For the last several decades, social work curricula have included research as a required course at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. The few social work texts on statistics that exist are written from a mainstream perspective and do not challenge the current neoliberal social order. In Statistics for Social Justice: A Structural Perspective, van de Sande and Byvelds argue that social work research, including statistics, should be taught from a structural perspective and should follow anti-oppressive principles, which view the problems experienced by people as rooted in the social, political and economic structures of society. Just as social workers are committed to social justice and social change, so too should be the aim of social work research. In order for researchers to convince funders, the government or even the general public to accept their arguments, it is crucial to provide hard evidence in the form of numbers and statistics. Social workers must have a good understanding of quantitative research methods and statistical analysis in order to be able to present this kind of information. The aim of this book is to lay the foundation for this knowledge and provide an introduction into statistical concepts as they relate to social work, all while using a social justice lens.

Most social research texts are written from an empiricist/positivist perspective, emphasizing the scientific method and the value of objectivity in research. While acknowledging that certain aspects of the scientific method should be preserved, Adje van de Sande and Karen Schwartz argue that social research should not and cannot be value-free. Researchers committed to social justice and social change need to support that commitment. This new edition of Research for Social Justice examines how the structural inequality perspective and anti-oppressive principles - which view the problems experienced by people as rooted in the social, political and economic structures of society - provide this support. Also included in this edition are updated and revised examples of research, a substantially revised chapter on Indigenous approaches to research, a chapter-by- chapter description of developing student projects in a research course and examples of student-led, community-based research projects.