Once intimidating and foreign, research is slowly but surely becoming a common pursuit in the master’s program at the USC Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work.

During a recent symposium hosted by the Phi Alpha Honor Society, several master’s students described their recent forays into the research world, from spending time with chronically homeless individuals who had just received housing to refining an application for tablet computers designed to help older adults in Taiwan manage their diabetes.

“As a social worker, research is very important because that’s how we learn more about vulnerable populations,” said Sumala Haque, the honor society’s research liaison. “We try to find solutions, and without research you can’t help people.”

The success of developing programs and preventive measures that are effective at addressing social problems depends largely on rigorous scientific studies, she explained.

Events like the student research symposium are also critical to the success of the school, and not only because of new national accreditation guidelines for schools of social work that call for getting master’s students involved in research.

“Schools must develop ways of engaging master’s students in research that is effective and makes a difference,” said Charles Kaplan, research professor and associate dean of research at the USC Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work. “Phi Alpha has taken the lead in helping students do research that is real — not just a class assignment or term paper but really integrated into a research program that results in publications and grants.”

He noted that the quality of the student symposiums has led school leaders to provide additional resources to help the honor society immerse more students in research culture.

“This is a student movement,” Kaplan said. “If it’s going to succeed, it’s not going to come from the administration or the faculty but students seeing the value of this experience and the value of research in their professional career development.”

A new pursuit

One student leading the charge is Huong Pham, president of Phi Alpha at USC and a second-year MSW student. She entered the master’s program with little interest in research until she joined the honor society, which recognizes and promotes outstanding scholarship and student achievement in social work.

She certainly wasn’t planning to pursue a doctorate, which she is now considering after becoming involved with a research project assessing the needs of homeless women living in the Skid Row area and other regions of downtown Los Angeles.

“Every student has to take a research course, but nobody talks about what you can do with that knowledge — how it translates into your profession and what you can do with it on the side,” she said.

Pham encouraged her fellow students to look for research opportunities, not only because the experience of engaging in a real-world study and presenting findings at events like the student symposium can add depth to their resume, but also because understanding how research serves as a foundation for practice is critical.

“There is an importance in talking about research and how impactful it can be,” she said. “The only way you can talk about and solve issues is if you have evidence, which comes from research.”

Unlike Pham, Siying “Shelley” Wang joined the master’s program with a strong desire to get involved in research. In fact, the first-year MSW student began volunteering as a member of Associate Professor Shinyi Wu’s research team, which is developing and testing a program on tablet computers that may help Taiwanese older adults manage their diabetes and related health issues.

Taking initiative

While taking a user experience design class at UCLA Extension prior to entering the MSW program, Wang stumbled across a description of Wu’s project and thought it might be a good opportunity to practice her new skills. She emailed the associate professor and asked if she could volunteer, explaining that she could help evaluate and test the functionality of the diabetes self-care app from the user perspective.

“She let me sit in on the research meetings,” Wang said. “I just took the initiative to suggest doing user testing on the app. Through this project I demonstrated my passion for research and technical skills, so they brought me on as a research assistant.”

When she heard that Caroline Lim, a PhD student who is evaluating treatment and recovery among Asian Americans with schizophrenia as her dissertation project, needed master’s students who could speak Chinese or Vietnamese, Wang jumped at the opportunity.

After two months of training on the research process and how to evaluate symptoms of schizophrenia, the Shanghai native has been helping Lim collect data on barriers and facilitators of recovery, including ensuring that participants understand and complete the informed consent process.

Wang plans to earn her clinical license in social work and practice in the field after graduating, although she didn’t rule out pursuing a doctorate at some point. Regardless of her ultimate career path, she is confident that developing research skills and knowledge of the evidence base behind clinical practices will be valuable.

“Research is essential, especially to clinicians,” she said. “It help clinicians not only become more accountable and consistent in their practice, but also demonstrate how clinical practices play a role in fostering social change.”

A voice for the voiceless

Helping improve quality of life for marginalized and vulnerable populations is also a major force driving Gilma Palma’s work. The second-year MSW student is particularly interested in pursuing research on trauma experienced during migration.

During her field placement with the Los Angeles Unified School District, she helped develop a support group for undocumented immigrants and their families, particularly youths who had migrated within the previous 3 months and spoke little English.

“I’ve seen some articles, but I feel there isn’t enough research about the trauma of migration and how it’s affecting their assimilation and quality of life,” she said.

The issue is also personal for Palma, whose parents both immigrated to the United States in the 1980s to escape civil war in Central America.

“I’ve seen how that trauma has played out in their lives,” she said. “It’s not something we talk about, but now that I have this education and trauma lens, I am able to understand it better. A lot of the youth I’m seeing now have had similar experiences.”

She also is helping Lim with her study on schizophrenia and Asian Americans, many of whom are first-generation immigrants and have similar struggles with assimilation and trauma.

Palma said conducting research with these vulnerable groups can help her and other students gain a better understanding of their challenges and needs.

“Most of us are going to be on the front lines, working with these populations that don’t have a voice or someone to advocate for them,” she said. “We can advocate for them, we can advocate for policy change, we can advocate for funding.”

She added that she is grateful for the opportunity to share some of the lessons she learned during the student symposium and is hopeful that the work of the honor society and school leaders will encourage other MSW students to collect their own data and give similar presentations.

“I’ve grown so much in the program, personally and professionally,” she said. “It has inspired me to do my own research and empowered me in ways I never expected.”