ABSTRACT
If I could give you a simple step-by-step method for doing research design or a literature review, I would. Methods are extremely powerful and useful, and if you can use them, it is highly recommended. But, as I have argued, methods cannot guide you through many of the difficult and crucial parts of research design and research practice. Because you can’t rely on methods all the time, I have advocated treating research as a practice that helps you develop your skills and abilities so that you can work more effectively—both so that you can keep moving in places where methods don’t serve, and you can work more easily on the myriad reading and writing tasks that every researcher faces.
