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Information critical for social work practitioners in the decision making process: An empirical study of implicit knowledge using naturalistic decision making perspective

Hsu, Kai-Shyang

Abstract Details

2006, Doctor of Philosophy, Ohio State University, Social Work.

Knowledge derives from practice, or practice wisdom, is as important as formal knowledge in the clinical decision making process of social work practitioners. A number of theoretical studies of clinical decision making recognize the importance of this implicit way of knowing but there is a lack of empirical research that examines how implicit knowledge affects clinical decision making in social work treatment. The purpose of this study is to examine the existence of implicit knowledge from a cognitive science perspective and explore how it influences the clinical decision making process in social work practice.

This study involves both deductive and inductive reasoning. Deductive reasoning derives a set of hypotheses from Naturalistic Decision Making (NDM) theory and uses experimental design to examine the relationships between implicit knowledge, experience and decision making. Inductive reasoning analyzes the participants' retention, diagnosis, reasoning, and clarification of the case scenarios as well as in-depth interview and utilizes content analysis to explore the nature of clinical decision making process by comparing the differences between experienced and inexperienced practitioners.

Findings from deductive reasoning support the usage of implicit knowledge but do not support the assumption that experienced participants have a better understanding of the client's situation than inexperienced practitioners. Findings from inductive reasoning conclude that making diagnosis is a continuing and ongoing process of understanding clients' situation. Findings pertaining to the structure of information retained by research participants reflect how practitioners understand a case scenario and that practice knowledge can also be explained by a similar conceptual framework. It is not the content of the memory but the structure of practitioners' memory that affects how they perceive a client's situation. Implicit knowledge that helps practitioners to make a decision can be understood as a memory framework for organizing information.

The study presents a viable approach to study the use of implicit knowledge in social work practice. Findings are useful for developing a Decision Support System that can potentially help inexperienced practitioners formulate useful diagnoses based practice experiences of other social work practitioners.

Mo-Yee Lee (Advisor)
253 p.

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Citations

  • Hsu, K.-S. (2006). Information critical for social work practitioners in the decision making process: An empirical study of implicit knowledge using naturalistic decision making perspective [Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1150473379

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Hsu, Kai-Shyang. Information critical for social work practitioners in the decision making process: An empirical study of implicit knowledge using naturalistic decision making perspective. 2006. Ohio State University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1150473379.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Hsu, Kai-Shyang. "Information critical for social work practitioners in the decision making process: An empirical study of implicit knowledge using naturalistic decision making perspective." Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University, 2006. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1150473379

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)