The Psychology Research Handbook: A Guide for Graduate Students and Research Assistants: A Primer for Graduate Students and Research Assistants

The Psychology Research Handbook is destined to become a standard reference work for students seeking to master psychology research methods and procedures. The editors, Dr. Frederick T. L. Leong and Dr. James T. Austin, are to be congratulated for providing students with a comprehensive guide for conducting many types of psychology research on human subjects. It's all here in clear and lucid prose: the reader is treated to an intellectually stimulating and fun-filled journey into the world of psychology research, from 'identifying a research topic' to 'applying for research grants.' The volume contains 29 chapters, some of which are co-authored by advanced graduate students. This touch of the 'real world' adds to the clarity and practicality of many chapters. Unlike other research handbooks that are filled with arcane material that frightens the budding researcher, this volume will spark a lifelong love affair with the psychology research process. Of special value are the chapters on topics typically missing from other texts, including 'cross-cultural research,' 'dealing with journal editors and reviewers,' 'conducting meta-analyses,' and 'using archival datasets.' In my opinion, this is the book of choice for introducing the psychology research process to students and research assistants.

The Psychology Research Handbook is a true handbook. It provides guidance in planning, designing, and carrying out research and data analysis, as well as instruction in writing up the research and applying for grants. Each chapter offers good practical advice on topics ranging from 'cleaning up data,' 'revising a research manuscript,' and so on to 'coordinating a research team' and 'applying theories in research.' Although the subtitle is 'A Guide for Graduate Students and Research Assistants,' I expect to refer to it next year in my 51st year of doing psychological research and writing.

A valuable grand tour--from the ground up--of everything a beginning researcher wants to know but is usually afraid to ask. For both the new graduate student and the serious undergraduate.

A sound, step-by-step, practical, clearly written guide to how to initiate, do, and publish psychological research. The excellent coverage of the relevant literature is broad and up-to-date. It includes a chapter on the methodology of cross-cultural research that covers most of the essential points.

In every field of endeavor, in order for someone to be considered competent there is a set of knowledge, skills, and abilities that must be developed. Often, this takes place in formal settings like the classroom. But much of this development can only occur in the context of working with a 'master' or subject matter expert. This is often referred to as the acquisition of tacit knowledge. A real strength of the Leong and Austin primer is that it assembles a fine set of experts and has them present in a very readable format the tacit or proceduralized knowledge that they have accumulated as a result of years of practical exposure to the design, development, implementation, and documentation of research in psychology. In this regard, I feel that the section on research writing and some of the special topics covered are especially noteworthy. When read in conjunction with an instructor's input, these chapters in particular should increase the student's capacity for professional-level work immensely. All things considered, this handbook should meet an important set of needs among advanced undergraduate and beginning graduate students in psychology.