British Journal of Social Work, 39, pp. 613-26.
28. Shaw, I., Briar-Lawson, K., Orme, J. and Ruckdeschel, R. (2010) The Sage Handbook of Social Work Research, London, Sage.
29. Social Work Task Force (2009) Building a Safe, Confident Future, London, Department for Children, Schools and Families and Department of Health, DCSF-01114-2009.
30. Wastell, D. (1996) 'Human-machine dynamics in complex information systems: The "microworld" paradigm as a heuristic tool for developing theory and exploring design issues', Information Systems Journal, 6(4), pp. 245-60. (Pubitemid 126414081)
31. Wastell, D., White, S., Broadhurst, K., Peckover, S. and Pithouse, A. (2010) 'Children's services in the iron cage of performance management: Street level bureaucracy and ? the spectre of Svejkism', International Journal of Social Work, 19, pp. 310-20.
32. White, S., Wastell, D. G., Broadhurst, K. and Hall, C. (2010) 'When policy o'erleaps itself: The tragic tale of the Integrated Children's System', Critical Social Policy, 30(3), pp. 405-29.
33. Zuboff, S. (1984) In the Age of the Smart Machine, New York, Basic Books.