[.ca] The Craft of Research, 2nd edition (ISBN 0226065677)

From Amazon.com:
Skillfully done, research can be the solid cornerstone of your term paper (or dissertation, essay, or article); inadequately executed, it can cause your whole project to crumble and fall. Yet essential as research is to the ultimate success of your work, performing it is not an innate talent. The precepts, steps, and skills of solid research are readily acquired if you spend some time with The Craft of Research before you start on your outlines and thesis statements. Written by three distinguished professors in 1995, published by the University of Chicago, and winner of the 1995-96 Critics' Choice Award, The Craft of Research teaches how to plan, carry out, and report on research for any field and at any level. Aimed at assisting student researchers, from raw beginners to accomplished graduate and professional students, the book shows how to choose a topic, plan and organize research, and how to draft and revise a report of findings such that a convincing solution is offered to a significant problem. The Craft of Research is more than just another instruction manual getting you from topic to outline to notes to report. Recognizing that good research is rarely a simple, sequential procedure, but is instead a complex and intricate process, it discusses the subtle ways in which asking questions about your topic can influence how you draft your report, how a quality introduction can send you back to the library, and how the process of drafting can highlight flaws in your argument that need to be addressed. Clear and explicit, sophisticated and practical, The Craft of Research encourages high standards of scholarly achievement, and spells out the steps by which to get there. --Stephanie Gold

Very good book for the right audience...:
I picked up the book The Craft Of Research by Wayne Booth, Gregory Colomb, and Joseph Williams at the library awhile back, and I finished it over the course of this week. Not quite what I was expecting, but useful if you buy it for the right reason. I was looking for something more geared towards doing research for articles and such. This is geared towards the college student or professional researcher who has to produce research papers on a regular basis. It teaches you how to formulate your argument and properly research your material to make and prove your points. Probably very helpful if you have an actual project to do at the time you're reading it. Definitely a reference book you'd want to have on your shelf. That's not to say that you couldn't gain some insight on article writing from this book. It's just, in my opinion, a bit too advanced for the type of writing I would do. But because it covers the target audience well, I can't complain.

excellent research manual:
An excellent resource, especially for those (like me) on their first serious research project, and rather clueless. Besides speaking a great deal about the nuts and bolts of research, this book places a large emphasis on logical reasoning and clear arguments.

Simplistic:
Great for the high school or intro for a prepatory course frosh year in college. Otherwise, past the intro and the elevator story, worthless.

Art Takes Many Forms:
This is certainly so when it comes to "The Craft of Research" as this is a fundamental point to remember when one is learning how to prepare research which is above and beyond the mundane and forgettable. "The Craft of Research" is told from the insiders perspective and ought to be carried on one's person to reflect and review in those quiet moments that are more and more widely spaced these days. Of course the business of finding the raw answers in short order is sometime key and I've found The Practical Pundit to be a quick solution to gathering my material prior to sitting down to order and write. http://www.practicalpundit.com

A Must Read For Everyone At Any Level:
If you are a student writing your first paper for collage or if you are a seasoned researcher, this book is the best book on the subject you will find. The authors take great care in taking you step by step through the complex task for writing scientific and technical research papers. Starting with explaining why we write research papers, over the subject of how to construct a solid argument, to who we write for, it is all covered. Unlike other manuals, this one centers on the most important thing about research papers, the target audience. Quick Tips at the end of most chapters give you a solid starting point in case you run into problems with your own work making this book an indispensable reference on your desk. I also enjoy the fluid writing style that makes the book actually fun to read. You will be surprised how quickly you will be able to write a solid paper and identify flaws in other peoples work.