As a graduate student taking my first official course in research methods, I was disappointed. The language and structure of this book could have been made a lot easier to follow. I would have appreciated, for example, more frequent subheadings and listing of points. Because of the lack of, the book is difficult to skim or pick and choose sections to read; expect to read thoroughly. Some of the examples in the book were questionable -especially the chapter on experimental and quasi-experimental research. The frequent diagrams were also lacking in clarity. I think that the text could have been half as long and still conveyed the same amount of information. Redundancy aside, I did (with much caffeinated effort) gain a broad understanding of several research strategies and tactics. The book is not a comprehensive guidebook for conducting research based on particular research methods; it is merely a broad introduction or clarification of various strategies. However, it frequently suggests comprehensive texts for further reading if you are so inclined.
I found this book to be excellent: comprehensive and approachable, eclectic and interdisciplinary. It should save any student, researcher or instructor much time and can serve as a text book and/or a comprehensive reference manual. It also adds to the body of knowledge by freshly demonstrating the application of the research methods of many other disciplines in the specific context of architecture (including many cases and examples), all within a nice, logical, unifying philosophical framework.
The text is relevent for those interested in "Evidence based architectural design". It is excellent for both a beginning researcher in acadamia or an experienced practitioner involved with architecture research. It provides a broad research background as well as specific application to architecture. It is well organized and usable as an office reference or classroom text. It is written with jargon and graphics familiar to architects.
