Jump to ratings and reviews
Rate this book

Practical Research: Planning and Design

Rate this book
Written in uncommonly engaging and elegant prose, this text is a 'do-it-yourself, understand-it-yourself' manual designed to help research students in any discipline understand the fundamental structure of quality research and the methodical process that leads to genuinely significant results.

384 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1974

69 people are currently reading
815 people want to read

About the author

Paul D. Leedy

18 books4 followers

Ratings & Reviews

What do you think?
Rate this book

Friends & Following

Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!

Community Reviews

5 stars
116 (21%)
4 stars
172 (31%)
3 stars
171 (31%)
2 stars
60 (10%)
1 star
28 (5%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 34 reviews
Profile Image for Vince.
203 reviews3 followers
February 12, 2016
There's some useful information here, but I didn't enjoy the authors' manner. I find it a bit questionable that a 2015 edition makes spreadsheets and word processors out to be more estoric than Grounding Theory, classifies online surveys as completely different to paper surveys, and treats the latter's very format-specific problems as universal and format-independent.

Don't get your hopes up for learning about quantitative research and analysis, either. The chapters about that are best summed up in the authors' own words: "Instead, we recommend you take a statistics class."
Profile Image for Samantha Matherne.
858 reviews63 followers
May 3, 2024
My introduction to research methods course for my MILS degree required this book as reading and resource material. I learned a good bit from it, but as someone who does not intend to do much (if any) actual research studies, some of the content really dragged. Most chapters were very readable, though, and I do recommend this as a good resource to understand creating & conducting a researching study for beginners. The explanations of concepts found within have been helpful for me doing my assignments.
Profile Image for Mert.
Author 12 books79 followers
September 27, 2020
3/5 Stars (%61/100)

Used this book in one of my post-grad classes. It was useful in general and I liked the way it presented the information. It was organized good but there were some parts that we did not really need it at all. I don't really have much to say about this. It was okay.
Profile Image for Limeminearia.
401 reviews5 followers
July 15, 2012
good textbook! it's engagingly written and clear.
1 review
November 4, 2015
i want to read it, can you let me know please how can i download it.

my email address is : linarabah@hotmail.com

Thanks & Regards,
Lina
Profile Image for Ellen Deckinga.
442 reviews13 followers
December 3, 2017
For a textbook it was a good read. Had excellent details that supported my learning. Where the deficits lay is that they lack understanding of the use of technology in the field of research. The way the information is presented is as if using online sources, databases or word processing software is brand new to the field of research. Our students are better prepared to use technology in their research than what is presented in this text.
Profile Image for Kayla.
67 reviews6 followers
November 16, 2017
This book was required in a class of mine during my graduate studies in psychology. It was well-written and easy to understand, which was important because it was an online class lacking instructional lectures.
Profile Image for Monique.
1,815 reviews
January 22, 2018
So I must confess, I didn’t read the entire book but skimmed the chapters that I needed. This has outstanding research methods information.
1 review1 follower
September 5, 2019
i want to read it, can you let me know please how can i download it.

my email address is : mehran6969@gmail.com

Thanks & Regards,
Mehran
Profile Image for daisy.
119 reviews4 followers
September 11, 2023
First few chapters were okay - it got boring after that.
Profile Image for Kimberly Soesbee.
Author 26 books6 followers
December 31, 2023
Read for my doctoral program. Contains clearly understandable information regarding different research methodologies. A bit outdated, but I bought a used copy for my class so I didn’t mind so much.
Profile Image for Lee Ann.
778 reviews21 followers
September 21, 2016
Hahahhhh, gonna be one of those semesters. I'm totally "reading" every chapter of this book and not just skimming.................................
Author 1 book2 followers
February 12, 2017
I read the chapters that my course required and found it to be a pretty good reference for doing research and writing a report about research.
Profile Image for Jamie.
460 reviews6 followers
July 1, 2016
If you have to read a textbook about conducting research, this is probably the best one you will find. This is the second textbook I have read which is authored (at least in part) by Jeanne Ellis Ormrod. I really like her style. It is personable enough to keep the text interesting while still maintaining a highly professional tone. By the end of a very long chapter on statistical analyses in quantitative research I actually understood purposes and functions of various equations, even though I've never had a course in statistics in my life. This is another textbook I will probably hold on to as a resource as I begin my action research courses next fall.
Profile Image for Santosh Kalwar.
Author 32 books302 followers
October 15, 2009
Very nice book about how to do research work, must for those who are pursuing their Phd studies.
1 review
Read
November 4, 2010
Though to purchase the book! Anyone can help procuring such book?
Profile Image for Muna.
10 reviews7 followers
May 5, 2012
perfect for research
1 review
March 6, 2014
Good book if a person want achieve their studies on masters and Doctorate
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Luís Branco.
Author 59 books47 followers
July 18, 2014
It was a pleasurable reading and without doubting it is the best guide on research planning I ever came across.
Profile Image for Serjious  Tsiulinsky.
91 reviews2 followers
November 24, 2020
A guide, a helper, a phd starter toolkit, a supervisor replacement. Wise and straight to the point. Could not look for better.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 34 reviews

Can't find what you're looking for?

Get help and learn more about the design.