This is the market-leading book for anyone doing a research project for the first time. Clear, concise and extremely readable, this bestselling resource provides a practical, step-by-step guide from initial concept through to completion of your final written research report.

Thoroughly updated but retaining its well-loved style, this 6th edition provides:

• A brand new chapter describing the benefits of using social media in research, including how to use blogs, sharing ideas on research community sites, crowdsourcing, LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook
• Tips on using online tools such as Delicious, Mendeley, Dropbox, EndNote and RefWorks to manage and organize your research
• Guidance on searching efficiently and effectively online using Google Scholar, Google Books and library databases and on correctly citing online sources
• Advice on creating online surveys for your research project, plus new material on using Skype and Google Hangouts for online interviewing
• To support your learning, each chapter contains introductory key points, "Dead End" boxes to warn of pitfalls, "Success" checklists and further reading sections.