First published in 1997. This volume is part of the Prentice Hall series- a series of comprehensive textbooks and reference manuals for nurses and other health care professionals. The development of a number of sections in the second edition of this book serves perhaps as an indication of the changes that have occurred in health care education and research over recent years. The emphasis of this text, as in the first edition, is to trace the research process from the initial idea through to dissemination and implementation of findings as appropriate. In so doing, a number of sections have been enlarged and updated. This includes a greater emphasis on some of the ‘planning’ issues in research seen as particularly important given the increased opportunity available for practitioners to take part in funded research projects. From this perspective increased emphasis has been given to acquiring funding for research and working with established systems of ethical approval.