What is social science? How do you do it? What are the pitfalls? What are the tricks of the trade? This book provides the answers to these and many other questions which need to be answered by students who seek to develop their research skills. Adopting a step-by-step approach,the authors clarify such issues as: how to isolate and define a problem; how to frame a hypothesis; how to choose and measure variables; how to choose a research design; how to select a sample. By asking students to grapple with fundamental questions, and by using case studies, they bring research theory and practice alive.