An important limitation with such an approach is that vignettes
cannot be treated as reliable data on what actually routinely happens
in practice. However, the Helpful Responses Questionnaire (HRQ)
has been used to explore skill levels in research with other professional
groups. It has been found to have high inter-rater reliability
(Miller et al., 1991) and to correlate significantly with actual skill
levels observed in a taped interview with a simulated client (Baer
et al., 2004). Although not samples of everyday practice, responses
to vignettes may provide useful data, particularly on the skills social
workers use to respond to client speech. They complement the use
of retrospective accounts of interviews by exploring, not what
participants say happened in meetings, nor their global evaluation
of these encounters, but by asking social workers what they would
actually say in particular situations.