This study reviews 1,406 research articles published between 2016 and 2020 in the European Journal of Social Work (EJSW), the British Journal of Social Work (BJSW) and Research on Social Work Practice (RSWP). It assesses the proportion and complexity of quantitative research designs amongst published articles and investigates differences between the journals. Furthermore, the review investigates the complexity of the statistical methods employed and identifies the most frequently addressed topics. From the 1,406 articles, 504 (35.8 percent) used a qualitative methodology, 389 (27.7 percent) used a quantitative methodology, 85 (6 percent) used the mixed methods (6 percent), 253 (18 percent) articles were theoretical in nature, 148 (10.5 percent) conducted reviews and 27 (1.9 percent) gave project overviews. The proportion of quantitative research articles was higher in RSWP (55.4 percent) than in the EJSW (14.1 percent) and the BJSW (20.5 percent). The topic analysis could identify at least forty different topics addressed by the articles. Although the proportion of quantitative research is rather small in social work research, the review could not find evidence that it is of low sophistication. Finally, this study concludes that future research would benefit from making explicit why a certain methodology was chosen.

中文翻译：

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社会工作期刊定量研究的性质和范围：2016 年至 2020 年的系统回顾

本研究回顾了 2016 年至 2020 年间在欧洲社会工作杂志 (EJSW)、英国社会工作杂志 (BJSW) 和社会工作实践研究 (RSWP) 上发表的 1,406 篇研究文章。它评估已发表文章中定量研究设计的比例和复杂性，并调查期刊之间的差异。此外，该评论调查了所采用的统计方法的复杂性，并确定了最常讨论的主题。在 1,406 篇文章中，504 篇（35.8%）使用了定性方法，389 篇（27.7%）使用了定量方法，85 篇（6%）使用了混合方法（6%），253 篇（18%）文章是理论性的， 148 人（10.5%）进行了审查，27 人（1.9%）提供了项目概述。RSWP（55.4%）的定量研究文章比例高于EJSW（14.1%）和BJSW（20.5%）。主题分析可以识别文章所涉及的至少四十个不同的主题。尽管定量研究在社会工作研究中所占的比例相当小，但该评论无法找到证据表明它的复杂程度不高。最后，本研究得出结论，未来的研究将受益于明确选择某种方法的原因。审查未能找到证据表明它的复杂性不高。最后，本研究得出结论，未来的研究将受益于明确选择某种方法的原因。审查未能找到证据表明它的复杂性不高。最后，本研究得出结论，未来的研究将受益于明确选择某种方法的原因。