The Essential Guide to Doing Research

by Zina O'Leary . SAGE Publications, London , 2004 , 240 pages , £18·99 , ISBN 0 761 94199 1 . There must be literally thousands of research textbooks currently in print and many of those claim to be ‘essential’. So what is it that makes this a distinctive guide to research? The content certainly covers all of the areas that you would expect to see in a guide such as this, with advice on all stages of the research process, from the early stages of deciding what to research and how to approach it, through to issues of methodological design, data collection, analysis and writing up. The presentation is clear; each chapter starts with a bullet point preview and ends with a chapter summary. The text is written in a readable, approachable style but O'Leary still makes sure that readers are familiarised with the language and concepts of research. Excellent diagrams, figures and tables serve to clarify and summarise points and there is a very good bibliography at the end. So far this might be said of many a research guide. The distinctive approach adopted here is that research is presented as a ‘thinking’, creative activity, encouraging readers to think actively about what they are doing rather than slavishly following a rigid set of rules. This is a ‘guide’ in the real sense of the word. If potential researchers pick up this text and use it, we should see some creative, thinking researchers as a result. I would certainly recommend this to new researchers, research students and their supervisors.