Practical Research: A Guide for Therapists.

This text is included in the "Skills for Practice Series" from the United Kingdom. The text is divided into three parts. Chapter 1 presents a description of the assumptions underlying quantitative and qualitative research, as well as a thoughtful presentation of the need to combine the two approaches when investigating complex issues. The remaining pages in this chapter provide capsule reports on the reliability of measures and threats to the validity of research designs. At the end of the chapter the author states, "The remaining chapters in this book ... explain the various stages of the research process."

Chapters 2 through 7 do succeed in presenting some detailed information about the stages involved in the research process. Some of the topics included are developing research ideas, reviewing the literature, sampling practices, writing a proposal, and ethical issues in research. The explanations, however, tend to be very brief Nonetheless, the ethical issues and political implications (chapter 3) are thoughtfully presented.

Part 2 addresses research methods and approaches and contains many fine, clear illustrations. Each chapter in this section is devoted to the characteristics of an approach, the advantages and disadvantages of its use, and tips on avoiding its pitfalls. The greatest emphasis is placed on questionnaire, interview, Delphi, documentary, and observational techniques and approaches. The more traditional, statistically based experimental, quasi-experimental, and single-case designs are covered in two brief chapters.

In the two chapters in the final segment of this work, the author supplies some hints on how to write a research report and suggests avenues for its dissemination.

Practical Research: A Guide for Therapists differs from other texts in this area on several counts. The first is brevity. Topics as far ranging as political issues in research to the calculations required to determine die statistical mean of a sample are presented in only 210 pages. Because of the limitations of space, many topics are only introduced. Thus, the reader will need to consult other texts to acquire more depth of understanding. Because of the breadth of the author's approach, however, the reader can find ideas that can stimulate thinking about different research perspectives to questions of interest.

Physical therapy students, practitioners with no previous research experience, and practicing researchers "keen on extending their expertise in new directions" comprise the intended audience for this work. The author has achieved her goal of appealing to this audience. This audience will find this book, which is more a handbook than a textbook, helpful provided they also have other sources of information.