Working in the fields of education, health and social care demands a great deal of energy, effort and commitment on the part of the practitioner or trainee. When a research project is added to a workload the pressures can be great, particulary if the would-be-researcher is not confident about the process involved.The Hard-pressed Researcher provides practical guidance on how to undertake a research project. It has been written specially for practitioners and students in the fields of education, health and social care and assumes no specific knowledge of the research process.This revised and updated version of the first edition covers the major modes of research (experimental research, survey work, case study, interpretative research and action research) and provides step-by-step guidance from conceptualization through to report writing. Each chapter provides sources for further reading and the book ends with a series of statistical tables.All those studying or working in the caring professions will welcome the very straightforward and sympathetic approach of the authors, both of whom have considerable experience in the supervision of research work.Anne Edwards is Professor of Primary Education in the School of Education at the University of Leeds. She has worked in research partnerships with practitioners in education and child care for the last twenty years and has written extensively on relationships between research and professional practice.Robin Talbot is Head of the Department of Primary Health Care at University College of St Martin in Lancaster, where he has first had experience of supporting health professionals in the completion of their research projects and dissertations.