Less than a third of specialist registrars make full use of the research time allocated to them during the four years of their higher training, and this book could have been dedicated to the other two-thirds who do not. A sentiment of ‘no excuse will really do’ weaves its way persuasively through the text. Each contributor works hard to promote the benefits and personal rewards of research on the one hand, while tackling head-on those commonly encountered obstacles which can transform the most enthusiastic, even euphoric researcher gripped with inspiration to answer a question which really interests them, into a frustrated and weary one disillusioned by the inevitable problems and pitfalls which will befall even the most carefully conceived projects.

Practical, task-focused and concise chapters describe many of the separate components of a research project from its conception to conclusion, including designing and undertaking a literature search, planning and writing a study protocol, identifying collaborators, assembling a project team, obtaining grants and disseminating results. The reader will understand that these authors are just as familiar with the challenges of research work as they are with its pleasures. One message comes across loud and clear: challenges are there, and will be overcome. One early chapter reviews a survey of specialist registrars' attitudes to research opportunities during their training, and the obstacles they face. Lack of time, appropriate support and their need for supervision are already widely recognised, but here the authors reveal less well appreciated and more ominous sounding syndromes, including “the canteen culture” of the “anti-research milieu”, profound attacks of procrastination and acute unpredictable episodes of deep-seated vacillation. A later chapter, entitled ‘Maintaining momentum’, revisits each of these potential obstacles one by one, inviting the readers to identify those barriers most relevant to their own progress, helping them to devise specific plans to overcome them. Presentation is another strong point of this publication, with emphasis placed on the use of summary boxes in the text to direct the reader's attention to the salient issues raised in each of the chapters.

In taking this practical, problem-focused approach less space is devoted to more technical questions, such as study design or sample selection. The coverage of such issues relevant to quantitative studies is therefore not exhaustive, while those for qualitative designs is almost non-existent, and is mainly limited to highlighting the various differences between these two approaches. For instance, there are three chapters dealing with aspects of the analysis of quantitative data, but virtually no mention is made of the range of methods appropriate to the analysis of qualitative material. This seems to be a lost opportunity when a pluralist approach combining both methods is now promoted by many investigators, as well as those who commission their work. If support for research generally is hard to come by, that for qualitative approaches in particular is even thinner on the ground. A similarly practical approach in this area would have been a bonus.

This is a useful book, and contains much wisdom for anyone interested in the ‘how to do it’ of research work. The text seems to roll along with a momentum of its own, and is pervaded with a sense of the editors' enthusiasm. It is refreshingly down to earth and accessible, and the covers of many of its copies will quickly become dog-eared and tatty around the edges because its owners have so often had reason to dip into it and draw on the useful lessons learnt, and shared here, by others.