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Helpful Guide for Evidence Based Social Work Practice

Brown School EBP Handbook
Developed at the George Warren Brown School of Social Work at Washington University (St. Louis, MO), this guide provides detailed steps in the process of developing evidence based social work practice.
- Formulate an empirically answerable question from a practice situation
- Locate the best available evidence relating to the question
- Integrate (1) the best available evidence with (2) practitioner judgement, (3) social context, and (4) an understanding of involved persons
- Review how things went and learn from the process
Source: Brown School EBP Handbook (2012)

"Hierarchy of Evidence"

Certain types of research methodologies are considered stronger "evidence" than other methodologies. At the top of the pyramid are Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses, because they synthesize the results of multiple studies relating to the same research problem, thereby measuring or evaluating broad patterns in the research. Individual studies of various rigor fall below this type of research as noted below.

Heirarchy of Evidence