This bestselling book provides an accessible introduction to the concepts and practicalities of research methods in health and health services. This new edition has been extensively re-worked and expanded and now includes expanded coverage of:

Qualitative methodsSocial researchEvaluation methodologyMixed methods Secondary data analysisLiterature reviewing and critical appraisalEvidence based practice
Covering all core methodologies in detail the book looks at the following kinds of health research:

health needs morbidity and mortality trends and rates costing health services sampling for survey research cross-sectional and longitudinal survey design experimental methods and techniques of group assignment questionnaire design interviewing techniques coding and analysis of quantitative data methods and analysis of qualitative observational studies unstructured interviewing
The book is grounded in the author's career as a researcher on health and health service issues, and the valuable experience this has provided in meeting the challenges of research on people and organisations in real life settings.Research Methods in Health, Fourth Edition is an essential companion for students and researchers of health and health services, health clinicians and policy-makers with responsibility for applying research findings and judging the soundness of research."Health service researchers - new and old - will be delighted by this new edition of a popular and useful text. There is new content but also updated material making this practically useful as a resource at any stage of the research trajectory. While health is the focus the book is hugely valuable to researchers in cognate areas. such as social care, education and housing. The book meets its own high standards in being easy to follow, well indexed and containing interesting examples of approaches. The limitations of different methods are also honestly reported. A 'must have' for the book shelf."
Jill Manthorpe, Professor of Social Work, King's College London, UK"When first published in 1997, this volume was the first systematic overview of research methods used in the health field. In its updated 4th Edition it remains vital and, if anything, more important given the growing number of researchers and students inv