Getting Started on Research

This book was perfect for someone like me who felt lost, as it was written for people who want to *do* something but don't feel they have the full picture - and that was definitely me. I will keep reading this book as I go along and also look at the others in the series! I started reading this book a few weeks ago and after reading the first few chapters it's been so valuable to me that I sent a thank you email to the authors. I am not a researcher (yet), I am a social work graduate with one year post graduation experience and I have been thinking about doing research but not knowing where to start. I didn't want to apply for a PhD or Masters with a university until I knew to a large degree what I wanted to research. However, I'd been getting lost in reading papers trying to let gaps in the existing research guide me to what I wanted to do - it was overwhelming as I felt compelled to read everything even somewhat related to my interest areas to know what all the gaps were. It was a task that I never felt I was getting very far on. Then I found this book 'Getting Started on Research' and using very helpful case studies and examples it showed me not to look for gaps to but to ask myself what I really want to know and would be worthwhile for others to know. Using this book to guide me, it was not long before I had built an idea of a research question or topic that I was able to articulate to others, and with that I had the confidence to choose a university and ask them about research - I will be meeting with a Professor next week to start discussions on enrolling in their research programs and I have this book to thank for getting me to that point.