The University of Pennsylvania School of Social Policy and Practice is an acknowledged leader in cultivating theoretical and practical social work knowledge. Celebrating the School's centennial, this volume heralds the progressive thinking of its leaders and students while setting the stage for the next century of work at the frontier of the field.Following the School's approach, the book upholds the core values of social work: a clear understanding and respect for the past; analysis of current and professional issues; a vision of the future that reflects a commitment to social change; and the dissemination of knowledge on local, national, and global issues. The intellectual history of the School's founders, faculty, and students is reconstructed through an extensive collection of articles on a variety of social work themes that employ both data-based research and theoretical analysis. The volume contains key contributions from practitioners affiliated with the School, from the early pioneers in 1908 to recent alumni and current faculty in 2008."A Century of Social Work and Social Welfare at Penn" will be an enduring resource for scholars and historians of social work and social welfare as well as a point of reference and pride for those influenced by the achievements of the School's faculty and students.

Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) are considered by many researchers and providers to be the gold standard of health and social service effectiveness research. However, there exist scant resources that deal with the complex nature of designing and implementing RCTs in community-based settings. This clearly written pocket guide provides researchers and social service practitioners insight into each step of an RCT. The goal of this text is to enable readers to understand, design, and implement a community-based RCT.
From the initial stage of planning the RCT and developing its conceptual foundations through implementation, the authors provide a wealth of detail and case studies from social work practice research that assist readers to comprehend the detailed information provided. Accessible, concrete advice is woven throughout the text and tackles the many design and implementation challenges that arise in community practice settings. The importance of utilizing a mix of qualitative and quantitative methods is encouraged due to the intricate nature of RCT research in community-based environments.
Through utilizing practical case examples, this pocket guide reviews the essentials of RCTs in a manner that will appeal to researchers, practitioners and students alike who are seeking the necessary tools to build the empirical knowledge base for community-based psychosocial interventions for social work.