Part A (Q4): Highlight the use of Perceptual Mapping in Social Work Research.

Perceptual Mapping is a visual representation technique used to understand how individuals or groups perceive different concepts, services, organizations, or problems relative to one another. It typically plots these perceptions on a two-dimensional graph based on specific attributes.

Use in Social Work Research:

1. Understanding Client Perspectives: A researcher can map how a community perceives different NGOs or government agencies. For example, mapping organizations on an axis of "Helpful vs. Unhelpful" and "Accessible vs. Inaccessible." This reveals gaps in service delivery based on the clients' lived reality, not administrative claims.
2. Problem Prioritization: Communities can use perceptual mapping to plot their problems based on severity and solvability. This visually helps the community and the social worker decide which issue to tackle first.
3. Evaluating Stigma: It can be used to map how a community perceives different marginalized groups or illnesses (e.g., mapping HIV/AIDS compared to Tuberculosis on scales of fear and stigma), helping design targeted awareness campaigns.
4. Policy Analysis: Mapping the perceived impact of different social policies on various demographic groups to identify which policies are viewed as equitable versus discriminatory.