research and statistics in social work

Social Work Research Methods That Drive the Practice

Social workers advocate for the well-being of individuals, families and communities. But how do social workers know what interventions are needed to help an individual? How do they assess whether a treatment plan is working? What do social workers use to write evidence-based policy?

Social work involves research-informed practice and practice-informed research. At every level, social workers need to know objective facts about the populations they serve, the efficacy of their interventions and the likelihood that their policies will improve lives. A variety of social work research methods make that possible.

Data-Driven Work

Data is a collection of facts used for reference and analysis. In a field as broad as social work, data comes in many forms.

Quantitative vs. Qualitative

As with any research, social work research involves both quantitative and qualitative studies.

Quantitative Research

Answers to questions like these can help social workers know about the populations they serve — or hope to serve in the future.

• How many students currently receive reduced-price school lunches in the local school district?
• How many hours per week does a specific individual consume digital media?
• How frequently did community members access a specific medical service last year?

Quantitative data — facts that can be measured and expressed numerically — are crucial for social work.

Quantitative research has advantages for social scientists. Such research can be more generalizable to large populations, as it uses specific sampling methods and lends itself to large datasets. It can provide important descriptive statistics about a specific population. Furthermore, by operationalizing variables, it can help social workers easily compare similar datasets with one another.

Qualitative Research

Qualitative data — facts that cannot be measured or expressed in terms of mere numbers or counts — offer rich insights into individuals, groups and societies. It can be collected via interviews and observations.

• What attitudes do students have toward the reduced-price school lunch program?
• What strategies do individuals use to moderate their weekly digital media consumption?
• What factors made community members more or less likely to access a specific medical service last year?

Qualitative research can thereby provide a textured view of social contexts and systems that may not have been possible with quantitative methods. Plus, it may even suggest new lines of inquiry for social work research.

Mixed Methods Research

Combining quantitative and qualitative methods into a single study is known as mixed methods research. This form of research has gained popularity in the study of social sciences, according to a 2019 report in the academic journal Theory and Society. Since quantitative and qualitative methods answer different questions, merging them into a single study can balance the limitations of each and potentially produce more in-depth findings.

However, mixed methods research is not without its drawbacks. Combining research methods increases the complexity of a study and generally requires a higher level of expertise to collect, analyze and interpret the data. It also requires a greater level of effort, time and often money.

The Importance of Research Design

Data-driven practice plays an essential role in social work. Unlike philanthropists and altruistic volunteers, social workers are obligated to operate from a scientific knowledge base.

To know whether their programs are effective, social workers must conduct research to determine results, aggregate those results into comprehensible data, analyze and interpret their findings, and use evidence to justify next steps.

Employing the proper design ensures that any evidence obtained during research enables social workers to reliably answer their research questions.

Research Methods in Social Work

The various social work research methods have specific benefits and limitations determined by context. Common research methods include surveys, program evaluations, needs assessments, randomized controlled trials, descriptive studies and single-system designs.

Surveys involve a hypothesis and a series of questions in order to test that hypothesis. Social work researchers will send out a survey, receive responses, aggregate the results, analyze the data, and form conclusions based on trends.

Surveys are one of the most common research methods social workers use — and for good reason. They tend to be relatively simple and are usually affordable. However, surveys generally require large participant groups, and self-reports from survey respondents are not always reliable.

Program Evaluations

Social workers ally with all sorts of programs: after-school programs, government initiatives, nonprofit projects and private programs, for example.

Crucially, social workers must evaluate a program’s effectiveness in order to determine whether the program is meeting its goals and what improvements can be made to better serve the program’s target population.

Evidence-based programming helps everyone save money and time, and comparing programs with one another can help social workers make decisions about how to structure new initiatives. Evaluating programs becomes complicated, however, when programs have multiple goal metrics, some of which may be vague or difficult to assess (e.g., “we aim to promote the well-being of our community”).

Needs Assessments

Social workers use needs assessments to identify services and necessities that a population lacks access to.

Common social work populations that researchers may perform needs assessments on include:

• People in a specific income group
• Everyone in a specific geographic region
• A specific ethnic group
• People in a specific age group

In the field, a social worker may use a combination of methods (e.g., surveys and descriptive studies) to learn more about a specific population or program. Social workers look for gaps between the actual context and a population’s or individual’s “wants” or desires.

For example, a social worker could conduct a needs assessment with an individual with cancer trying to navigate the complex medical-industrial system. The social worker may ask the client questions about the number of hours they spend scheduling doctor’s appointments, commuting and managing their many medications. After learning more about the specific client needs, the social worker can identify opportunities for improvements in an updated care plan.

In policy and program development, social workers conduct needs assessments to determine where and how to effect change on a much larger scale. Integral to social work at all levels, needs assessments reveal crucial information about a population’s needs to researchers, policymakers and other stakeholders. Needs assessments may fall short, however, in revealing the root causes of those needs (e.g., structural racism).

Randomized Controlled Trials

Randomized controlled trials are studies in which a randomly selected group is subjected to a variable (e.g., a specific stimulus or treatment) and a control group is not. Social workers then measure and compare the results of the randomized group with the control group in order to glean insights about the effectiveness of a particular intervention or treatment.

Randomized controlled trials are easily reproducible and highly measurable. They’re useful when results are easily quantifiable. However, this method is less helpful when results are not easily quantifiable (i.e., when rich data such as narratives and on-the-ground observations are needed).

Descriptive Studies

Descriptive studies immerse the researcher in another context or culture to study specific participant practices or ways of living. Descriptive studies, including descriptive ethnographic studies, may overlap with and include other research methods:

• Informant interviews
• Census data
• Observation

By using descriptive studies, researchers may glean a richer, deeper understanding of a nuanced culture or group on-site. The main limitations of this research method are that it tends to be time-consuming and expensive.

Single-System Designs

Unlike most medical studies, which involve testing a drug or treatment on two groups — an experimental group that receives the drug/treatment and a control group that does not — single-system designs allow researchers to study just one group (e.g., an individual or family).

Single-system designs typically entail studying a single group over a long period of time and may involve assessing the group’s response to multiple variables.

For example, consider a study on how media consumption affects a person’s mood. One way to test a hypothesis that consuming media correlates with low mood would be to observe two groups: a control group (no media) and an experimental group (two hours of media per day). When employing a single-system design, however, researchers would observe a single participant as they watch two hours of media per day for one week and then four hours per day of media the next week.

These designs allow researchers to test multiple variables over a longer period of time. However, similar to descriptive studies, single-system designs can be fairly time-consuming and costly.

Learn More About Social Work Research Methods

Social workers have the opportunity to improve the social environment by advocating for the vulnerable — including children, older adults and people with disabilities — and facilitating and developing resources and programs.

Learn more about how you can earn your  Master of Social Work online at Virginia Commonwealth University . The highest-ranking school of social work in Virginia, VCU has a wide range of courses online. That means students can earn their degrees with the flexibility of learning at home. Learn more about how you can take your career in social work further with VCU.

From M.S.W. to LCSW: Understanding Your Career Path as a Social Worker

How Palliative Care Social Workers Support Patients With Terminal Illnesses

How to Become a Social Worker in Health Care

Gov.uk, Mixed Methods Study

MVS Open Press, Foundations of Social Work Research

Open Social Work Education, Scientific Inquiry in Social Work

Open Social Work, Graduate Research Methods in Social Work: A Project-Based Approach

Routledge, Research for Social Workers: An Introduction to Methods

SAGE Publications, Research Methods for Social Work: A Problem-Based Approach

Theory and Society, Mixed Methods Research: What It Is and What It Could Be

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Statistics in social work.

An Introduction to Practical Applications

Amy Batchelor

Columbia University Press

Pub Date: November 2019

ISBN: 9780231193276

Format: Paperback

List Price: $30.00 £25.00

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ISBN: 9780231193269

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List Price: $90.00 £75.00

ISBN: 9780231550222

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Statistics in Social Work is a practical and effective resource for social work students. Batchelor requires no prior knowledge of statistics from her readers and explains topics in plain language with relatable examples. Most importantly, she offers a social justice perspective that emphasizes and integrates the core value of the social work profession. Ashley Davis, Boston University

This is an excellent introduction to statistics for both students and practitioners in social work—it demystifies terms and procedures and uses real world examples to help the reader to see the everyday applicability of statistical knowledge, whether in practice or in study. John Devaney, coauthor of Quantitative Research Methods for Social Work: Making Social Work Count

About the Author

• Social Work
• Mathematics
• Social Sciences
• Social Work: Research Methods

Social Work

• Background Info
• Streaming Video
• EndNote / APA Style
• Datasets & Statistics
• Public Policy
• Tests & Measures
• Clinical Social Work
• Systematic Reviews (DSW & PhD)
• Publishing in Social Work Journals

Statistics vs Datasets

Statistics are useful for social work practice because they provide information about social issues. Look for statistics on this guide if you need information/numbers about a topic. If you need raw numbers to download and analyze yourself, use the  datasets boxes below. 

Best Bets for Statistics about Sociology and Social Work Topics

• U.S. Census Bureau Main source of statistics for any U.S. geographic area, including people and population, race and ethnicity, families and living arrangements, health, education, business and economy, employment, housing, and income and poverty.

Best Bets for Finding Datasets

If you need datasets on a topic, search the following three resources:

• Data.gov Machine readable datasets generated by the Executive Branch of the Federal Government. Filtering by location is available.
• Google Dataset Search Use the Google Dataset Search. Optional limit by download format.

How to Search for Open/free Datasets

Include your topic keywords, along with the word dataset .

Example: juvenile recidivism dataset

Tip: You can also use the Google Dataset Search . 

Datasets for Social Welfare

Datasets from these sources are in a downloadable format such as a spreadsheet (.xls, xlsx, or .csv). 

• HealthData.gov Datasets from U.S. Health and Human Services agencies such as Administration for Children and Families, CDC, National Institute on Drug Abuse, etc. Also includes some state health data.
• Awesome Public Datasets Lists of open/free datasets in several disciplines, including social sciences, education, and health care.
• Journal of Open Psychology Data Features peer-reviewed papers that describe open/free psychology datasets.
• HUD User Datasets, research reports, and case studies on housing and community development, from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Datasets about Children & Youth

• Kids Count Data Center National, state and some city data measuring demographics, economic well-being, education, family, health and safe/risky behavior in children and families.
• National Data Archive on Child Abuse and Neglect An archive of various data sets on child abuse and neglect.

State and Local Data Portals

• KYSTATS Kentucky Center for Statistics Education (all levels), employment, and labor force statistics. Option to request other data and statistics.
• Louisville Metro Open Data Data and statistics about health, expenditures, safety, transportation, housing, air pollution, and more.
• Lexington's Data Hub Community, development, transportation, environmental, census, land use, city planning, and more.
• << Previous: EndNote / APA Style
• Next: Public Policy >>

Social Science Dataset Examples

• U.S. Transgender Survey Examines education, employment, family life, health, housing, and interactions with police and prisons.
• Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS) Data can be used to assess how many children are in foster care, reasons they enter, and how they exit.
• National Archive of Criminal Justice Data Includes the National Crime Victimization Survey, FBI Uniform Crime Reports, and FBI National Incident-Based Reporting System.
• National Addiction & HIV Data Archive Program Examples include drug abuse monitoring, treatment, alcohol study series, crime victimization survey series.
• Social, Behavioral, & Economic COVID Coordinating Center New data collection efforts on the pandemic's social and economic impacts.
• General Social Survey Main areas cover socioeconomic status, social mobility, social control, the family, race relations, sex relations, civil liberties, and morality.

Data Visualization Info

• Data Visualization Data and text visualization software and tools.
• GIS & Digital Mapping Introductory guide for projects involving Geospatial Information Systems (GIS), software and tools, from UK Libraries.
• Last Updated: Aug 22, 2024 12:58 PM
• URL: https://libguides.uky.edu/socialwork

Foundations of Social Work Research

(4 reviews)

Rebecca L. Mauldin

Copyright Year: 2020

ISBN 13: 9781648169915

Publisher: Mavs Open Press

Language: English

Formats Available

Conditions of use.

Learn more about reviews.

Reviewed by LaToya Smith-Jones, Adjunct Professor, University of Texas at Arlington on 3/26/24

The textbook covers various topics that are familiar to the Social Work profession. There are relatable examples given within the book, which allow Social Work students to understand discussions through the lens of an actual practitioner. Each... read more

Comprehensiveness rating: 5 see less

The textbook covers various topics that are familiar to the Social Work profession. There are relatable examples given within the book, which allow Social Work students to understand discussions through the lens of an actual practitioner. Each section provides an area where research vocabulary is listed and reviewed, as well as examples to deepen the understanding of the vocabulary used.

Content Accuracy rating: 5

The information presented in the textbook is presented with accuracy. Bias was not noticed within the text.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 5

The information presented within the textbook was up-to-date. Classical studies were also included in the textbook. The classical studies allow the students to understand the historical influence regarding the research process.

Clarity rating: 5

The textbook provides examples and a separate vocabulary section in order to understand the jargon and technical terminology. individuals who do not have a research background will be able to comprehend the information written.

Consistency rating: 5

The textbook is consistent regarding terminology and framework. Each section builds upon the previous section.

Modularity rating: 5

Each section is broken up according to the topic of the chapter. Each chapter is broken up in sections, which allows for an easier read.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 5

The chapters are presented in a logical and clear fashion. The information presented within the textbook builds upon itself. Students are first introduced to background information regarding the topic and then they are given information regarding the application of the information shared.

Interface rating: 5

There were not any interface issues.

Grammatical Errors rating: 5

There were not any grammatical errors noted.

Cultural Relevance rating: 5

Information within the text was inclusive and included examples of various ethnicities and backgrounds.

The textbook is excellent to use for students who do not have a research background. The manner in which the information is presented and laid out assists with aiding students' understanding.

Reviewed by Quentin Maynard, Assistant Professor, University of Southern Indiana on 11/30/22

This text covers topics that social work students need to understand to be consumers of research. The author and contributors include current real work examples to help emphasize the different topics. Integrating the chapter on Real World Research... read more

This text covers topics that social work students need to understand to be consumers of research. The author and contributors include current real work examples to help emphasize the different topics. Integrating the chapter on Real World Research throughout the text might help emphasize to students that engaging in research is necessary to our profession, even as practitioners.

The content was accurate and error-free.

The content of the text was up-to-date and included information relevant to social work research. Since the main author solicited contributions from colleagues at their institution, updates and changes would likely be relatively straightforward.

The book seemed accessible for individuals with limited research experience. Key words were defined in the text and included in a glossary at the end of each section and the text.

The text was consistent in style and organization. Chapter subsections have specific learning objectives allowing students to know what will be covered in each chapter. Doing this reduces bloat and increases clarity for readers.

The text did not appear to be structured in a way that was overwhelming or difficult to follow.

The structure of the book was logical.

The digital pdf and the online versions of the text were intuitive and easy to navigate. I did not notice any issues with the interface in either format.

No writing or grammar errors noted.

The text is culturally sensitive. It includes a content advisory at the beginning of each chapter which allows students to be aware of specific topics (e.g., racism, sexism, and poverty) discussed or mentioned in the chapter. While this text was adapted for students at a specific university, the authors include topics that reach much farther than that audience. The examples included cover a diverse set of people and situations.

This is a comprehensive text that allows students the opportunity to learn how to be consumers of social work research. While practice evaluation might not be the scope of this text, other than the chapter on Real World Research, including discussions about how students might apply the concepts of each chapter in social work practice. The structure of the book allows students to see the research that their professors are engaging in and might make research more accessible to social work students and practitioners

Reviewed by Matt Walsh, Assistant Professor of Social Work, Marian University on 12/30/21

This textbook covers all the aspects of research you would expect for an introduction to social work research. It uses classic examples of past research to highlight the importance of ethics in research. It also does a good job of discussing... read more

This textbook covers all the aspects of research you would expect for an introduction to social work research. It uses classic examples of past research to highlight the importance of ethics in research. It also does a good job of discussing both quantitative and qualitative research as well as single system designs and program evaluation. My one critique as someone who does qualitative research is that it mentions the importance of trustworthiness and rigor in qualitative research but does not mention how a research can achieve this. However, it does go into other elements like coding and it would not be hard to provide student with supplemental materials about memoing or peer debriefing as examples and to be fair, it is hard to put everything in just one chapter.

All components are accurately described and well-written. The glossary at the end of each section is helpful for key words. The text appears to be error-free and unbiased.

There are links to recent examples which highlights the real world aspect of research.

This text is clear in its description of research and its major components. Certain aspects like causality get a little advanced for a introduction to research book but there are good visual to aid in students' understanding of some of the more complicated concepts. (Please note that I am reviewing this with BSW students in mind, MSW students may not find some of these sections as overwhelming as I suspect my students might).

The book is very well structured and consistent throughout.

The text is well structured and organized as a whole and in terms of each chapter and each section with the chapters.

The topics follow the order of most other foundational research books I have seen and have a logical flow to them.

I did not find any interface issues.

I could not see any grammatical errors.

There are good examples throughout that display an effort to have inclusivity, diversity, and equity in this text.

I feel like this book would provide students with a good understanding about research and could be used interchangeably with other foundational/introduction books on the market, especially if the professor is familiar with teaching research and has already established a good foundation (quizzes, lecture slides, assignments, activities, etc.).

Reviewed by Vivian Miller, Assistant Professor in Social Work, Bowling Green State University on 1/5/21

The text Foundations of Social Work Research covers social work research comprehensively and appropriately. Across twelve chapters, the author begins by introducing research, the science behind research and how this translates to the profession of... read more

The text Foundations of Social Work Research covers social work research comprehensively and appropriately. Across twelve chapters, the author begins by introducing research, the science behind research and how this translates to the profession of social work, and the importance of understanding research as it applies to social work practice across all system levels. In addition to comprehensive chapters, the text contains a glossary, practice behavior indices, bibliography, derivative notes, and links by each chapter.

This text is an accurate text that is error free. This text is extremely well-written and includes real-life examples, drawing on written contributions from social work faculty across practice settings and populations, as well as students at the masters and doctoral levels.

Much of research methods and the process is overall static, however the author does an incredible job to provide timely, relevant, and applicable examples throughout the text to ensure that this version will not be obsolete within a short period of time.

This text is clearly written and is easy to move through. This text contains chapters and sub-chapters. I’d recommend this book for a higher-level undergraduate program or graduate program (e.g., MSW), as there is technical terminology used. Additionally, the author provides a glossary at the back of the text, hyperlinked to each chapter on the web-version. Moreover, there are definitions highlighted at center page throughout the text.

This text is very consistent. Chapters build on one another and are written in clear order.

The use of subheadings throughout allows this text to be separated into smaller reading sections. For instance, if an instructor wanted to assign reading for “Probability sampling,” this topic can be readily extracted from the full text. A student can understand this topic area despite being separated from the text as context is provided to the reader in each sub-chapter. The use of bolded words, images, examples, and hyperlinks throughout make the text easy to separate and digest.

This text is very well-organized and moves through each section in a step-wise process building on each previous content area.

There are no interface issues in the text. Images display well, as well as key takeaway and glossary charts throughout each chapter.

The text contains no grammatical errors.

This text is culturally sensitive. Examples across all system levels (e.g., micro, messo, and macro) are inclusive of a variety of races, ethnicities, and backgrounds.

Highly recommend this text for a Social Work research course.

Table of Contents

• Chapter One: Introduction to research
• Chapter Two: Linking methods with theory
• Chapter Three: Ethics in social work research
• Chapter Four: Design and causality
• Chapter Five: Defining and measuring concepts
• Chapter Six: Sampling
• Chapter Seven: Survey research
• Chapter Eight: Experimental design
• Chapter Nine: Unique features of qualitative research
• Chapter Ten: Unobtrusive research
• Chapter Eleven: Real-world research
• Chapter Twelve: Reporting research

Ancillary Material

About the book.

This textbook was created to provide an introduction to research methods for BSW and MSW students, with particular emphasis on research and practice relevant to students at the University of Texas at Arlington. It provides an introduction to social work students to help evaluate research for evidence-based practice and design social work research projects. It can be used with its companion, A Guidebook for Social Work Literature Reviews and Research Questions by Rebecca L. Mauldin and Matthew DeCarlo, or as a stand-alone textbook.

About the Contributors

Rebecca L. Mauldin , Ph.D

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Statistics in Social Work

An introduction to practical applications.

• Amy Batchelor
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• Language: English
• Publisher: Columbia University Press
• Copyright year: 2019
• Audience: Professional and scholarly;
• Other: 50 figures
• Published: November 19, 2019
• ISBN: 9780231550222

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Statistics in social work : an introduction to practical applications

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• Acknowledgments 1. Introduction 2. Creating Useful Data 3. Understanding People and Populations 4. Variance: The Distance Between Us 5. The Statistics of Relationships 6. Sampling: The Who and the How 7. What Works? Hypothesis Testing and Inferential Statistics 8. When Two Is Not Enough: Testing with Multiple Groups 9. An Introduction to Advanced Concepts
• Appendix I: Glossary
• Appendix II: Answer Key for Review Questions
• Appendix III: Equations Cheat Sheet References Index.
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Using real social work examples written specifically to ally student fears Research and Statistics for Social Workers brings research and statistics together bridging the gap to practice. This book covers - conceptualization, ethics, cultural competence, design, qualitative research, individual and program evaluation as well as nonparametric and parametric statistical tests. The tests are explained narratively, mathematically as well as with a comprehensive step-by-step, fully illustrated SPSS computer analysis of social work data.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Section | 261  pages, foundations of research, chapter 1 | 8  pages, introduction—fear, rules, light bulbs, chapter 2 | 12  pages, research thinking, questions and problems, chapter 3 | 10  pages, using literature—how to use existing knowledge to help you formulate your question, chapter 4 | 16  pages, ethics—making sure in searching for the answer you do no harm, chapter 5 | 13  pages, research in a cultural context—making sure your question and methods of obtaining an answer are attentive to culture, chapter 6 | 16  pages, qualitative research—in-depth and up-close answers, chapter 7 | 19  pages, “n of 1” individual research designs—finding answers about the outcome of an intervention with one client, one couple, one family, chapter 8 | 17  pages, program evaluation—finding answers about the process of implementation and the outcome of a program, chapter 9 | 13  pages, measurement—creating conditions to obtain a valid, reliable and usable answer, chapter 10 | 17  pages, chapter 11 | 28  pages, focusing research—design and conceptualization—creating the conditions to obtain a correct and usable answer, chapter 12 | 16  pages, data gathering—how to get the information that will answer your question, chapter 13 | 57  pages, different ways to summarize responses and how to determine the importance of your answer, chapter 14 | 17  pages, data entry and cleaning—making sure that the answers i obtain are complete and without error, section | 230  pages, finding differences, chapter 15 | 22  pages, chapter 16 | 64  pages, chapter 17 | 36  pages, chapter 18 | 54  pages, chapter 19 | 52  pages, section | 107  pages, finding relationships and making predictions, chapter 20 | 43  pages, measures of association/correlation, chapter 21 | 62  pages, finding relationships—making predictions.

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SOWK 546: The Science of Social Work: Demographics, Data & Statistics for Social Work

• Finding Scholarly Articles
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Finding, Using and Managing Data

• Data Reference Toolkit by Andy Rutkowski Last Updated Jul 12, 2024 389 views this year
• Statistics & Data by Eimmy Solis Last Updated Jul 22, 2024 3231 views this year

Finding Statistics and Data

Data is the raw information that is analyzed to create statistics, or interpreted data. Data can be numerical, or qualitative (interviews, opinion data, etc). 

• Roper Center The Roper Center maintains an archive of public opinion survey data--including the General Social Survey (1972-2008). Allows users to search survey questions or download data directly. Users will need to enter their USC email address to access data.
• National Council on Disabilility NCD is an independent federal agency charged with advising the President, Congress, and other federal agencies regarding policies, programs, practices, and procedures that affect people with disabilities.

International/Global Data and Statistics

• International Education Statistics National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), Institute of Education Sciences (IES)
• Pan American Health Organization PAHO is the specialized international health agency for the Americas. It works with countries throughout the region to improve and protect people's health
• UNICEF Statistics United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF)
• United Nations Statistics Provides data on international trade, national accounts, energy, industry, environment and demographic and social statistics gathered from national and international sources.
• World Health Organization WHO's annual World Health Statistics reports present the most recent health statistics for the WHO Member States.
• Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research This link opens in a new window The Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR), established in 1962, is an integral part of the infrastructure of social science research. more... less... ICPSR maintains and provides access to a vast archive of social science data for research and instruction.

Finding Community Demographics

• U.S. Census Bureau Data The Census Bureau is the leading source of quality data about the nation's people and economy. You have two options to start your search on the landing page of data.census.gov: a free-form single search bar or an advanced search filtering experience.
• Census Data Tutorials These tutorials are from the U.S. Census Bureau and will help with navigating the new database.
• Homelessness Data These raw data sets contain Point-in-Time (PIT) estimates and national PIT estimates of homelessness as well as national estimates of homelessness by state and estimates of chronic homelessness from 2007 - 2019
• Pew Research Center Pew Research Center is a nonpartisan fact tank that informs the public about the issues, attitudes and trends shaping the world.
• Social Explorer This link opens in a new window Visually display demographic data in the U.S. from 1790-present at a variety of geographic levels. Create reports, maps and animations that can be downloaded.

View the videos below for more info on how to use social explorer. 

Open and Free Data

• CHHS Open Data California Health and Human Services (CHHS) Open Data Portal
• Data.gov Data.gov is the homepage for the U.S. Government's open data. You will find Federal, state, and local data.
• HealthData.gov This information includes clinical care provider quality information, nationwide health service provider directories, databases of the latest medical and scientific knowledge, consumer product data, community health performance information, government spending data.
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• Annual Survey of Social Work Programs
• Research & Statistics

2023–2024 Annual Survey

We are pleased to announce the release of the 2023–2024 Council on Social Work Education (CSWE) Annual Survey. This year's annual survey data collection will consist of one streamlined survey which will be distributed to primary program contacts on March 5, 2024. The annual survey collects data regarding faculty, student enrollment, graduation, and programmatic data. The data collected through this survey is used by the social work education community for research, program planning, and advocacy work. Enclosed, please find a reference copy for the 2023–2024 Annual Survey that will open in another window.  This document can be used to preview the survey and prepare your program's data collection. The survey will close on June 30, 2024.  If your program needs to update your primary program contacts, please fill out the  CSWE-Accreditation and Candidate Program Record Update form  to update your contacts in our directory. If you have any questions about the form, please email  [email protected] . We ask that you submit data based on the 2023–2024 academic year, except for graduation data, which should be based on students who graduated between July 1, 2022, and June 30, 2023. We thank you in advance for your participation in this important survey. Your contributions will help us improve social work education and advance the field. If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact us at  [email protected] .  

2022–2023 Annual Survey

• students and graduates at all levels,
• enrollment numbers,
• degree conferral rates, and
• graduate loan debt information.

The report also includes an in-depth analysis of online education and the numerous ways that online education was being administered. Data collection for the 2022-2023 Annual Survey took place in two parts. Part I consisted of student enrollment, graduation, and programmatic data, and was open and Part II consisted of a Faculty Survey.  If your program did not submit data during this time period and you would still like to submit data, please contact us. A reference copy of the 2022-2023 survey instrument is available, in two parts:

Thank you to the programs that submitted data for the 2022-2023 Annual Survey. Your efforts help inform policy decisions, identify issues and trends, and assist in social work education research.

Past Annual Survey data can be found on the  Research Briefs and Publications   page.

View Your Program's Past Annual Survey Submissions

Member programs can access their past Annual Survey submissions. If you would like an electronic copy of your submission, contact [email protected] .

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Social Workers and Statistics: Preparation, attitudes and knowledge

1980, Journal of Social Service Research

Page 1. SOCIAL WORKERS AND STATISTICS: . . Preparation, Attitudes, and Knowledge Stanley L. Witkin Jeffrey L. Edleson Duncan Lindsey ABSTRACT. Crrrretrl inleresl in q~~otrlilalive research nec~ssifoles o b.tsic ~rnrlrrslunrlitrg of slarislic~s by suciul work procfilioners. ...

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Social work has a rich history upon which social measurement is an important foundation. Although the general public often perceives social work as the delivery of services to individuals, it is much more than that. Graduates of Bachelor of Social Work (BSW) programs and most Master in Social Work (MSW) programs receive instruction in providing a wide range of services to highly diverse client systems. The term client system is used to stress the notion that clients can be individuals, social groups, or organizations. Social measurement is a critical dimension of all social work practice, regardless of the sizes of client systems (micro, mezzo, or macro). In studying social measurement in the history of social work, it can be seen that the emphasis 100 years ago was placed on all types of client system problems. In the last three decades, micro and/or clinical practice dominate the literature of social work measurement. This recent trend does not suggest that social measurement fails to be a critical issue in macro practice; it merely indicates that less is written in the area. Most importantly, recent trends and future projects hint that social workers will see more social measurement literature with an emphasis on macro practice.

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Abstrakt Cieľom príspevku je odpovedať na nasledujúce otázky: Považujú sociálne pracovníčky/pracovníci vybrané faktory za rovnako významné pre výkon svojej práce? Ktoré faktory sú najdôležitejšie? Za týmto účelom sme využili výsledky z empirického výskumu, realizovaného v rokoch 2008 – 2009 na vzorke 125 sociálnych pracovníčok/ pracovníkov. Domnievame sa, že motivácia sociálnych pracovníčok/pracovníkov si zaslúži pozornosť, nakoľko nadobudnuté poznatky môžu byť nápomocné pre skvalitňovanie praktickej sociálnej práce. Uvedené poznatky možno využiť pri tvorbe programov zameraných na zvyšovanie pracovnej motivácie sociálnych pracovníčok/pracovníkov. Abstract The goal of this paper is to respond the following questions: Do social workers consider the chosen factors as equally important for their practical social work? Which factors are the most important for them? For this purpose, we utilized the results based on an empirical research carried out in 2008/2009 on the sample of 125 social workers. We think that motivation of social workers merits attention, because the gained knowledge of motivation can be used for improving practical social work or it may serve as a foundation for creating programs oriented on raising the motivation of social workers.

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Lewis, Michael Anthony. 2017. Social Workers Count: Numbers and Social Issues. 2019. New York: Oxford University Press. 223 pp. ISBN 978-019046713-5 The numeracy movement, although largely birthed within the mathematics community, is an outside-the-box endeavor which has always sought to break down or at least transgress traditional disciplinary boundaries. Michael Anthony Lewis’s book is a testament that this effort is succeeding. Lewis is a social worker and sociologist with an impressive resume, author of Economics for Social Workers, co-editor of The Ethics and Economics of the Basic Income Guarantee, and member of the faculty at the Silberman School of Social Work at Hunter College and the City University of New York Graduate Center. Although explicitly targeted to social work students and professionals, the nine chapters here provide a good quantitative literacy education accessible to the general public and include a great many of the topics one would find in a &quot;standard...

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International Federation of Social Workers

Global Online conference

Statistics in Social Work: An Introduction to Practical Application

April 1, 2020

Author: Amy Batchelor Paperback: 191 pages Publisher: Columbia University Press, New York Language: English ISBN: 9780231193276

Review author : Ian Harris

Batchelor presents a concise and approachable introduction to statistics relevant to social workers. She uses a systematic chapter structure that opens with a brief overview of the material to be considered followed by a list of specific learning objectives. The material is presented as a series of responses to practical questions and summaries of key concepts making it easy for the reader to identify content relevant to their particular interests. Discussion is frequently illustrated with examples showing arithmetic working and specific cases related to practice issues. The chapters close with a key take away summary and short questions that the reader can use to test themselves.

The topics covered start with basic concepts like ‘variable’, ‘level of measurement’ and ‘population’ before progressing to descriptive measures of dispersion, central tendency and relatedness. These are followed by an examination of experimental methods, hypothesis testing and inferential statistics including some work on the analysis of results from multiple groups using F-tests and ANOVA. The appendices comprise a glossary of more than seventy key terms, answers to end of chapter review questions and a cheat sheet for descriptive techniques.

Detailed instructions on calculating descriptive statistics are supplied but the more extended calculations for inference are not. Instead, there is guidance on reading the results of such calculations as they are usually reported in research literature, e.g. test values for Student’s t, ANOVA and χ 2 ; degrees of freedom, and alpha or ‘p’ values. Curiously, given that is relatively easier to collect ordinal level data, there is no discussion of Wilcoxon-Mann-Whitney type tests based on the summing of ranks. Also, the otherwise very useful decision tree for selecting the appropriate tests neglects the possibility of drawing inferences from ordinal level data and only indicates χ 2 as an alternative to tests requiring ratio or interval level data. It is, of course possible to treat ordinal level data as categorical and so count the frequencies needed for χ 2 but this is not discussed either.

The discussion of experimental design and the selection of the appropriate statistics to calculate when testing hypotheses was brief and not as extensively illustrated as the earlier content on descriptive statistics. However, it could be a useful source of support for readers trying to think critically about methodological issues in research reports. This is consistent with the larger ambition of equipping the practitioner with critical insights necessary for the recognition of biases and limitations otherwise obscured by complex models and the appearance of scientific neutrality. To this end there are frequent illustrations of sources of invalidity including sampling biases, neglect of error margins and related distortions of confidence.

This goes some way to counterbalance claims made about the power of statistical procedures to reliably indicate what works and focus interventions and activities to greatest effect. These claims are made on the basis of a commitment to Evidence Based Practice (EBP) in the sense given by the NASW definition [i] . It is hard to ignore the extent to which EBP has become associated with a particular approach to welfare policy and practice [ii] . It is something of a truism to claim that EBP’s positivism originates in narratives that privilege a technical-rational conception of science and a preference for the bureaucratic-legal organisation of the state. These narratives and values are arguably deeply rooted in the Enlightenment traditions of the West and are consequently open to criticisms of potential cultural bias. Therefore, the relatively unexplored assertion of the validity of EBP appears somewhat inconsistent with the advocacy of critical exploration of biases obscured by complexity and the appearance of neutrality. Clearly, it would be outside the scope of an introductory instructional manual to rehearse all such considerations but some acknowledgement of the issue might have been valuable.

That said, the intent to equip and promote critical engagement with the often obscure reporting of research evidence is laudable and timely. If you are looking for a source that will help you overcome a sense of statistics as alien and inaccessible then this book would provide you with a good starting point.

[i] See the American National Association of Social Workers website at https://www.socialworkers.org/News/Research-Data/Social-Work-Policy-Research/Evidence-Based-Practice

[ii] See Witkin, S., & Harrison, W. (2001). Editorial: Whose Evidence and for What Purpose? Social Work, 46(4), 293-296, for an early overview of the range of critical and supportive perspectives taken on EBP. For more recent contributions see Betts Adams, K., Matto, H. & Winston LeCroy, C. (2009) Limitations of Evidence-Based Practice for Social Work Education: Unpacking the Complexity, Journal of Social Work Education, 45:2, 165-186 and Bergmark, A. & Lundström, T. (2011) Guided or independent? Social workers, central bureaucracy and evidence-based practice, European Journal of Social Work, 14:3, 323-337

Review author : Ian Harris is a lecturer in social work and teaches at the University of Essex. He specialises in curriculum design and professional education particularly in the practice of assessing risks, vulnerabilities and exploitation. Ian has a long-standing interest in the relationships between vocation and knowledge which he explores from critical perspectives in the study of culture.

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1st Edition

Research and Statistics for Social Workers

• Taylor & Francis eBooks (Institutional Purchase) Opens in new tab or window

Description

Using real social work examples written specifically to ally student fears Research and Statistics for Social Workers brings research and statistics together bridging the gap to practice. This book covers - conceptualization, ethics, cultural competence, design, qualitative research, individual and program evaluation as well as nonparametric and parametric statistical tests. The tests are explained narratively, mathematically as well as with a comprehensive step-by-step, fully illustrated SPSS computer analysis of social work data.

Table of Contents

Thomas Lawson , PhD, is Professor and Director of the International Studies Program at the Kent School of Social Work at the University of Louisville. He consults globally with scientific academies, universities, governmental agencies and international organizations with regard to social work education, and issues concerning social and health policy. He serves as a scientific reviewer for publications of the Institute for Political Science of the Hungarian Academy of Science. He holds honorary doctorates and professorships from universities in China,  Russia and Hungary,  is a Fellow of the University of Applied Sciences, Munich, Germany and awarded the Order of Merit Knight’s Cross by the President of Hungary. Dr. Lawson teaches Comparative International Social Policy at the MSSW and BSW level, and doctoral classes in research, statistics and theory. Dr. Lawson is a retired Army Social Work Officer who developed and is the coordinator of the Military Social Work Specialization. Anna Faul , PhD, is Professor and Associate Dean for Academic Affairs at the Kent School of Social Work at the Univesity of Louisville. Dr. Faul is a Hartford Faculty Scholar, and she has published numerous articles and book chapters on various research topics over the years, ranging from child welfare, measurement issues in social work, women and diversity issues, gerontology and health disparities. During Dr. Faul's time at the University of Louisville she has received various awards, namely Outstanding Faculty Award, Provost Award for Faculty Advising and the Distinguished Educator Achievement Award from the Kentucky Association for Gerontology. A.N. Verbist MSSW, completed his doctoral studies at the University of Louisville in the fall of 2018. His practice background is in foster care and residential treatment. His research interests are centered on child welfare; he is currently investigating the role of  standardized assessments in evidence-based treatment decision-making.

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Statistics Track

This page describes the guidelines for completing the Statistics Track in the Social Welfare PhD program and lays out general tips for those interested in pursuing the track.

The Statistics Track in the Social Welfare PhD program enables students to develop advanced expertise and prepare to be educated readers and producers of Social Work research that builds on rigorous quantitative and statistical methodology. Planning a coherent personalized pathway early in the graduate career promotes effective use of statistical and quantitative skills in dissertation research and in professional life after the graduate school.

Description

The track is largely built around a curriculum developed by the Center for Statistics and the Social Sciences (CSSS) . Students who complete the Statistics Track in Social Work acquire advanced training in statistics for social science research relevant to their own area of specialization. The CSSS provides a document certifying that the student completed the Statistics Track.

Statistics Track Committee

The Statistics Track Committee is composed of three members: a faculty member of the PhD Program Committee, a Social Welfare faculty member affiliated with CSSS, and a CSSS core faculty member. The Statistics Track Committee is responsible for approving students’ personalized pathway submissions and for keeping the Track description up to date. Policy changes in the track are discussed and approved by the PhD Program Committee.

Track Requirements

Students complete four courses in social statistics with the grade of 3.3 or above in each course, and attend two quarters of the CSSS seminar, CS&SS 590.

Students select the four courses in social statistics from the list below; at least three courses should be CSSS 500-level courses. In addition, numerically graded advanced courses in Economics, Educational Psychology, Nursing, Political Science, Psychology, Public Health, Sociology, Statistics, and other departments may be considered as long as they help form a coherent set of social statistics courses.

These courses must be in addition to the three foundation statistics courses and the three methods courses required for the PhD in Social Welfare (Soc 504/505/506 or equivalent in other departments, and SocWl 580/581 ). Two of the three additional elective graduate courses in advanced research methods required for the PhD may be counted toward completion of the Track requirement, contingent on the approval of the Statistics Track Committee.

Interested students submit their proposal of four courses for approval by the Statistics Track Committee. The proposal also includes a statement describing the student’s rationale for the selection relative to their own research interests. Students pursuing approval of a pathway that includes a course not offered by CSSS and not included on the list of approved courses must provide the committee with a recent syllabus and a rationale for including the course in their plan.

Students are encouraged to seek advice from the Statistics Track Committee and their advisor in developing their personalized statistics pathway. A recommended time for the proposal submission is during the autumn quarter of the second year in the PhD program. Earlier submissions are encouraged.

Pathway changes may be made at any time by notifying the Committee and providing a rationale for the change. In most cases, changes that involve a listed approved course will be done automatically. Changes that involve a course not on the list will be considered similarly to a new proposal.

List of approved courses (joint course offerings are indicated in parentheses below): If a course appears closed when registering under the disciplinary code (e.g., SOC 529), try registering under the CSSS code. CSSS course instructors are generally open to providing an add code if a course has been filled.

CS&SS 510 (POL S 510) Maximum Likelihood Methods for the Social Sciences CS&SS 526 (SOC 529) Structural Equation Models for Social Sciences CS&SS 529 (BIOST 529/STAT 529) Sample Survey Techniques CS&SS 536 (SOC 536/STAT 536) Loglinear Models and Logistic Regression for the Social Sciences CS&SS 544 Event History Analysis CS&SS 560 (STAT 560) Hierarchical Modeling in the Social Sciences CS&SS 564 (STAT 564) Bayesian Statistics for the Social Sciences CS&SS 566 (STAT 566) Causal Modeling CS&SS 567 (STAT 567) Statistical Analysis of Networks CS&SS 568 Statistical Analysis of Game-Theoretic Data CS&SS 569 Visualizing Data CS&SS 589 (SOC WL 589) Multivariate Data Analysis for the Social Sciences

[Numbers of the joint course offerings are indicated in parentheses. The Statistics Track Committee is responsible for periodically updating the list of approved courses.]

Application Guidelines for SSW Statistics Track

• Provide your name, year in the program, and the name of your faculty advisor.
• List all the courses that you are proposing to take to meet the Statistics Track requirements. In addition, list the first four foundation courses (SOC WL 580, 581, and two statistics courses) and elective graduate course(s) in advanced research methods required for the PhD in Social Welfare that you are not applying to fulfill the Track requirements. For courses not yet taken, identify the quarter/year in which you anticipate taking them, including the two quarters of the CSSS seminar.
• Provide grades for all numerically graded courses (including SWL foundation) that you have already completed. If you have completed a course that is graded credit/no credit, and would like this course to count toward the Statistics Track requirement, please include an individual project paper or assignments for that course that can be reviewed by the committee.
• Provide a one- or two-paragraph description of the kind of research questions and related methodologies that constitute the guiding perspective for your course selections. This statement provides a conceptual rationale that is expected to be consistent with your course selections.
• Note that the Track requires at least three 500-level courses that are offered or cross-listed with CSSS. If you are requesting an exception to this policy, please provide a rationale for that exception. For any course not offered by CSSS and not included on the list of approved courses provide the committee with a recent syllabus.

If you have any questions, feel free to contact either the Doctoral Program Director or a member of the Statistics Track Committee. Copies of previously approved proposals are available from the Program Office.

Evaluation by the Statistics Track Committee

At the completion of two quarters of the CSSS seminar and all four courses, the student submits grades received in those courses to the Statistics Track Committee. The committee evaluates the performance in the courses. A grade point average of 3.3 or above for the four approved courses is sufficient for a formal completion of the Statistics Track in Social Work. The committee may also give evaluations consistent with certifying the concentration, such as a pass with distinction. Finally, the committee may use its discretion to deal with grading in different departments that use different standards, or may request any papers written for the courses, for example, if the student is seeking approval of a credit/no credit class.

General Tips and Additional Information

Math Camp The Math Camp is an intensive one-week introduction to fundamental concepts of mathematics and probability designed to help prepare social science graduate students for advanced courses in statistical methodology in general, and CSSS courses in particular. Math Camp is offered in September. Taking the Math Camp before the first year in the PhD program is recommended.

CSSS one-credit courses :Strongly recommended as preparation for more advanced courses. CS&SS 505 Review of Mathematics for Social Scientists CS&SS 508 Introduction to R for Social Scientists

Additional Training Opportunities

Summer program in quantitative methods of social research offered by the Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR), Ann Arbor, MI

Penn State’s summer institute on innovative methods

Look for specialized workshops in statistical methods that are often offered during or before major conferences (e.g., Joint Statistical Meetings or the annual conference of the Society of Social Work and Research).

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Research and Statistics for Social Workers 1st Edition

Using real social work examples written specifically to ally student fears Research and Statistics for Social Workers brings research and statistics together bridging the gap to practice. This book covers - conceptualization, ethics, cultural competence, design, qualitative research, individual and program evaluation as well as nonparametric and parametric statistical tests. The tests are explained narratively, mathematically as well as with a comprehensive step-by-step, fully illustrated SPSS computer analysis of social work data.

• ISBN-10 1138191027
• ISBN-13 978-1138191020
• Edition 1st
• Publisher Routledge
• Publication date January 21, 2019
• Language English
• Dimensions 7.5 x 1.5 x 9.5 inches
• Print length 630 pages
• See all details

Editorial Reviews

About the author.

Thomas Lawson , PhD, is Professor and Director of the International Studies Program at the Kent School of Social Work at the University of Louisville. He consults globally with scientific academies, universities, governmental agencies and international organizations with regard to social work education, and issues concerning social and health policy. He serves as a scientific reviewer for publications of the Institute for Political Science of the Hungarian Academy of Science. He holds honorary doctorates and professorships from universities in China, Russia and Hungary, is a Fellow of the University of Applied Sciences, Munich, Germany and awarded the Order of Merit Knight’s Cross by the President of Hungary. Dr. Lawson teaches Comparative International Social Policy at the MSSW and BSW level, and doctoral classes in research, statistics and theory. Dr. Lawson is a retired Army Social Work Officer who developed and is the coordinator of the Military Social Work Specialization.

Anna Faul , PhD, is Professor and Associate Dean for Academic Affairs at the Kent School of Social Work at the Univesity of Louisville. Dr. Faul is a Hartford Faculty Scholar, and she has published numerous articles and book chapters on various research topics over the years, ranging from child welfare, measurement issues in social work, women and diversity issues, gerontology and health disparities. During Dr. Faul's time at the University of Louisville she has received various awards, namely Outstanding Faculty Award, Provost Award for Faculty Advising and the Distinguished Educator Achievement Award from the Kentucky Association for Gerontology.

A.N. Verbist MSSW, completed his doctoral studies at the University of Louisville in the fall of 2018. His practice background is in foster care and residential treatment. His research interests are centered on child welfare; he is currently investigating the role of standardized assessments in evidence-based treatment decision-making.

Product details

• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Routledge; 1st edition (January 21, 2019)
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 630 pages
• ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1138191027
• ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1138191020
• Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 3.7 pounds
• Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 7.5 x 1.5 x 9.5 inches

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Fast Facts & Figures About Social Security, 2024

Did you know that…, general information, oasdi program, ssi program, cross-program beneficiaries, social security financing.

• Taxes payable
• Maximum taxable earnings
• Work credits
• Benefit payments
• Cost-of-living adjustment
• Full retirement age
• Maximum benefit
• Benefit formula bend points
• Average wage index
• Earnings test
• Rates and limits
• Disability program thresholds
• Trust Funds
• Poverty thresholds
• Earnings in Covered Employment
• Insured Status
• Insured Status, by Sex
• New Benefit Awards
• New Awards to Workers
• Beneficiaries in Current-Payment Status
• Average Benefit Amounts
• Beneficiaries, by Age
• Age of Disabled and Retired Workers
• Beneficiaries, by Sex
• Average Monthly Benefit, by Sex
• Women Beneficiaries
• Women with Dual Entitlement
• Child Beneficiaries
• Number of Recipients
• Payment Amounts, by Age
• Federally Administered Payments
• Basis for Eligibility and Age of Recipients
• Percentage Distribution of Recipients, by Age
• Recipients, by Sex and Age
• Other Income
• Child Recipients
• All Beneficiaries
• Beneficiaries Aged 65 or Older
• Disabled Beneficiaries Aged  18–64

How Social Security Is Financed

Social security's demographic challenge, the long-run financial outlook.

71.6 million people received benefits from programs administered by the Social Security Administration ( SSA ) in 2023.

5.8 million people were newly awarded Social Security benefits in 2023.

55% of adult Social Security beneficiaries in 2023 were women.

55.9 was the average age of disabled-worker beneficiaries in 2023.

85% of Supplemental Security Income ( SSI ) recipients received payments because of disability or blindness in 2023.

Earnings required for work credits, 2024: $1,730 for one work credit (one quarter of coverage)

NOTE: A worker may earn a maximum of four credits a year. Doing so in 2024, therefore, requires $6,920 in earnings.

Cost-of-living adjustment, 2024: 3.20%

Maximum monthly Social Security benefit: $3,822 for workers retiring at FRA in 2024

NOTE: Higher benefits are possible for those who work or delay benefit receipt after reaching FRA .

Benefit formula bend points (for workers with first eligibility in 2024):

Primary insurance amount ( PIA ) equals 90% of the first $1,174 of average indexed monthly earnings ( AIME ), plus 32% of AIME over $1,174 through $7,078, plus 15% of AIME over $7,078

OASDI administrative expenses: Costs were 0.5% of contributions in calendar year 2023

Earnings in Covered Employment, 1937–2023

People contribute to Social Security through payroll taxes or self-employment taxes, as required by the Federal Insurance Contributions Act ( FICA ) and the Self-Employment Contributions Act ( SECA ). The maximum taxable amount is updated annually on the basis of increases in the average wage. Of the 183 million workers with earnings in Social Security–covered employment in 2023, about 6% had earnings that equaled or exceeded the maximum amount subject to taxes, compared with 3% when the program began and a peak of 36% in 1965. About 83% of earnings in covered employment were taxable in 2023, compared with 92% in 1937.

Insured Status, 1970–2023

The percentage of persons aged 20 or older who are insured for benefits has changed very little in recent years. To be fully insured, a worker must have at least one work credit (quarter of coverage) for each year elapsed after age 21 (but no earlier than 1950) and before the year in which he or she attains age 62, becomes disabled, or dies. The maximum number of work credits needed to be fully insured is 40. An individual is said to be permanently insured if he or she has earned 40 work credits. To be insured for disability, the worker must be fully insured and have at least 20 work credits during the last 40 calendar quarters. (Requirements for disability-insured status are somewhat different for persons younger than age 31.) Disability benefits are available up to FRA .

Insured Status, by Sex, 1970 and 2023

Although men historically were more likely than women to be insured, the gender gap is shrinking. The proportion of men who are insured declined slightly from 1970 to 2023, with 90% fully insured and 79% insured for disability in 2023. By contrast, the proportion of women who are insured increased dramatically—from 63% to 87% fully insured and from 41% to 75% insured for disability.

New Benefit Awards, 2023

Benefits were awarded to about 5.8 million persons; of those, 62% were retired workers and 9% were disabled workers. The remaining 29% were survivors or the spouses and children of retired or disabled workers. These awards represent not only new entrants to the benefit rolls but also persons already on the rolls who become entitled to a different benefit, particularly conversions of disabled-worker benefits to retired-worker benefits at FRA .

New Awards to Workers, 1983–2023

Awards to retired workers increased considerably over the past four decades, at a higher rate than that by which awards to disabled workers increased. The annualized rate of increase over the period from 1983 to 2023 is 1.9% for retired workers and 1.3% for disabled workers. The annual number of awards to retired workers rose from 1.7 million in 1983 to 3.6 million in 2023, while for disabled workers it increased from 312,000 in 1983 to 524,000 in 2023.

Beneficiaries in Current-Payment Status, December 2023

Sixty-seven million beneficiaries were in current-payment status; that is, they were being paid a benefit. Seventy-five percent of those beneficiaries were retired workers and 11% were disabled workers. The remaining beneficiaries were survivors or the spouses and children of retired or disabled workers.

Average Benefit Amounts, 2023

Benefits payable to workers who retire at FRA and to disabled workers are equal to 100% of the PIA (subject to any applicable deductions). At FRA , widow(er)s' benefits are also payable at 100% of the insured worker's PIA . Nondisabled widow(er)s can receive reduced benefits at age 60. Disabled widow(er)s can receive reduced benefits at age 50. Spouses, children, and parents receive a smaller proportion of the worker's PIA than do widow(er)s.

Beneficiaries, by Age, December 2023

More than four-fifths of all OASDI beneficiaries in current-payment status were aged 62 or older, including 27% aged  75–84 and 9% aged 85 or older. About 9% were persons aged  18–61 receiving benefits as disabled workers, survivors, or dependents. Another 4% were children under age 18.

Age of Disabled and Retired Workers, 1960–2023

The average age of disabled-worker beneficiaries in current-payment status declined between 1960, when DI benefits first became available to persons younger than age 50, and 2023. In 1960, the average age of a disabled worker was 57.2 years. The rapid drop in average age in the following years reflects a growing number of awards to workers under 50. By 1995, the average age fell to a low of 49.8, but by 2023, it rose to 55.9. By contrast, the average age of retired workers has changed little over time, rising from 72.4 in 1960 to 74.2 in 2023.

Beneficiaries, by Sex, December 2023

Of all adults receiving monthly Social Security benefits, 45% were men and 55% were women. Eighty-six percent of the men and 74% of the women received retired-worker benefits. Ten percent of the women received survivor benefits.

Average Monthly Benefit, by Sex, December 2023

Among retired and disabled workers who collected benefits based on their own work records, men received a higher average monthly benefit than did women. For those with benefits based on another person's work record (spouses and survivors), women had higher average benefits.

Women Beneficiaries, 1940–2023

The proportion of women among retired-worker beneficiaries quadrupled between 1940 and 2023. The percentage climbed from 12% in 1940 to 47% in 1980, 48% in 1990, and 51% in 2023. The proportion of women among disabled-worker beneficiaries more than doubled between 1957, when DI benefits first became payable, and 2023. The percentage rose steadily from 19% in 1957 to 35% in 1990 and 50% in 2023.

Women with Dual Entitlement, 1960–2023

The proportion of women aged 62 or older who are receiving benefits as dependents (that is, on the basis of their spouses' earnings record only) declined from 57% in 1960 to 16% in 2023. At the same time, the proportion of women with dual entitlement (that is, paid on the basis of both their own earnings records and those of their spouses) increased from 5% in 1960 to 23% in 2023.

Child Beneficiaries, December 2023

About 2.6 million children under age 18 and students aged  18–19 received OASDI benefits. Children of deceased workers had the highest average payments, in part because they are eligible to receive monthly benefits based on 75% of the worker's PIA , compared with 50% for children of retired or disabled workers. Overall, the average monthly benefit amount for children was $832.

Number of Recipients, 1974–2023

The Supplemental Security Income ( SSI ) program provides income support to needy persons aged 65 or older, blind or disabled adults, and blind or disabled children. Eligibility requirements and federal payment standards are nationally uniform. SSI replaced the former federal/state adult assistance programs in the 50 states and the District of Columbia.

Payments under SSI began in January 1974, with 3.2 million persons receiving federally administered payments. By December 1974, this number had risen to nearly 4 million and remained at about that level until the mid-1980 s, then rose steadily, reaching nearly 6 million in 1993 and 7 million by the end of 2004. As of December 2023, the number of recipients was about 7.4 million. Of this total, more than 4.0 million were between the ages of 18 and 64, 2.4 million were aged 65 or older, and almost 1.0 million were under age 18.

Payment Amounts, by Age, December 2023

The average monthly federally administered SSI payment was $675. Payments varied by age group, ranging from an average of $793 for recipients aged under 18 to $552 for those aged 65 or older. In 2024, the maximum federal benefit rate is $943 for an individual and $1,415 for a couple, plus any applicable state supplementation.

Federally Administered Payments, December 2023

A total of 7.4 million persons received federally administered SSI payments. The majority received federal SSI only. States have the option of supplementing the federal benefit rate and are required to do so if that rate is less than the income the recipient would have had under the former state program.

Basis for Eligibility and Age of Recipients, December 2023

Sixteen percent of SSI recipients received benefits on the basis of age and the rest qualified on the basis of disability. Thirty-two percent of the recipients were aged 65 or older. In the SSI program, a disabled recipient is still classified as “disabled” after reaching age 65. In the OASDI program, DI beneficiaries are converted to the retirement program when they attain FRA .

Percentage Distribution of Recipients, by Age, 1974–2023

The proportion of SSI recipients aged 65 or older declined from 61% in January 1974 to 32% in December 2023. The overall long-term growth of the SSI program occurred because of an increase in the number of disabled recipients, most of whom are under age 65.

Recipients, by Sex and Age, December 2023

Overall, 52% of the approximately 7.4 million SSI recipients were women, but that percentage varied greatly by age group. Women accounted for 64% of the 2.4 million recipients aged 65 or older, 49% of the more than 4.0 million recipients aged  18–64, and 32% of the 1.0 million recipients under age 18.

Other Income, December 2023

More than 57% of SSI recipients aged 65 or older received OASDI benefits, as did 26.9% of those aged  18–64 and 5.8% of those under age 18. Other types of unearned income, such as income from assets, were reported most frequently among those under age 18 (21.7%) and those aged 65 or older (10.3%). Earned income was most prevalent (4.6%) among those aged  18–64.

Child Recipients, December  1974–2023

As of December of the program's first year, 1974, 70,900 blind and disabled children were receiving SSI . That number has generally increased since then, peaking at more than 1.3 million in 2013, before declining to 983,169 in 2023. The relatively high average payment to children (compared with payments made to blind and disabled adults) is due in part to a limited amount of other countable income. The spike in average monthly benefits in 1992 is due to retroactive payments resulting from the Sullivan v. Zebley decision. As of December 2023, blind and disabled children were receiving SSI payments averaging $793.

All Beneficiaries, December 2023

About 71.6 million people received a payment from one or more programs administered by SSA . Most (64.2 million) received OASDI benefits only, 4.9 million received SSI only, and 2.5 million received payments from both programs.

Beneficiaries Aged 65 or Older, December 2023

Benefits were paid to 54.4 million people aged 65 or older. About 1.4 million received both OASDI and SSI .

Disabled Beneficiaries Aged  18–64, December 2023

Payments were made to nearly 10.6 million people aged  18–64 on the basis of their own disability. Sixty-two percent received disability payments from the OASDI program only, 29% received payments from the SSI program only, and 9% received payments from both programs.

Social Security is largely a pay-as-you-go program. Most of the payroll taxes collected from today's workers are used to pay benefits to today's recipients. In 2023, the Old-Age and Survivors Insurance and Disability Insurance Trust Funds collected $1.35 trillion in revenues. Of that amount, 91.3% was from payroll tax contributions and reimbursements from the General Fund of the Treasury and 3.8% was from income taxes on Social Security benefits. Interest earned on the government bonds held by the trust funds provided the remaining 5.0% of income. Assets decreased in 2023 because expenditures for benefit payments and administrative expenses exceeded total income.

The 2024 Trustees Report projects that the number of retired workers will grow rapidly, as members of the post–World War  II baby boom continue to retire in increasing numbers. The number of retired workers is projected to double in about 50 years. People are also living longer, and the birth rate is low. As a result, the Trustees project that the ratio of 2.7 workers paying Social Security taxes to each person collecting benefits in 2023 will fall to 2.3 to 1 in 2036. In 2010, tax and other noninterest income did not fully cover OASI program cost, and the 2024 Trustees Report projects that this pattern will continue for at least 75 years if no changes are made to the program. However, the Trustees also project that redemption of OASI trust fund assets will be sufficient to allow for full payment of scheduled benefits until 2033.

Social Security is not sustainable over the long term at current benefit and tax rates. In 2010, the program paid more in benefits and expenses than it collected in taxes and other noninterest income, and the 2024 Trustees Report projects this pattern to continue for the next 75 years. The Trustees estimate that the combined OASI and DI trust fund reserves will be depleted by 2035. At that point, payroll taxes and other income will flow into the fund but will be sufficient to pay only about 83% of program costs. As reported in the 2024 Trustees Report, the projected shortfall over the next 75 years is 3.50% of taxable payroll.

Abbreviations

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• Published: 03 September 2024

Study of dog population dynamics and rabies awareness in Thailand using a school-based participatory research approach

• Weerakorn Thichumpa 1 ,
• Anuwat Wiratsudakul 2 ,
• Sarin Suwanpakdee 2 ,
• Chayanin Sararat 3 ,
• Charin Modchang 3 , 4 ,
• Setha Pan-ngum 5 ,
• Nakornthip Prompoon 5 ,
• Onpawee Sagarasaeranee 6 ,
• Sith Premashthira 6 ,
• Weerapong Thanapongtharm 6 ,
• Arun Chumkaeo 7 &
• Wirichada Pan-ngum 1 , 8  

Scientific Reports volume  14 , Article number:  20477 ( 2024 ) Cite this article

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• Epidemiology
• Health care
• Risk factors

Rabies is a neglected disease primarily related to dog-mediated transmission to humans. Accurate dog demographic and dynamic data are essential for effectively planning and evaluating population management strategies when designing interventions to prevent rabies. However, in Thailand, longitudinal survey data regarding dog population size are scarce. A school-based participatory research (SBPR) approach was conducted to survey owned dogs for one year in four high-risk provinces (Chiang Rai, Surin, Chonburi, and Songkhla) of Thailand, aiming to understand dog population dynamics and raise awareness about rabies. ‘Pupify’ mobile application was developed to collect data on dog population and observe the long-term population dynamics in this study. At the end of the data collection period, telephone interviews were conducted to gain insight into contextual perceptions and awareness regarding both animal and human rabies, as well as the social responsibility of dog owners in disease prevention and control. Among 303 high school students who registered in our study, 218 students reported at least one update of their dog information throughout the one-year period. Of 322 owned dogs from our survey, the updates of dog status over one year showed approximately 7.5 newborns per 100-dog-year, while deaths and missing dogs were 6.2 and 2.7 per 100-dog-year, respectively. The male to female ratio was approximately 1.8:1. Twenty-three students (10%) voluntarily participated and were interviewed in the qualitative study. The levels of rabies awareness and precautions among high-school students were relatively low. The high dropout rate of the survey was due to discontinuity in communication between the researcher and the students over the year. In conclusion, this study focused on using the SBPR approach via mobile application to collect data informing dog population dynamics and raising awareness regarding rabies in Thailand Other engaging platforms (e.g. Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and other popular applications) is necessary to enhance communication and engagement, thereby sustaining and maintaining data collection. Further health education on rabies vaccination and animal-care practices via social media platforms would be highly beneficial. For sustainable disease control, engaging communities to raise awareness of rabies and increase dog owners’ understanding of their responsibilities should be encouraged.

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Population demographics are important baseline data necessary for the study of infectious diseases. Human population data are available in most settings. For animal populations, however, demographic information is very limited in several countries and often only available for specific cohorts or studies. In Thailand, nationwide dog surveys are conducted by local government organizations once or twice a year and reported to a web-based reporting system, “ThaiRabies.net”, which has been updated to “Rabies One Data” since 2021 1 . These surveys require considerable human resources, while the quality of data can vary from province to province depending on the management and training of local staff teams to process and manage data 2 . Here, we proposed an innovative way to conduct dog surveys using a school-based participatory research (SBPR) as a part of community-based participatory research (CBPR), an approach to research that involves collective, reflective, and systematic inquiry in which researchers and community stakeholders engage as equal partners in all steps of the research process, with the goal of educating, improving practice, or bringing about social change 3 , 4 . We implemented the SBPR approach to perform a dog population survey among high school students in Thailand, using a mobile-phone application. This alternative approach relies on a self-reporting system for dog owners. This can be done through a mobile application developed for data collection. This approach was hoped to provide solution of a long-term data collection with lower cost to the government sectors, as well as promote community participations, raising awareness and responsibility among owners to register, monitor, and care for their dogs.

Dog ownership issues are critical for the design of rabies vaccination campaigns, especially in developing countries, including Thailand 5 . In many high-income settings, owners are responsible for properly confining their dogs and facilitating their vaccination against rabies. In Thailand, dog-keeping practices and duties of responsible ownership vary depending on the cultural setting 6 . There is an increasing evidence that most free-roaming dogs are owned and accessible for rabies prophylaxis 7 , 8 , 9 ; moreover, unvaccinated owned dogs have been affected by rabies 2 . Nevertheless, many owners cannot afford to pay for vaccination and other veterinary care for their own dogs 10 , 11 . Thus, many people rely on free, mass vaccination campaigns against rabies, provided by the government or non-governmental organizations (NGOs). In addition, limited access to dog vaccination can potentially reduce effective vaccination coverage, particularly if the proportion of unowned dogs is large. Dog movement patterns can also play a role in rabies epidemiology 12 . Dog confinement has been studied and implemented in some countries as a control measure for rabies 13 , 14 , 15 .

In Thailand, rabies is a notifiable condition, however it is not compulsory to report suspected rabies exposure in humans 16 . Both dog and human vaccination guidelines from the World Health Organization (WHO) and the World Organization for Animal Health (WOAH), recommend a comprehensive strategy to eradicate dog-mediated rabies 17 , 18 , 19 . The strategy highlights the importance of mass dog vaccination campaigns (aiming for at least 70% coverage) and the implementation of effective dog population control measures (e.g. sterilization), which have been optimized for rabies prevention and control 16 , 17 , 18 , 20 . Human rabies in Thailand has been prevented and controlled by policy promulgated since 1992. Rabies cases have decreased because of schemes including mass dog vaccination and sterilization. Although human rabies in Thailand has gradually declined, animal rabies has been generally increasing over the past ten years 2 . In 2020, there were 209 cases of rabid dogs reported in Thailand and three human deaths due to rabies. Rabies is most prevalent in the provinces of Chonburi, Songkhla, and Surin, while Chiang Rai has found high positive detection of rabid animal cases in 2018 21 , 22 . The control of rabies in animals is challenging, as the disease can be transmitted throughout the year and therefore surveillance and control of animal carriers are urgently required 20 . As for the Thai government’s policy and guideline (based on WHO & WOAH) for high-risk areas, ring vaccination is currently implemented for controlling and preventing rabies outbreaks, while sterilization is a long-term solution to control number of dog population, reducing contacts among dogs and between human and dogs. Both vaccination and sterilization are hopeful for improve management of dog bites 22 .

Although the database of dogs has been significantly improved following the introduction of dog survey reporting to ThaiRabies.net by local government organizations, the system still relies solely on the public health sectors. Moreover, data consistency remains an issue due to technical problems within the system and incomplete data entry. Here, we introduced a novel method for owned-dog data collection, using the SBPR approach. Information about dog population dynamics is essential for analyzing population and disease prediction and can act as baseline data for dog population management plans. The exploration and identification of dog population ecosystems and dynamics are required as a framework to effectively plan and evaluate population management and interventions to prevent rabies 8 . In addition, the introduction of an approach to our dog survey among school-age children could be beneficial in terms of generating awareness of animal-care practices, disease, and the development of a research mindset.

Countries in Southeast Asia are among the top users of mobile phones globally. In 2020, total population of Thailand were approximately 65.42 million 23 . The number of smartphone users in Thailand reached 53.57 million, with around 60 million predicted by 2026, due both to increases in the Thai population and internet penetration 24 . Self-reported data collection via mobile phones can be of use when conducting large-scale surveys, with the affordability and availability of mobile phones and wireless networks making them a viable alternative to traditional methods 25 . However, it is important to consider various aspects involved in the development and implementation of mobile phone data collection. For example, ensuring usability and user acceptance of the data collection system will help motivate survey participants to stay with the project and continue to provide high-quality data. Server authentication through the use of properly configured certificates will help deal with threats of data submission to a malicious server, which can increase users’ confidence in data security 26 .

Our study proposed an initial effort to conduct a long-term survey based on dog owners’ awareness and participation. The dog population dynamics data were analyzed and visualized. In addition, the qualitative study was performed on 10% of the survey participants who volunteered to do the interview on knowledge of rabies, social responsibility, community engagement and research orientation. The data collection tools and methods were assessed and further improvements when using this approach were proposed.

Dog population survey

School and participant demographics.

In the survey via ‘Pupify’ mobile application, 303 high-school students registered through the mobile application for our study. There were 29.8%, 28.9%, 27.1% and 14.2% from a school in Chonburi, Surin, Chiang Rai, and Songkhla provinces, respectively; most were female participants (72.9%) (Table 1 ). Of 303 registrations, 218 participants actually submitted at least one update of their dogs into the system over the one-year study. However, the number of participants continued submitting the monthly dog updates dropped to 46, 63 and 43 after 6 months, 9 months and by the end of one year, respectively. The number of students giving the completely one-year updates was 43 or 20% of total participants from the start (Fig.  1 ).

A number of participants’ responses in a 3-month period during the study year.

Dog demographics and dog population dynamics

Overall, 322 owned dogs were reported during the study period. More than half were male dogs (65.0%). Owned dogs were divided into three age groups based on owners′ identification: birth to 1 year (28.3%), aged between > 1 and 8 years (57.1%), and aged > 8 years (14.6%). These age classes were used to represent three groups of dogs, puppy, adult, and elderly. Most owned dogs were reported in Surin province (35.4%), followed by Chiang Rai (28.5%), Chonburi (22.7%), Songkhla (12.1%), and others where owners dwelling in adjacent areas (1.2%). In addition, 24 new-born puppies were reported, while there were 20 deaths (e.g. caused by dog illness, bite, fight, accident, and culling) and 9 missing dogs reported. These numbers correspond to the estimated birth, death, and missing rates of 7.5, 6.2, and 2.7 per 100 dog-years, respectively. Based on the self-reporting system, 40.1% of the dogs had been vaccinated against rabies and 12.4% had been sterilized (Table 2 ).

Qualitative study

Dog owner characteristics.

A total of 23 high-school students, all aged 17 years, voluntarily participated in our interview (see Supplementary Table 3 ). There were students from all three levels of participation, including registration only (17.4%, n = 4), partially updated data (39.1%, n = 9), and fully updated data (43.5%, n = 10). Although all schools from four provinces were represented, more than half of the participants were from Chonburi province (52.2%).

Extensive knowledge and dog rabies awareness

Most participants (91.3%, n = 21) strongly agreed that rabies was fatal, resulting in death in both humans and dogs. One participant noted, “I learned from the news on TV that human infections result in a hundred percent mortality” . However, 52.1% of the participants (n = 12) reported that they were either unaware of or did not follow rabies situations locally. This indicated that while most participants are aware of rabies, they do not necessarily stay informed about local rabies situations. One participant said, “ I have very little experience of rabies disease. I have not seen the real case before and have not followed the disease situation. At school, there is minimal information for us to research more about rabies. Sometimes, external health staff came to educate us about health at school but didn’t focus on rabies” . While a majority (65.2%, n = 15) of participants considered that only cats and dogs were reservoirs for rabies, a larger proportion (78.2%, n = 18) were unsure whether there were other animal reservoirs. This result indicated that most participants were unaware that other mammals can also get infected with rabies. From the interviews, some participants made statements such as “I think it mainly comes from dogs and cats, unlikely to be other species” and “Most cases are infected from stray dogs, perhaps also from rabbits and monkeys” . In addition, 65.0% (n = 15) of participants mainly received information about rabies from social media and other online sources, while the remaining participants obtained information from other sources, including schools (such as our project visit), television and news, community announcements, medical providers, parents, and relatives.

Rabies precautions and caring for owned dogs

Most participants (87.0%, n = 20) stated that avoiding contact with stray dogs can help to prevent rabies infection. Also, 52.1% (n = 12) suggested that owned dogs should be vaccinated annually against rabies. Dog confinement was reported by most owners (87.0%, n = 20) as a way to control and limit their dogs’ contact with humans or animals. One participant said, “I keep my dog only in my house to avoid contacting with people and other dogs” and “My dog is always leashed all the time and I don’t allow other dogs nearby my dog when it is outside” . According to this, half of them (52.1%, n = 12) trusted their dogs, with 80–100% confidence due to annually vaccination and not allowing dogs outside. One participant said, “Some of my dogs are not yet vaccinated, we put the dogs to guard our properties in the factory area and sometimes outside dogs do come to visit” .

In terms of caring for owned dogs, participants reported how they managed their dog’s health (including regular health check-ups and visits to veterinarians when health issues were identified). The majority used the services of animal clinics (87.0%, n = 20), followed by animal hospitals (21.7%, n = 5), treatment by owners (21.7%, n = 5), and government veterinary services (13.0%, n = 3). However, one said, “I saw my aunt giving paracetamol to the dog when it was sick. I didn't agree with that and would have looked for more information or taken the dog to the vet instead” . This indicated that animal health education on the care of owned dogs should be enhanced, with information provided by specialists at animal service stations.

In the case of what happens to newborn puppies, participants identified two common situations: giving them away to others (65.2%, n = 15) and keeping the puppies themselves (39.1%, n = 9). In the mating season, most participants said they confined their dogs and did not allow them to breed with other dogs. One participant said, “I usually keep the dog in the house and sometimes use a lease to prevent dogs fighting”. Conversely, in the case of both neutered and non-neutered dogs, some participants still allowed their dogs to breed. Finally, the owners said they commonly observed their dog’s health status at feeding time (47.8%, n = 11); when they were sleeping (30.4%, n = 7) or playing (17.4%, n = 4); or when they observed any abnormality (17.4%, n = 4).

Obstacles, limitations, and motivations for joining in with school-based participatory research

Obstacles and limitations relating to the SBPR study mentioned by participants included forgetting to update their dog’s data (65.2%, n = 15), having school assignments and portfolios (30.4%, n = 7), having a part-time job (17.4%, n = 4), having personal works (17.4%, n = 4), having a poor internet connection (13.0%, n = 3), changing their smartphone (8.7%, n = 2), being unable to install the mobile application (4.3%, n = 1), and not interested in participating (4.3%, n = 1).

Conversely, participants reported some interesting advantages and motivations for why they participated in this study. Motivations included in the attainment of project certificates (60.9%, n = 14), followed by project rewards/gifts (34.8%, n = 8), research experience (13.0%, n = 3), dog care and follow-up (13.0%, n = 3), and rabies information (4.3%, n = 1). Other influences for joining the project mentioned included own self (65.2%, n = 15), project notification (13.0%, n = 3), project rewards (8.7%, n = 2), and support for school activities (4.3%, n = 1). After participated in this study, the main advantages given were mostly focused on caring for owned dogs, with regard to dog attention and care (69.6%, n = 16), observation of dog behavior (34.8%, n = 8), dog vaccine notification (17.4%, n = 4), and education (17.4%, n = 4). One mentioned that “In my opinion, the best thing I learned is to pay more attention to my dog. I observe my dogs more regularly and take care of them much better than earlier” .

Other suggestions from participants

Some participants suggested that they needed more information about rabies disease, its prevention and control, dog management, and dog vaccination. This could be added to the Pupify application, which was easily accessible for necessary information. Also, alternative sources of information should be considered, e.g., infographics and dog fan-pages on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, or other popular social media platforms. One participant suggested, “I think having different channels for communication would help stimulate more interest in the work, for example, forming a ‘dog lovers’ group on social media” .

Here, we explored a new method to collect dog data via mobile application, a self-reporting system for dog owners, by focus initially on high school students who owned smartphones, which is in contrast with the conventional dog population census that is performed once or twice per year in Thailand by the government departments responsible for animal health. The key challenge to our design was the number of losses to follow-up. Our qualitative study revealed the main barriers to update dog dynamics data were due to some personal issues and technical reasons. A participant from the partial update group noted, “I gave regular updates until I changed my smart phone, I stopped updating the information completely” . One from the no-update group said, “I had difficulties installing the app and I think I am not disciplined enough to join this project anyway”. In addition, there was some feedback on the suitability of a mobile instant messaging app for data tracing. One participant suggested, “I prefer other channels of communication such as Instagram and Facebook because they are more convenient to me” .

Nevertheless, we estimated birth, death, and missing rates of 7.5, 6.2, and 2.7 per 100 dog-years, respectively. The male to female ratio was approximately 1.8:1. The variations in these rates and ratios among the studied provinces are noticeable (see Supplementary Tables 1 and 2 ). This could be due to different nature of owned dogs in different parts of Thailand. However, due to the relatively small sample size in our study, it would not be appropriate to perform any sub-analysis from this data. It is important to note that the majority of the data provided pertained to confined dogs (70.2%), which may not accurately reflect the uncertainty conditions of free-roaming dogs. Future dog censuses should include a focus on confined, free-roaming, and stray dogs to provide a more comprehensive representation of the overall dog population size. Observations in South Africa revealed that birth and death rates were 31.3–45.1 and 40.6–56.8 per 100 dog-years, respectively, while the male to female ratio was approximately 1.4–1.7:1 27 . A study in India estimated an annual per capita birth and death rate of 1.0 and 0.7, respectively, while the male to female ratio was approximately 1.4:1 28 . A sight–resight survey in Australia reported birth and death rates were approximately 2.4 and 1.7 dogs/dog-owning house/year, respectively, while the male to female ratio was approximately 1:1 7 . Compared with other studies (using different approaches to collect the data; including observational, sight-resight, and/or mark-recapture survey), births and deaths in our study were relatively low. However, the male to female ratio was in line with previous studies. Similarly to a previous study 6 , we found the proportions of dog-keeping approaches (i.e. confined or free-roaming) varied among the sites, with dogs usually confined in well-developed areas whereas free-roaming dogs were reported more frequently in remote areas.

Our study had some limitations. First, the survey was restricted to owned dogs. It would be helpful to collect similar data for stray dogs; however, to conduct a similar study of stray dogs in the Thai setting, individuals who take care of stray dogs, so called “local feeders”, must be identified 29 . Second, the participants only comprised high-school children of a specific age group, perhaps a broader target public population should be considered for future surveys. Furthermore, we simply used three reproductive age classes to represent puppy, adult, and elderly i.e. the exact dog ages as detailed classifications, i.e. puppy, juvenile, young adult, mature adult, senior, and geriatric, are not available in this study. Third, the 'Pupify' application was developed for Android phones only and required updates to remain compatible with the latest operating system versions. Fourth, there was a low number of one-year data completion among the participated students who owned a mobile phone. Because the participation was voluntary, unrelated to school nor teacher’s request. The study sites were distant from the central project location, notifications and encouragement communications were conducted solely via Line messaging application and telephone calls. This led to discontinuities in communication between the researchers and the students throughout the year. The barriers in our SBPR engagement were limitations of the mobile application platform, technical issues, personal reasons, and the lack of engagement of project through the teachers and/or schools. Further studies should consider site visits to enhance communication, encourage participation, and investigate any arising issues.

In accordance with “One Health” concepts, human health is closely connected to the health of animals and our shared environment, and research in this area should be a collaborative, multisectoral, and trans-disciplinary approach to achieve optimal health outcomes. We made considerable effort to use the SBPR approach in conducting this study. In addition, the initial motivation for study participation was primarily driven by the desire to achieve long-term goals and enhance their profiles for university enrollment. After participating, they also recognized considerable benefits in caring for their dogs and demonstrated a commitment to sustainable effort for better dog care. Although there was a low response rate among participants, we could remark that the main advantage concerning caring for owned dogs was initially successful based on participants’ perception. Most interviewees agreed that this study would encourage them to pay more regular attention to their dogs regarding their health, vaccinations, and rabies prevention. Our study demonstrated the importance of encouraging, among school-age children, early learning about the importance of disease prevention and awareness, together with community engagement and social responsibility for their future. Finally, it is important to note that the success of several research depends on effective data collections. However, this study has provided valuable lessons, demonstrating that engaging the general public, beyond researchers and experts, presents considerable challenges. Practical issues such as invitations, communications, cooperations, maintaining engagements, and overall participations should be carefully considered. We hope that the insights gained from our study with SBPR may be beneficial for further studies and similar contexts.

Conclusions

Using the SBPR approach for collecting dog population dynamics data among the high school students can be challenging. Additionally, this study was conducted with an initial effort to explore the potential of using SBPR for data collection. The primary objective aimed to propose extending the approach beyond student awareness to include general dog owners in further research. Implementing a suitable SBPR approach involves designing educational activities, training participants, conducting surveys, and engaging the community. This could lead to effective and sustained data collection while fostering community involvement and awareness in the future. Perception on the usefulness of the application and different social-media channels for communication should be considered for future development of data collecting tools and mobile application in order to provide higher incentive to participate and update dog information in a long-term. A low level of disease awareness among high school students was identified in the interviews, possibly due to insufficient information, both at school and in the media. It is critical to promote disease awareness through health education. Further studies using in-depth interviews should focus on enhancing rabies awareness, increasing owner responsibility, and supporting rabies prevention projects, as these factors are crucial for policymaking and effective public participation. Nevertheless, by conducting data collection using a new alternative approach among the students, it has clearly increased some awareness on the importance of animal welfare and provided some new experience of being part of a research for some students to reduce rabies among humans and animals.

Study sites and participants

This study was conducted between June 2018 and October 2019, in areas where rabies is endemic and where there is a high incidence of animal and human cases 30 . It formed part of a larger study conducted in Thailand between 2015 and 2018, which aimed to investigate the cultural and socioeconomic factors that contribute to rabies outbreaks in Thailand 31 . Four provinces were included: Chiang Rai province in the north, Surin province in the northeast, Chonburi province in the east, and Songkhla province in the south (Fig.  2 ). Based on the past five year report of rabies in Thailand 22 , 30 , we purposively surveyed high school students dwelling in high endemic areas among the four provinces. Inclusion criteria were: (1) students aged between 16 and 17 years who owned at least one dog and possessed a smartphone that used the Android operating system, and (2) volunteer students whose parents consented to their participation in the study. In this study, dog ownership was defined as those who owned or cared for at least one dog at the residence only. Students were eligible to voluntarily participate by registering dog data on the ‘Pupify’ application.

Maps showing; laboratory positive detection of rabies cases in animals in 2018 (Source: Thairabies.net: http://www.thairabies.net 1 ; and The four provinces included in the study: Chiang Rai, Surin, Chonburi, and Songkhla.

Data collection using the “Pupify”

‘Pupify’ mobile application was developed to collect long-term data on dog population numbers and dynamics from dog owners, feeders, and the general public. The ‘Pupify’ was developed by a group of university students from the Department of Computer Engineering, Chulalongkorn University 32 . The software architecture was three-tiered i.e. client, application server, and database server. The client section was initially constructed for Android OS using Java language. The application server was developed by using JavaScript which responded to user requests and monitored the types of data that should be recorded in the database server. All processes were tested accurately in both software testing and acceptance testing by developers and research team to ensure that the application can function in real settings.

In this study, the application was initially designed to target high-school students who have a smartphone and presumably have good knowledge of rabies. The application was developed in collaboration with the Department of Livestock Development (DLD), Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives Thailand, who are responsible for rabies control in Thailand. The application comprised three main sections: (i) demographic information about a dog’s owner, (ii) demographic information about dogs, and (iii) routine information updates and report management. The first and second sections were recorded in literal format once for each dog and owner upon registration. Monthly updates were required to follow-up on status of registered dogs, e.g. still alive, moved out, dead, vaccination status, and sterilization status. The participants were reminded to provide at least the monthly updates through the application and other channels of communication including Line messaging application and telephone calls with the researchers.

Qualitative study for the evaluation of participatory research

The second part of the study was conducted once the dog survey had been completed. This qualitative study aimed to explore in detail the knowledge, perceptions, and awareness of dog owners with regard to rabies in dogs and humans. Semi-structured interviews were used to collect the information. First, the participants from the survey were asked to voluntarily participate in the qualitative study by registering online to express their interest. To ensure a diversity of data, the research team purposively selected participants to include students whose duration of participation in the dog survey varied and those who attended different schools. Second, they were invited to participate in a one-to-one online interview with Thichumpa W. Each interview lasted for 15–30 min and was recorded. Informed consent was obtained from all participants’ parents. The interviews were conducted between March to May 2021.

The study protocol was approved by the ethical committees of Mahidol University Central Institutional Review Board (MU-CIRB 2019/157.0606; August 2019). Written informed consent was obtained from all high school students who participated in the research. All the methods were performed in accordance with relevant guidelines and regulations.

Data analyzes

Descriptive statistics were generated using SPSS version 23.0 33 . For the qualitative study, transcript data were evaluated by determining the frequency of answers given by interviewees and then coding keywords into pre-set themes 34 , including the theme of rabies knowledge, rabies awareness, caring for owned dog, perception about project, and other suggestions. The content analysis and thematic narrative approach were performed using QDA Miner Lite 35 .

Data availability

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author, (WP), upon reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

We cordially thank all the high school students who participated in our surveys. We also thank Siwakorn Luengcharoenpong and the teams from the Department of Computer Engineering, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand for software development and consultation.

This study was funded by the National Science and Technology Development Agency (NSTDA), Thailand (Grant ID. P-18-51758) and the Disease Control Department, Ministry of Public Health, Thailand. In addition, this research was funded in part by the Wellcome Trust [220211]. For the purpose of Open Access, the authors have applied a CC BY public copyright license to any Author Accepted Manuscript version arising from this submission.

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Conceptualization and Methodology: WK.T., W.P., C.M., A.W. and WP.T. Mobile application: S.P. and N.P. Survey and data collection: WK.T., S.S., C.S., O.S., S.PR., WP.T. and A.C. Formal analysis: WK.T. and W.P. Project administration and data management: WK.T. Writing–original draft: WK.T. and W.P. Writing–review & editing: All authors. The authors declare consent for publication.

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Thichumpa, W., Wiratsudakul, A., Suwanpakdee, S. et al. Study of dog population dynamics and rabies awareness in Thailand using a school-based participatory research approach. Sci Rep 14 , 20477 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-71207-7

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10 Performance Management Statistics You Need to Know

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Key highlights, why is performance management important.

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How to identify effective digital performance management tools

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• They want to be recognized for their accomplishments as a manager. Recognizing managers helps them feel valued for their contributions and understand what high performance looks like across the organization.   
• They’re also asking for more training. 39% of managers haven’t received the training they need to be effective managers. And only 1 in 3 managers has received training on how to manage remote and hybrid employees. Managers aren’t all innately skilled as managers. Organizations can do more to set them up for success as a manager with training and development.  

8. 1 in 3 employees say receiving actionable advice is the most effective part of their performance reviews.  

What makes a performance review effective? Actionable advice. And employees say there’s a big gap between what they need and what they’re getting. Employees are telling us that they need feedback they can act on during their performance reviews. That makes sense. To improve, you need to know what to improve. However, most organizations’ performance management process is more traditional rather than continuous.

2 in 3 employees receive annual performance reviews instead of more frequent conversations (monthly or quarterly). If employees only get the feedback they need to improve their performance once a year, that’s not enough to make corrections and maximize potential growth and impact on the business.

9. Employees improve performance when their performance reviews are forward-focused development-centered.  

What part of performance reviews helps employees improve performance? Employees want a review that is forward-focused and development-centered. What makes a performance review look forward instead of back? A continuous approach to performance management that includes actionable advice and career growth discussions. These are the conversations employees say they need to make improvements to their performance.  

Regular performance conversations are also connected with engagement. Engaging performance reviews inspire employee impact. Employees also say that these elements (rather than receiving a rating) help performance reviews feel fair.  

10. Employees want more recognition for their work.  

Just like with feedback, most employees say they want more recognition for their work. They want recognition more frequently. And more recognition is tied to engagement.  

What do employee want recognition for? The most preferred reason is their performance or accomplishments in their role.     

All of these performance management statistics should help you shape your performance management strategy and address challenges along the way.  

How does performance management research help with c ommon performance challenges ?  

Performance management isn’t a set it and forget it process. Your organization should be constantly making changes to the process to emphasize employee impact. And those changes should be backed by performance management research.    

Before you make changes, it’s helpful to evaluate the common challenges organizations face when shaping their performance strategies. And think about the vital performance management statistics that should influence your approach.  

It helps keep trust in tact.  

Without trust between employees, managers, and leaders, we can’t maximize performance . When it comes to performance management, organizations need to do more to build trust. Part of that is building trust in the process. 

Most employees don’t join an organization to do poor work. Employees want to be successful. Leaders want employees to be successful because that’s how the organization reaches its goals. To build trust in the performance management process, be transparent and communicate clearly. Make sure employees understand what their goals are, how they contribute to the organization’s objectives, and how employee performance will be measured. 

It links with engagement efforts.  

Performance management impacts engagement. But not traditional components like ratings or  pay-for-performance.   

Quantum Workplace research shows that the top performance drivers that impact engagement are recognition, fairness, alignment, feedback, and empowerment. When you’re making sure employees find your approach to performance management engaging, start here.  

It connects the aspects of a magnetic culture.  

The way you approach performance management shapes your organizational culture. Half of employees say their organization’s approach to performance management is how they feel the company culture. And a much higher factor than the physical workspace.  

Company culture is how your organization gets work done. And your performance management strategy shows your organization what that looks like.

More traditional, less continuous approach to performance  

There is not a one-size-fits-all approach to performance management. Every organization is different and has their own unique path to performance . But one important performance management statistic emphasizes that employees want a more continuous approach rather than a once-a-year performance appraisal.  

Before the panic sets in, you don’t have to change your performance management overnight. You can take one step at a time and find the middle ground of performance management . How?  

• Identify where you are on the performance management spectrum. How do you currently conduct performance reviews, coaching, and development?
• Take one incremental transition to a continuous approach. What is one small thing you can do to increase feedback frequency or 1-on-1s ?  
• Support your team with technology . What tools does your organization need to better align goals, recognize great performance, and track performance conversations?  

Leaving employees and managers out of the performance process  

Employees and managers want to be part of the performance management conversation. They want to contribute, rather than let performance management happen to them. So make them part of the process.  

Get feedback from employees and managers about your current program. Use that feedback to improve your performance practices. And then let employees know you listened by attributing the changes back to their feedback. 

Unclear objectives and misalignment  

There are fewer confusing things than not understanding what your goal is and why it matters. Employees need to see how their everyday work impacts the organization. That’s why connecting the dots for them is important. It motivates high performance. 

 Employees are 3.2X more likely to be engaged when their performance goals align with the organization’s goals. And the more they set goals, the more likely they’ll be engaged. 

Lack of fairness in performance conversations  

Employees often feel like performance reviews are not a fair way to evaluate their performance. But there’s a solution. When managers can have a human conversation backed with data, the performance review feels objective and fair. And when the cadence of those conversations is more frequent, employees feel like they have time and support to make performance improvements.    

Equip your managers to have more meaningful conversations instead of backward analyzing reviews. Your performance appraisals need a sense of fairness. Make sure these conversations are looking forward with actionable advice and pair that with growth opportunities.  

Not valued for contributions  

Recognition is a form of feedback too. Feedback doesn’t always have to be critical. Meaningful feedback can reinforce the performance you want to see.  

Show employees that their contributions matter. When you’re recognizing excellence , be specific. Relay what is working and why.   

Inefficient and ineffective performance management tools and analytics  

Quantum Workplace research shows that managers feel they’re more impactful when they have performance management software that helps them do their job. And we know that managers are an important part of the performance management process. 

Make sure your managers receive training in how to use your performance management platform. Show them how it can make them more effective and efficient. Help them increase usage to be more aligned with the frequent feedback and 1-on-1 frequency employees crave for improved performance.  

These frequent issues in performance management can help you shape your new strategy. Review the performance management statistics outlined above. Analyze your current approach and follow best practices backed by research to make meaningful adjustments. 

Trends Backed by Performance Management Statistics  

Performance management is hard to get right. But that doesn’t mean all is lost. In recent years, organizations have made changes to their talent management processes. Employees are noticing those changes. All of the influential performance management statistics above show that organizations have continued to improve this process.   

Employees say there’s room for improvement with performance management  

Almost 75% of employees saw changes to their performance management processes in the last year. Change sounds scary. But this is good news! Performance management often changes over time to a more e ffective and efficient process.  

And while changes are happening, employees say they don’t feel like it’s a problem. Almost half of employees say that their organization’s performance management processes aren’t disrupting their work.  

Employees are saying they’re getting more frequent coaching from their managers and setting goals more often. But the work isn’t done. Employees still want a better process.   

Organizations can get there by:  

• Getting feedback from employees about the state of their performance management process.  
• Making a small change to improve the approach to performance.  
• Communicating goals and expectations across the organization.  
• Helping managers transition from the critic to the coach.  
• Investing in technology to integrate performance management into daily workflows.  
• Remember, performance management is an evolution. Organizations need to constantly build on their process and reinforce successful approaches.  

Employees want more continuous performance coaching  

Many organizations are stuck in a traditional approach to performance management, with performance reviews occurring annually. But this goes against what employees say they need to improve performance. They need more continuous feedback and performance conversations so they can quickly act upon their manager’s advice and make improvements.

What should be part of an effective performance review ?  

• Actionable advice  
• Performance data  
• Recognition  
• Growth opportunities  

The content of performance reviews is important. But don’t overlook the frequency of performance conversations when it comes making meaningful improvements.  

Employees want to drive organizational success  

When employees have the tools they need to be successful, they are motivated to perform.  

Employees want to see the impact of their work. They want to get frequent feedback that’s helpful in improving their performance. They want to understand how their performance is being measured. And employees want to see how their contributions influence business success. It’s all about reinforcing employee efforts with the big picture.  

How do you create high-performing teams ?  

• Align individual goals with organizational goals  
• Coach employees using a frequent cadence  
• Celebrate and recognize employe contributions  

Conclusion  

Performance management statistics show that employees want to contribute to the organization’s success. Leaders want the organization to be successful. The way organizations fuse these components together is through their approach to performance management.  

By having an intentional strategy backed by research, organizations can harness the full potential of performance management.  

Published September 6, 2024 | Written By Kristin Ryba

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