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Social Work vocabulary · Records and Case Notes

Objective

Meaning in social work, with examples

/əbˈdʒektɪv/adjectiveCommon term

In social work, objective means: Based on facts and observations rather than on personal feelings, opinions or assumptions.

In Turkish: nesnel, objektif, tarafsız

How it is used

A key quality of case recording. Workers are told to keep notes objective: record what was seen and said, quote the person's own words, and label professional opinions clearly as analysis.

Example sentences

  1. 'The house was dirty' is vague; an objective note describes exactly what you saw.

  2. Try to keep your case notes objective and free of labels.

Common collocations

  • objective record
  • remain objective
  • objective evidence
  • objective and factual
  • case notesWritten records of contacts, conversations, observations and actions in a case, made by the worker as the work happens.
  • record keepingThe practice of creating, organising, storing and updating accurate records about the people you work with and the actions you take.
  • chronologyA list of the significant events in a person's or family's life and in the case, in date order, used to spot patterns over time.
  • assessmentThe process of gathering and analysing information about a person's situation, needs, strengths and risks in order to decide what help is needed.

This word in other fields

The same English word can have a different meaning in another field:

More terms: Records and Case Notes

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