Research has become integral to everyday practice in health and social care and it is now essential for professionals in these fields to be able to read and analyze research so that they can apply it in their work. In reality many people find research concepts difficult to grasp, but this book makes it easy by providing a straightforward guide to the basics. Topics covered include: the role of research in health and social care; the research process; quantitative and qualitative approaches; how to develop critical skills; and implementing research findings. For this Third Edition, new material has been added on literature searching techniques, meta-analysis, data protection, and critical appraisal tools.