ABSTRACT
Welfare is mainly distinguished by its special moral reputation. The general term "welfare" can refer to several common characteristics, and the procedural advice appropriate for the student will vary accordingly. Getting to study welfare is usually a matter of getting into welfare offices. Welfare officials often have personal and professional backgrounds similar to those of social scientists who come to study them. Welfare agencies often deal with the most intimate facts of clients' personal lives and transform them into impersonal data controlled only within the organization. Higher levels in large welfare systems will often wish to have specific subprograms investigated. Many welfare organizations, especially in the private sector, welcome regular arrangements with research-oriented persons. Welfare workers can be reached by the kinds of techniques used in reaching nonorganizational workers in the study of occupations. Welfare people survive by learning to use public languages to pursue private ulterior ends.
