The idea for this book originated during a conversation in December 2006 with C. Deborah Laughton, Publisher, Methodology and Statistics, at The Guilford Press, about the challenges of teaching research seminars or other courses in which students conduct a thesis project. These students could be senior undergraduates in advanced programs, such as honors or specialization, or first-year graduate students. Although such students have typically taken at least two introductory courses in research methods and statistics, they are nevertheless “unfinished” in some critical ways, and thus not ready to carry out a thesis research project
