Section 1: The research process. Histories of the present: social science research in context -- Doing an information search -- Research design -- Ethical issues in social research -- Putting design into practice: writing and evaluating research proposals -- Publish or perish: disseminating your research findings -- Section 2: Quantitative research techniques. Collecting quantitative data: sampling and measuring -- Evaluating research design -- Basic quantitative analysis -- Jumping to conclusions: an overview of inferential statistical methods -- Multivariate data analysis -- Section 3: Qualitative research techniques. Why qualitative research? -- From encounter to text: collecting data in qualitative research -- First steps in qualitative data analysis -- Lived experience and interpretation: the balancing act in qualitative analysis -- Calling it a day: reaching conclusions in qualitative research -- Section 4: Research in applied contexts. Jobs and careers in social research -- Programme evaluation -- Participatory action research: a practical guide for realistic radicals -- Researching public policy -- Research methods in clinical research -- Assessment research -- Standpoint methodologies: Maxist, feminist, and black scholarship perspectives -- Postmodernism: a critical practice? -- Postcolonial African methods and interpretation.