If this book were the same as social research, it would be a participatory action research, where those studying research methods aim to bridge the gap between themselves and this fascinating yet demanding field of knowledge.

Social research methods perhaps move more than any other discipline within a framework that considers ongoing explanation, strict guidance, and ultimately dependency on someone who "knows" more than us as necessary.

The book covers most of the fundamental issues in data collection and production, as well as quantitative and qualitative analysis in social research. However, it approaches social research methods from an alternative perspective, the experiential one. It engages readers in a logic of perceptual equality, starting from the premise that "in the ignorance of research methods, we are all equal."

At the same time, inviting them to speak in the first person aims to intellectually motivate them in order to ultimately free them from their attachment to the need for "someone" or "something" that constantly explains research methods to them – even if that something is ultimately this very book.