Includes bibliographical references and index.

Psychology and research -- Measuring people: variables, samples and the qualitative critique -- Use of experimental designs in psychology -- Validity in experiments, quasi-experiments and non-experimental methods -- Observational methods: watching and being with people -- Interview methods: asking people direct questions -- Questionnaires: using psychological scales and tests in research -- Comparison studies: looking across, looking ahead and looking abroad -- Qualitative approaches: problems with positivism -- Statistics: organizing the data -- Significance: was it a real effect? -- Testing differences between two samples -- Tests for categorical variables and frequency tables -- Correlation: the association of measured variables -- Multi-level analysis: differences between more than two conditions -- Multi-factorial analysis -- Repeated measures ANOVA designs -- So what test should I use? Choosing the appropriate inferential test for your data -- Analysing qualitative data -- Ethical issues in psychological research -- Planning your practical and writing up your report.