Undertaking a PhD and completing the task can be daunting. Yet one is being asked for an incremental increase rather than a paradigm shift in knowledge. This book seeks to place research methods within the context of the research process as a whole from an initial consideration of the nature of the research to the final submission of the thesis. Chapters cover: planning and organising a thesis, constructing and interpreting qualitative data; analysing qualitative data; writing legal and ethical issues; the submission; the viva and publishing. Your PhD thesis constitutes not only an accessible introduction to the task but a source of reference which can usefully be kept to hand during the field research and the process of writing up. This book explains: the nature of research; types of research; the research question; Feasibility; The research proposal; planning and organising