With the skills acquired by studying The Basics, the reader should be able to carry out a small but complete applied research project. The book is not a collection of simple ‘do-it-yourself' steps, however. The emphasis is on understanding the successive steps and choices to be made in the process of doing research in a range of behavioural and social science disciplines. It offers a complete introduction to social science research methods.

The book can be used easily and effectively in combination with e-learning. Wherever pertinent, the reader is referred to useful websites and Wikipedia articles for further information. Each chapter has exercises, sources of relevant literature and lists of key terms. The Basics was written with students of social sciences at universities, colleges and higher vocational training in mind but it will also be useful for students of other disciplines that include ‘research methods' as a subsidiary subject.

It will also help readers to gain a better understanding of publications and newspaper articles based on social research, and it will assist all those who come across social research results in their profession.