Review Essay: Encouraging Students to Think About Research as a Process

Abstract

In Research Design in Social Research, David DE VAUS presents a wonderful opportunity for research design students and practitioners to think more about the planning and process of research design. DE VAUS structures his text by presenting introductory research design tools followed by sections on experimental, longitudinal, cross-sectional, and case study designs. Each section presents types within each category, issues in conducting these types of research, and data analysis recommendations. The text is accessible to a variety of audiences, from beginner to experienced, regardless of the discipline. What makes this text stand out as highly useful for the classroom is the author's continued insistence that "there is no right way of developing ideas" (p.23), and that researchers must continue to think about what they are doing rather than blindly doing it. URN: urn:nbn:de:0114-fqs020420