Designed as an advanced introduction to quantitative and qualitative methods in second and foreign language research, this volume is a valuable text that takes novice researchers through the various stages of conceptualizing, conducting, and analyzing research. The authors present readers with qualitative and quantitative approaches to common language-learning themes with the overall aim of (a) building readers’ understanding of how individual research topics can be approached from different perspectives and (b) demonstrating how these various methodologies may be drawn together in a well-grounded, mixed-methods approach.

This book has a great deal to offer students at a variety of levels. Although some aspects of the text may be intimidating for less advanced students, the process of successfully conducting research is complex and multidimensional, and the authors make additional resources available on the book’s companion website to afford readers further practice in the more difficult concepts. For students at all levels of graduate work, this volume provides opportunities to improve skills in designing and carrying out original research as well as in reading and interpreting published articles. In other words, the text aids readers in their development as both research practitioners and research consumers.

The initial chapter begins by addressing the stages of research development and design. Even though a checklist of important considerations in human research is provided, the discussion on ethical research practices could be more detailed. The authors attribute this brief coverage to lack of space and point the reader to recommended websites for further information and guidance. The chapter continues with a discussion of the goals and key issues in quantitative and qualitative research as well as a review of key terms and concepts.

Part 2 focuses on important themes in language learning, teaching, or assessment. Six chapters cover interaction and pedagogy; the classroom as a language-learning environment; affect and belief in language learning; language-learning tasks; interaction, context, and identity; and assessing language and accessing constructs. Each chapter begins with a description of the featured research theme and includes tasks designed to highlight researchers’ potential choices in methodology when approaching the selected topic. Presented through comparisons of published quantitative and qualitative studies by well-known applied linguists, these chapters encourage the reader to consider each research theme from a variety of perspectives. Each chapter further explores featured themes with examples of relevant design and analysis procedures as well as step-by-step guides to eliciting or analyzing data. Quantitative examples include sample data sets, descriptions of appropriate statistical tests and underlying assumptions, and instructions on how to interpret the results using the common statistical software program SPSS. Qualitative extensions illustrate tasks focused on data collection, such as how to conduct interviews or observations, practice, and analysis.

The final chapter of the volume seeks to expand and diversify the scope and perspectives presented in the previous chapters with a focus on how these methodologies can be combined to form a mixed-methods approach. This chapter also includes a thorough discussion of how foundational concepts—such as validity and reliability—are considered within the various methodologies. Although not included in the book, appendices that provide additional practical support in making recordings, transcribing, conducting interviews, and creating questionnaires as well as useful guidelines on how to write and organize a research proposal, thesis, or dissertation are featured on the companion website.

Well written and enjoyable to read, this text offers targeted tasks; guided interpretations of published studies; and practical, hands-on exercises to deepen readers’ understanding of quantitative and qualitative research methodologies. The clear and focused practice tasks, which provide useful guidance in designing, collecting, and analyzing data, are a key strength of this text, as is the comparative format of the various approaches to singular research themes. Advanced students will find the book to be an invaluable resource for developing their understanding of each research methodology in its own right as well as its role in a mixed-methods approach. Instructors will appreciate the step-by-step guidance and targeted tasks included in each chapter that present readers with questions to consider as they read the featured studies and examine the included data sets. Overall, this book will help students to better develop and understand complex research in a mixed-methods framework, and makes it a welcome addition to the available methodology texts for advanced master’s and doctoral students.