Compare methods

	Task Analysis (Social Work)	Genogram Analysis	Single-System Design
Field	Social Work	Social Work	Social Work
Family	Process / pipeline	Process / pipeline	Process / pipeline
Year of origin	1992	2008	2009
Originator	William J. Reid & Laura Epstein (task-centered practice)	Monica McGoldrick & Randy Gerson (standardized notation); Murray Bowen (theoretical roots)	Martin Bloom, Joel Fischer & John G. Orme (codification in social work)
Type	Qualitative procedure for decomposing a goal into sequenced, accomplishable tasks	Graphical, qualitative family-assessment tool	Time-series design for evaluating intervention with a single client system
Seminal source	Reid, W. J. (1992). Task Strategies: An Empirical Approach to Clinical Social Work. Columbia University Press. ISBN: 9780231076876	McGoldrick, M., Gerson, R., & Petry, S. (2008). Genograms: Assessment and Intervention (3rd ed.). W. W. Norton & Company. ISBN: 9780393705096	Bloom, M., Fischer, J., & Orme, J. G. (2009). Evaluating Practice: Guidelines for the Accountable Professional (6th ed.). Pearson/Allyn & Bacon. ISBN: 9780205458066
Aliases	Task-Centered Task Analysis, Task Implementation Sequence Analysis, Reid Task Analysis, Task Breakdown Analysis (Social Work)	Genogram, Family Genogram, Family Diagram, McGoldrick Genogram	Single-Subject Design, Single-Case Design, N-of-1 Design, Single-System Evaluation
Related	3	3	4
Summary	In task-centered social work, task analysis is the qualitative procedure of breaking a client's agreed-upon goal into a sequence of concrete, accomplishable tasks, then examining what helps and hinders the completion of each. Rooted in William Reid and Laura Epstein's task-centered model, it turns a large or vague problem into a chain of small, reviewable actions for the client and worker, and treats the success or failure of each task as data for refining the plan. It is both a planning device and an analytic lens on the change process.	A genogram is a graphical map of a family across at least three generations that uses standardized symbols to record its structure, key biographical and medical events, and the quality of relationships among members. Genogram analysis is the practice of constructing such a map with a client and then interpreting it to reveal intergenerational patterns — of illness, relationships, roles, conflict, and resilience — that shape the presenting situation. Standardized by Monica McGoldrick and Randy Gerson and grounded in Bowen family-systems theory, it is a staple qualitative assessment tool in social work and family therapy.	A single-system design is a time-series approach to evaluating practice in which a single client system — an individual, family, group, or organization — is measured repeatedly on a clearly defined target before and during (and sometimes after) an intervention. By tracking the same system over time rather than comparing a treatment group to a control group, it lets a practitioner judge whether their own intervention is associated with change in the people they actually serve. It is the methodological backbone of the 'accountable professional' tradition codified by Bloom, Fischer, and Orme.