Bell, Judith (2005) Doing Your Research Project – a guide for the first time researcher in education, health and the social sciences, 4th edn, Open University Press.

Aimed at students, the book covers much the same ground as this one does.

I shall leave you to judge which does it better.

Bernard, H Russell (2000) Social Research Methods: qualitative and quantitative approaches, Sage.

All you ever wanted to know - and more.

Black, Thomas (1999) Doing Quantitative Research in the Social Sciences: an integrated approach to research design, measurement and statistics, Sage.

A good introductory text that aims to cover the whole research process. It is aimed more at students than at practitioners.

Blalock, Hubert M (1979) Social Statistics, 2nd edn, McGraw-Hill. All you ever wanted to know about statistics but were afraid to ask. First published in 1960 and revised in 1979, this is still a key text for people interested in the statistical side of social research.

Bryman, A (2004) Social Research Methods, 2nd edn, Oxford University Press. A very thorough, well thought-of basic guide to research. It is aimed mainly at students but there is much here for practitioners. There is a companion website.

Creswell, J (2003) Research Design: qualitative and quantitative approaches, 2nd edn, Sage, Aimed mainly at students.

Cutts, Martin (2004) The Oxford Guide to Plain English, Oxford University Press.

An excellent book by Britain's foremost exponent of plain writing. There is much practical guidance here for people producing questionnaires and for those who want to write reports that people can understand.

De Vaus, D A (2001) Surveys in Social Research, 5th edn, Routledge. This is rather academic in tone, but it provides a very full and authoritative guide to the subject.

Fink, Arlene and Kosecoff, Jacqueline (1998) How to Conduct Surveys: a stepby- step guide, 2nd edn, Sage.

A very practical guide to survey design and conduct.

Foster, Jeremy (2000) Data Analysis for Using SPSS for Windows Version 8.0–10.0: a beginner's guide, Sage.

A down-to-earth guide to the most popular statistical analysis package.

Gilbert, Nigel (ed) (2001) Researching Social Life, Sage.

An excellent collection of introductory papers out of the stable at Surrey University that produces Social Research Update. It is both authoritative and practical.

Gorman, G E and Clayton, Peter (2004) Qualitative Research for the Information Professional: a practical handbook, 2nd edn, Facet Publishing.