Manual Therapy 16 (2011) 103
Contents lists available at ScienceDirect
Manual Therapy
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/math
Book review
Research Design: Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed Methods
Approaches, John W. Creswell, third ed. Sage Publications
(2009). 260pp., Price: £ 25.59, ISBN: 9781412965576
Widely renown for his work and publications on qualitative and
mixed methods research, John W. Creswell recently published the
third edition of Research Design: Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed
Methods Approaches. The book is structured around 2 parts and 10
chapters that mirror the main stages of development of a research
project. Although a plethora of books covering research design exist,
this book is especially interesting because it very simply and clearly
discusses the subject, mainly bringing useful comparisons between
qualitative, quantitative and mixed methods approaches that aid the
researcher in planning a research endeavour. While Creswell’s book
covers the essential questions and concerns enabling the operation-
alization of a research project, it furthermore addresses issues that,
to our knowledge, having read many books on the subject, are
scarcely found elsewhere. These issues are presented in the first
part of the book under the heading Preliminary Considerations and
include an overview of the main uses and modes of presentation
doi:10.1016/j.math.2010.09.003
of the review of the literature in a research protocol or report, as
well as the use of theory. As an example, in Chapter 3 entitled Use
of Theory, Creswell explicitly discusses the roles of theory that differ
according to the types of research design (e.g. theory generation,
theory verification), acknowledging that there are many possible
variations within each research approach. Hence, this expanded
and restructured edition of John Creswell’s Research Design is
a user-friendly and rich scientific resource, and appears as a must
for any researcher wanting to tackle the indispensable subject of
research design by contrasting qualitative, quantitative, and mixed
methods approaches.
Kadija Perreault*
Centre for Interdisciplinary Research in Rehabilitation and
Social Integration, Université Laval, 525, boulevard Wilfrid-Hamel,
Québec City, Québec, Canada G1M 2S8
* Tel.: 1 418 529 9141x6043; fax: 1 418 529 3548.
E-mail address: kadija.perreault.1@ulaval.ca