The aim of this thesis was to examine what has been researched in Slovenian social work over
the past seventy years and how this research has been done. The study was inspired by the
observation that, despite the importance of research for the development of social work as a
profession and academic discipline, the changing of research methodologies in Slovenian social
work has not yet been systematically examined as a whole.
The analysis is based on a bibliometric study of 1,041 scientific and professional articles
published in Slovenian social work journals. The study combined descriptive statistical
analyses, an authorship network analysis, and an examination of thematic similarities based on
article keywords.
The findings show that social work research in Slovenia has expanded considerably over time,
both in terms of the number of publications and the range of topics addressed. The most
frequently represented themes were mental health, social work with families, and social work
with the elderly. The results also suggest that research priorities have shifted over time and
often reflected broader social and political developments. In addition, the analysis identified
several broader thematic clusters and indications of researcher specialization within particular
fields of social work.
This thesis provides the first systematic overview of the development of social work research
in Slovenia across a longer historical period
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