Research Methods: The Basics

Citation

Walliman, N. (2026). Research Methods: The Basics (4th ed.). Routledge.

Chapter Summary

The fourth edition runs to 346 pages and is divided into two parts after an introduction: Part I on research theory and practice (Chapters 1–5), and Part II on the main research methods (Chapters 6–13). The publisher describes the first part as covering the nature of knowledge and the reasons for doing research, and the second as explaining the specific methods used to carry out a research project and how to propose, plan, carry out and write it up. Learning tasks come at the end of each section, and the book includes a glossary of key terms and guides to further reading.

Part I: Research theory and practice

• Chapter 1: Research basics. The opening chapter introduces what research is and why it is done; the publisher lists reasons for doing a research project and motivation and quality of work among the book's topics.
• Chapter 2: Research theory. This chapter takes up the nature of knowledge on which the publisher's description of Part I rests, ahead of the method chapters.
• Chapter 3: Structuring the research project. The chapter corresponds to the description's "structuring and planning a research project".
• Chapter 4: Research ethics. A chapter given to the ethical issues involved in research.
• Chapter 5: Finding and reviewing the literature. The chapter on locating and evaluating existing work that a project builds on.

Part II: The main research methods

• Chapter 6: The nature of data. The publisher lists different types of data and how they are measured; this chapter is where the contents place that topic.
• Chapter 7: Collecting and analysing secondary data: Modern, historical and archival. Existing material as a source of evidence, from contemporary records to historical and archival sources.
• Chapter 8: Collecting primary data. Data the researcher gathers directly.
• Chapter 9: Quantitative data analysis and Chapter 10: Qualitative data analysis. Paired chapters on analysing numerical and non-numerical data.
• Chapter 11: Mixed-methods and interdisciplinary research. The chapter on combining approaches and crossing disciplinary boundaries.
• Chapter 12: Writing the proposal and planning the research project and Chapter 13: Writing up the research. The final pair take a project from proposal and plan to the written report.

The fourth edition adds sections on artificial intelligence in research. The contents page does not show where they fall, so they cannot be placed in a specific chapter here.

Key Concepts

Part I (Chapters 1–5)

• Nature of knowledge: the theoretical ground for asking what counts as evidence and why research is done.
• Structuring a project: planning a project so that its parts fit together.
• Research ethics: the ethical issues involved in studying people and their information.
• Literature review: finding and reviewing earlier work.

Part II (Chapters 6–13)

• Types of data and measurement: different kinds of data and how they are measured.
• Primary and secondary data: data collected by the researcher versus existing data, including historical and archival sources.
• Quantitative and qualitative analysis: analysing numerical and non-numerical data in separate chapters.
• Mixed-methods and interdisciplinary research: combining approaches and disciplines.
• Proposal and write-up: devising a research proposal and writing up the research.

Critical Analysis

Strengths

• Short and broad. The publisher positions the book as an accessible, user-friendly introduction to research theory, methods and practice for readers coming to research for the first time, and it explicitly addresses natural sciences, social sciences and humanities.
• Whole-project sequence. The contents run from the nature of knowledge through ethics, literature, data, analysis and proposal to the final write-up, so a first-time researcher can follow a project from idea to report.
• Study aids. Learning tasks end each section, and the book has a glossary and guides to further reading. For this edition the publisher adds checklists, case studies, discipline-specific examples, discussion questions, study tips and practice quizzes online.
• Current edition. The fourth edition adds material on how artificial intelligence tools can be used in research.

Limitations

• Compression. Thirteen chapters in 346 pages, with data analysis split into two chapters, give an overview of each method rather than a working manual; students who must run their own statistics or coding need a dedicated text.
• Discipline-neutral. Because it aims at the natural sciences, social sciences and humanities together, it cannot give the field-specific detail that a sociology-focused methods text offers.
• Supporting material is online. Much of the extra help (case studies, quizzes, checklists) sits on the companion site rather than in the book.

Where It Fits in the Course

Among the research methods books in the course list, Walliman is a short, wide-ranging first read. Babbie's The Practice of Social Research is a long introduction organised around the logic of social inquiry, measurement, sampling, modes of observation and analysis, and treats experiments, surveys and field research as separate modes of observation. Bryman's Social Research Methods is a comprehensive British textbook on the whole research process across quantitative, qualitative and mixed methods, and Creswell and Creswell's Research Design is a compact guide to planning a study and writing a proposal.

Beyond these, Charmaz's Constructing Grounded Theory is a specialist text on one qualitative approach, Morgan and Winship's Counterfactuals and Causal Inference is a graduate textbook on causal inference, and King, Keohane and Verba's Designing Social Inquiry argues that qualitative and quantitative research share one logic of inference. Walliman prepares for any of these by supplying the overall map.

How to Use This Book

The book is written for readers with no previous training in research methods, including undergraduates and professional readers planning a first research project or dissertation.

A practical plan:

• Read Part I first. Chapters 1–5 set the foundations; Chapter 4 on ethics and Chapter 5 on the literature should be read before starting any data collection.
• Choose from Part II by project type. Read Chapter 6 on data, then the chapters on secondary data, primary data and the type of analysis the project needs.
• Finish with Chapters 12–13 when preparing a proposal and again when writing up.
• Do the learning tasks at the end of sections and use the online resources, then move to a longer text when the project needs specialist methods.