SOCIAL-WORK AS APPLIED SOCIAL-SCIENCE - A HISTORICAL-ANALYSIS

A content analysis of social work publications over the 120-year perio d from 1870 to 1990 was conducted to analyze social work, as reflected in its literature, as an applied social science. Empirical, conceptua l, technological, and valuational components of the literature combine with commentary to represent the whole of this applied social science . The relative contribution of each of these components appears to hav e shifted as the profession evolved. Through this historical analysis, the contemporary debate concerning the nature and role of research in social work is presented in a new perspective.