A Very Short, Fairly Interesting and Reasonably Cheap Book about Management Research

[T]his is more a book about how to think about management research than a book on how to do management research per se: and this is very much its strength. This process is conveyed in the following ways: first, the book emphasises the messiness of the research process and gives licence not to know all the answers and to be puzzled and confused at times. Second, Emma and Richard (as they describe themselves in the text) provide honest accounts and interesting vignettes of their own research experiences and dilemmas and, as such, position themselves not (just) as experts within the field but also, through their 'warts and all' accounts, as researchers who have hunches but are not always sure how to research them, who have highs and lows in the research process and who have sometimes taken wrong turns along the way. Third, the book poses some fundamental questions, which urge the researcher to step back, consider options and debate possibilities before acting in order to better understand the nature of choices they make and the implications for the research that this produces. -- Sarah Robinson Who knew that Management Research could be this much fun? The authors cover a lot of important ground without appearing to, keeping the reader engaged and in good humour throughout. -- Brad Jackson A wonderfully clear, engaging, and fun book to read. An invaluable introduction to management research and one that I shall be using with my students for years to come. -- Albert Mills By providing a lively and accessible introduction to management research - which is theoretically informed and methodologically inclusive - Bell and Thorpe's timely text offers illuminating responses to a wide range of issues raised by students entering this field. -- Hugh Willmott Among the weighty tomes on management research methods, this lively, elegant and readable guide is welcome indeed. Emma and Richard carry their deep knowledge of the field lightly, distilling complex debates and terminology into a lucid navigation of the key issues in management research. It should be on every graduate student's bookshelf - and probably on their supervisors as well. -- Amanda Sinclair [A] colourful, engaging and challenging discussion regarding the tenets and process of management research. -- Dr Orna O'Brien