Monday, March 12, 2012

Showing Similarities and Differences Between a PhD and a Masters in Social Work

People have at least two options when it comes to advanced social work diplomas. Those seeking to build a professional life heavily involved in community outreach and assistance should go into a Masters in Social Work program. Those seeking a more university-centered career are going to have to go for the doctorate, however.

The masters class is intended to help students learn more about various policy trends and styles in social work. This is a course that demands only a few years of your time. If you find the expenses too high in this option, you can always choose to look for financial aid, which shall be fairly simple given that so many options exist.

There is typically a quoted minimum figure for the working hours a member of the program must complete. Social workers are going to be asked to deal with campaigns, organize and manage them, and possibly even evaluate them later for the agency funding them. You may choose a particular concentration for your studies to help sharpen your skills towards a goal.

Students of masters in social welfare may also specialize in public policy, methodology or even psychotherapy. Since social work graduates are ones who would like to invest in society, they typically end up in charitable or philanthropic organizations. Most of the people who go the joint degree route do so by adding a medical qualification to their resume.

You can find accredited degrees by looking up the records of the group called the CSWE. It is possible to go on with your studies in a higher-level course if you complete your masters in a degree that has been accredited by the organization. You even have the choice of finishing your masters in just one year.

The doctoral program is intended for practicing social workers who want advanced studies on the field. While you shall hear some institutions referring to the course as that for a PhD, you shall also hear others referring to it as a doctorate course. Do not be confused into thinking they stand for different types of programs, however.

Professionals in the field of social work generally earn a doctoral degree to move their career into research and teaching. Because this is a research-focused life, the center of your world is going to be in analytical papers and publications, and not in the people actually being written about in those same publications. PhDs are generally employed by universities as lecturers or part of the "thinkers" of the department.

A doctorate program will typically emphasize the learning methods of qualitative and quantitative analysis. There is a doctoral dissertation to consider, of course. You usually choose a topic that interests you, do extensive, probably year-long research on it, then compile that research into a single body of text.

A Doctorate in social work typically takes about 2-4 years to complete, excluding the time it takes to finish a Masters degree. Universities do exert the strongest pull for graduates, but a select few PhDs opt to go into actual social work instead of research. It might be an option for those who cannot choose either one to work in both town and gown, so to speak.

In contrast to the masters in social work course, doctorates for the field are not accredited by the CSWE. PhD programs typically do not have scholarships too. These are also very emphatic on the point of the applicant needing to have had experience in the field as well as serious knowledge before everything else.


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