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Social Work Science and Knowledge Utilization

Objective: This article advances understanding of social work science by examining the content and methods of highly utilized or cited journal articles in social work. Methods: A data base of the 100 most frequently cited articles from 79 social work journals was coded and categorized into three primary domains: content, research versus nonresearch, and, for research articles only, method used. Results: Findings show that knowledge utilization occurs on a conceptual level (related to professional developments, theory, and service needs of specific populations) as well as an instrumental level (such as related to intervention effectiveness). Fifty-one percent of highly cited articles were empirical and, of these, 33% relied on descriptive methods, 45% on explanatory methods, and 22% on control methods used primarily to study intervention effectiveness. Conclusion: Operationalizing the utilization of scientific knowledge in terms of the demand for specific journal articles reveals the content and methodological domains that characterize extant social work science. Six strategies in research, practice, and education are proposed to advance the further development of social work science.