Graduate students and other novice researchers making their first forays into applied linguistics research will be pleased to learn about this comprehensive and accessible introductory guide to research methodology. Drawing from an extensive research and publishing background, Dörnyei provides a comprehensive overview of the more generic aspects of SLA research. This book provides practical, hands-on coverage of the various procedural stages of quantitative and qualitative investigation, including strategies that combine the two approaches within what has been referred to in applied linguistics as the third research paradigm: mixed-methods research.

From the very first pages, the book’s purpose is revealed in its emphasis on the practicality of no-nonsense, get-to-the-point research designed for the real world. With a straightforward, informal, yet professional writing style that avoids the more esoteric or technical approaches of other introductory textbooks, the author manages to sidestep the more abstract, polemic disputes sometimes found within applied linguistics. The volume thus begins by establishing what Dörnyei claims are the four essential attributes of the good researcher, followed by a wealth of useful procedural research knowledge, which informs without overwhelming.

In terms of content layout, the book is organized into five general parts. Part 1, “Key Issues in Research Methodology,” offers a generous exploration of research-related issues. The author then discusses various research methodologies and techniques as well as various types of data analysis and presentation strategies. Although the book is comprehensive in its presentation of various methodologies, it follows several other leading introductory-level research methodology textbooks in its light treatment of one of the more practical concerns of novice researchers: how to design research questions within the specific context of a mixed-methods framework.

Part 2 discusses some of the characteristic features and challenges of data collection. Dörnyei provides a balanced treatment of qualitative, quantitative, and mixed-methods approaches and outlines the strengths and weaknesses of each approach. For the book’s graduate student and teacher-researcher readership, chapter 8 discusses some problems in classroom-based action research and details the challenges of approaching any kind of research within such complex environments.

Part 3, “Data Analysis,” deals with aspects of research that, in terms of concrete applications, perhaps have the most to offer novices. Beginning with a look at quantitative data analysis software applications, such as the statistical package for the social sciences (SPSS), key statistical concepts and applications are explored, followed by an equally in-depth treatment of qualitative content analysis. The book also offers an eclectic list of briefly annotated resources that cover a range of research approaches.

In chapter 10, the author makes an honest attempt to reconcile the divergent analytical approaches of qualitative and quantitative research methodologies. Contrasting the formalized analytical procedures of quantitative research with the characteristic subjective intuition of qualitative research, Dörnyei states that “the lack of analytical conventions is not a strength but a weakness of qualitative data analysis because the intuitive reflexiveness does not in itself provide any safeguards against simply being wrong” (p. 245). Although even committed qualitative practitioners would not disagree with the need to establish systematic, transparent investigative audit trails, notions of right and wrong can hardly be considered the ultimate litmus test of contemporary qualitative enquiry, any more than human experience can meaningfully be reduced to numerical quantities. Of course, and in keeping with the author’s pragmatic focus, the book’s length does not allow for much nuanced discussion of the complexities of qualitative research (Duff, Reference Duff, Chalhoud-Deville, Chapelle and Duff2006), much less issues and politics of representation.

Part 4, “Reporting Research Results,” offers suggestions for the research report format based on an American Psychological Association (APA)-style quantitative template. With a stress on pragmatism, Dörnyei once again underscores the importance of accessibility and readability in research reports, regardless of methodological orientation. This section, which is one of the book’s strongest, will likely be of particular interest to novice researchers. It could be further improved, however, by incorporating a variety of exemplar research reports, representational graphics, and follow-up writing exercises more typically included in the introductory book genre (e.g., Mackey & Gass, Reference Mackey and Gass2005).

In sum, this book offers an authoritative complement to the plethora of more specialized introductory research textbooks available. Covering the critical aspects of single- and mixed-methods research in a reasonably comprehensive, user-friendly style, Dörnyei provides graduate students and novice teacher-researchers with enough of what they need to get the job done.