Every discipline changes, develops, improves, and adapts—usually through research. Your discipline is not the same as it was ten years ago; it will change in the next ten years. Scientists, engineers and health practitioners need to know how to understand and adapt to this change.
Remaining current in your discipline requires understanding research, even if you will not be researching yourself. You still need to know the language, tools, concepts and ideas of research, and you need to be able to critique research. Research is the foundation of science.
Science seeks evidence-based answers: reaching conclusions based on evidence, rather than hunches, feelings, intuition, hopes, or tradition. The evidence comes from analysing data.
Research involves asking research questions, designing studies to collect data, analysing data, and accurately reporting the results. This book covers all these components.
