This paper details the research methodology employed in a study of technology use, anxiety, and confidence among social workers and supervisors in Alaska's Office of Children's Services. Using a structured survey/questionnaire instrument with Likert-scale and closed-form responses, the study collected quantitative data from regional offices in Fairbanks, Anchorage, Juneau, and Wasilla. The methodology covers research design rationale, non-probability sampling through office selection, key variable measurement, data collection procedures, and statistical analysis techniques. The study aimed to identify personal and professional factors that influence technology adoption and to model potential barriers and encouragements to technology integration within this social services agency.
The research design employed in this study consisted of a standard survey/questionnaire methodology, with an instrument created to yield quantitative answers that could then be subjected to further statistical analysis. As the goal of the research is to establish which variables play a significant role in creating either anxiety or confidence around the use of technology among the selected population of social workers, this design was considered the most efficient and effective approach. Survey and questionnaire instruments that are highly structured and contain closed sets of responses in discrete intervals are low-resource means of achieving fairly detailed and accurate results, provided the instruments themselves are properly designed. Great care was taken to ensure the reliability and validity of the instruments developed for this project. By collecting data on a variety of work areas and technological habits as well as personal values and attitudes, the survey/questionnaire instrument was able to capture an abundance of information that can be used to determine the influence of certain variables on technology-use anxiety and confidence.
This research study specifically focused on the use of technology — and more specifically, the levels of anxiety and confidence associated with technology use — among Alaskan social workers in the state's Office of Children's Services. Sampling was achieved through office selection rather than through individual personnel selection; all social workers and supervisors at selected regional offices were sent surveys and consent forms for response and return. Regional offices in Fairbanks, Anchorage, Juneau, and Wasilla were selected for inclusion in the research, with the number of respondents not expected to place undue strain on the time or resources available to the researchers, even if an unusually high response rate was achieved.
It is largely due to the relatively small size of the population being examined, and the small sample size available, that individual sampling was not conducted; instead, a selection of offices with blanket survey response requests was employed. The non-probability sampling approach used here was designed to identify commonalities and trends regarding anxiety and confidence in technology use among these social workers and supervisors, but not to draw broad conclusions about the population as a whole. This approach also eased sampling constraints from demographic and distribution requirements without reducing the validity or the usefulness and generalizability of the data collected or the conclusions of the final statistical analysis.
Key variables assessed in this research include the rate of technology use, levels of anxiety in regard to technology use, and levels of confidence in regard to technology use. Many other measures were also taken to identify potential variables of influence affecting these three major variables, and these additional measures formed the bulk of the desired information in the research. That is, though technology use, anxiety, and confidence levels had to be established in order to make the research meaningful and useful, they were established primarily to test the other measures — specifically, to conduct measurements on other variables of greater interest.
Factors such as previous exposure to and experience with technology, confidence and anxiety when confronted with mathematical issues or propositions, ease of personal interactions, other sources of anxiety or situations that inspire confidence, and a range of other related professional and personal metrics were all recorded in order to be correlated with measurements of overall technology use, technology-inspired anxiety, and technological confidence. All measures were recorded quantitatively using a standard Likert scale as typically employed in similar structured survey/questionnaire instruments, providing a reliable tool for establishing concrete measurements.
Data collection took place according to standard survey/questionnaire methodology and was straightforward and low-intensity. After the survey/questionnaire instrument had been designed and properly validated, sufficient copies were produced and packaged with pre-paid return envelopes, then shipped in bulk to the Office of Children's Services offices in Fairbanks, Anchorage, Juneau, and Wasilla. Respondents had a period of two weeks to complete and return the survey/questionnaire — including a signed consent form — at their own leisure and in whatever setting they chose.
"Survey distribution, consent, and return procedures"
"Statistical correlation and preliminary model building"
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