Advising on research methods: A consultant's companion by Herman Adèr, Gideon Mellenbergh and David Hand is a handbook for those who are giving advice on research methods in the social and behavioral sciences, including medicine and epidemiology.

The perspective is the one of a statistical advisor, who strives to assist researchers in the field to produce better – more accurate, valid, and reliable – results. The book is explicitly intended to be used for instruction. Each chapter has an Exercise section, while the chapter texts are interspersed with ‘Topics for classroom discussion’.

As to the contents: the book roughly follows the research cycle. It starts from general considerations on research quality and publishing, then discusses different design strategies, the choice and construction of measurement instruments and the data analysis process including the interpretation of the analysis results. The book has recently been indexed for Google books (Search for: Advising on research methods). This makes it possible to have a good look at the contents. See below for a summary.