O'Dwyer and Bernauer promote understanding and appreciation of the quantitative tradition in the social sciences, especially for those who are most familiar with the qualitative tradition. The authors demonstrate that these two research traditions are complementary and that the primary components of good research--problem quality, design quality, evidence quality, and procedural quality--apply equally to both qualitative and quantitative research methodologies.

By providing rich pedagogy throughout the book the authors give students ample support and guidance. Each chapter begins with an outline, key terms are defined throughout, and discussion questions conclude each chapter. Connections to Qualitative Research and Review of Published Research sections offer students opportunities to make connections to their current base of knowledge and to see the concepts described in the book being applied in real research.