• Provides chapter-length treatments of philosophy of science, problem formulation, theory building, and problem solving
• Breaks research studies into four basic steps, providing an integrated view, and advice, on these
• Includes useful worksheets to design process and variance models for designing studies
• Emphasizes the social nature of the research process
• Ideal for graduate courses on research methods
• Major contribution to the broader movement of 'engaged scholarship'

Readership: Relevant for anyone undertaking or learning social science research: Graduate and doctoral students, researchers and academics, and other research professionals.

Andrew H. Van de Ven, Vernon H. Heath Professor of Organizational Innovation and Change, Carlson School of Management, University of Minnesota

"Van de Ven provides succinct, yet philosophically informed, summaries of alternative philosophical positions available to researchers." - Organization Studies

1: Engaged Scholarship in a Professional School
2: Philosophy of Science Underlying Engaged Scholarship
3: Formulating the Research Problem
4: Building a Theory
5: Process and Variance Models
6: Designing Variance Studies
7: Designing Process Studies
8: Communicating and Using Research Knowledge
9: Practicing Engaged Scholarship