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Showing posts with label Reviews. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Reviews. Show all posts

Saturday, 13 August 2016

Book Review: Introduction to Philosophy: A Christian Perspective by Norman L. Geisler and Paul D. Feinberg


Year: 1987, Pages: 447, ISBN-10: 0801038189

Norman L. Geisler (born 1932) is a Christian systematic theologian, philosopher, and apologist. He is the co-founder of two non-denominational Evangelical seminaries (Veritas Evangelical Seminary and Southern Evangelical Seminary). He holds a Ph.D. in philosophy from Loyola University and is well known for his scholarly contributions to the subjects of classical Christian apologetics, systematic theology, the history of philosophy, philosophy of religion, the creationism and evolution debate, Calvinism, Roman Catholicism, biblical inerrancy, Bible difficulties, ethics, and more. He is the author, coauthor, or editor of over 90 books and hundreds of articles.
Feinberg was born on August 13, 1938, to Charles Lee and Anne Priscilla Feinberg. His family moved from Dallas, Texas to Los Angeles, California in 1948 when his father became the first dean of Talbot Theological Seminary. Feinberg earned his B.A. (1960) from the University of California at Los Angeles, his B.D. (1963) and Th.M. (1964) from Talbot Theological Seminary, his Th.D. (1968) from Dallas Theological Seminary, his M.A. (1971) from Roosevelt University and his Ph.D. from the University of Chicago. He was an American theologian, author, and professor of systematic theology and philosophy of religion at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School.

A brief outline of the book:

Part one: Introduction to Philosophy
1. What Is Philosophy? 2. Disciplines Within philosophy 3. Methodology in Philosophy 4. The Tools of Philosophy 5. The Challenge of Philosophy

Part two: What Is Knowledge?
6. Can We Know? 7. How Can We Know? 8. Is Certainty Possible? 9. How Do We Perceive the External World? 10. How Are Believes Justified?

Part three: What Is Reality? 
11. Is Reality One or Many? 12. The Relationship Between Mind and Body 13. Is Man Free? 14. Does Man Survive Death? 15. Are There Other Minds? 16. What Is Truth?

Part four: What Is the Ultimate?
17. The Relationship between Faith and Reason 18. What Is Meant by ``God''? 19. Does God Exist? 20. How Can We Talk About God? 21. The Problem of Evil 22. Can We Experience God?

Part five: What Is Good or Right?
23. What Is the Right? 24. How Do We Know What Is Right? 25. The Relationship between Rules and Results 26. Is the Right Universal? 27. Do Moral Duties Ever Conflict?
Geisler and Feinberg offer a brief definition of philosophy: “Philosophy is, then, the critical analysis of fundamental concepts of human inquiry, and the normative discussion of how human thought and action ought to function, as well as the description of the nature of reality.” (Pg. 17). "Christianity can stand up to the intellectual challenge mounted against it. The result of such a challenge should not be the loss of faith, but the priceless possession of a well-reasoned and mature faith." (Pg. 22).

Even though this book is written as a textbook, I found it very valuable. Two of the most significant chapters for the new philosopher are, "The Tools of Philosophy," and, "The Challenge of Philosophy." The Tools chapter is a discussion of how arguments are built and how to assess them. The Challenge chapter discusses the goals of philosophy and the role the philosophy plays for the Christian (comprising "The Biblical Basis for Christian Philosophy")

This is obviously an area that thoughtful Christians need to have some familiarity. As the authors opine: 'Without a thorough knowledge of philosophy the Christian is at the mercy of the non-Christian in the intellectual arena.
Geisler and Feinberg make their position clear: 'God places no premium on ignorance. Christians do not receive a spiritual reward for an ignorant faith.' In fact, the Scriptures make it clear that Christians are to love God with all of their being, including their minds.

The book requires some thinking but is really a delight to read. One feels really well-fed after reading it, and has a deeper look at what he encounter in his own experience.
Each chapter is then shadowed by some deductions that are attuned with Christian Theism. The authors include a glossary, which provides quick definitions for terms such as: Logic, non sequitur, theism, accident, antinomy, deontology etc. There is also an index.

I strongly recommend this book for Christians who are studying philosophy at the university or college level and for Christians interested in philosophy, apologetics, etc


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Saturday, 6 August 2016

Book Review: Philosophy for Understanding Theology

Authors: Diogenes Allen and Eric O. Springsted

Year: 2007, Pages: 267, ISBN: 9780664231804

The purpose of this book, as is stated quite regularly by the author, is “to give a person the philosophy needed to understand Christian theology better, for often the lack of knowledge of some key philosophic term or concept impedes significant understanding of a vital issue.” (Pg. 71, 78). Everyone needs to know some philosophy in order to understand the major doctrines of Christianity or to read a great theologian intelligently. This is how this classic guide to the philosophical concepts that undergird Christian theology originates. Some might contest the truth of this statement, however, once one has read this book, it would be tough to, at the same time, preserve scholarly honesty and contest the truth of this statement. I have read fairly a few primers to philosophy, but this book is exceptional.
What many theology students don’t recognize (possibly due to a gulf that was created between the fields of philosophy and theology, particularly obvious in protestant theology) is that all of the great theologians were influenced by the major philosophical views of their day. The drive of this book is to elucidate those major philosophical point of views so that the student of theology will be better able to comprehend the claims of the theologians that they are studying. The author clarifies that he selected the material that is used in this book founded on the philosophy for the use of theologians.
He then seeks to explain the philosophy in question. He concentrated primarily on three important domains of theology: Theology proper, Christology and Anthropology (Pg. 11).
As such, the author is undoubtedly justified in devoting the first five chapters of this book to giving an overview and explanation of the philosophical thoughts of Plato (and Platonism) and of Aristotle (and Aristotelianism). The truth is that these two schools of philosophical thought have been behind almost every single description of Christian theology, in some way, starting with the early church, and continuing through the many church divisions and up to modern Catholic, Protestant and Orthodox thought.

An Outline of the Book:

In chapter 1 the author elucidates Plato’s views regarding the existence, source and purpose of this world. In chapter 2 the author analyzes at Plato’s views regarding the nature and purpose of man, and the reality of an afterlife. In chapter 3 the author reflects on the many diverse Neoplatonic schools of thought that influenced early Christian thinkers (and, with almost no exceptions, every one of the early church fathers). In chapter 4 the author provides a synopsis of the key views of Aristotelian thought that were known to the early church fathers up to the start of the medieval age.
In chapter 5 he reflects on the impact of Aristotle on the formation of medieval theology and the growth of scholasticism. In each of these chapters the author takes time to note some of the major church theologians who were influenced by the thought of Plato and Aristotle, and how it impacted their theology. The author devotes one chapter, chapter 6, to the views of Thomas Aquinas (considering primarily his views concerning Natural Theology), and presents the reactions of Karl Barth and A. N. Whitehead to Aquinas.

In chapter 7 the author explains some of the main shifts in philosophy and science that influenced the shifts that occurred in theology around the same time. He concentrates primarily on the impact of nominalism, humanism and the scientific revolution. His comments on humanism are most interesting, and should temper some of the false ideas that many people have concerning what humanism is. John Calvin, for example, was technically a humanist. In chapter 8 the author considers the effect of the debate between Rationalism and Empiricism, stimulated primarily by the philosophical and theological musings of Rene Descartes, as well as the effect of the Enlightenment attitude on theology.

In chapter 9 the author gives an overview of the philosophy of Kant (as well as some of those who influenced his thought), and how Kant’s philosophy affected, and continues to affect, contemporary theology. Chapter 10 looks at Hegel, and chapter 11 considers the impact of Existentialism, phenomenology and Hermeneutical philosophy on Theology. In chapter 11 the author looks at the influence of Kierkegaard, Sartre, Heidegger, and Husserl on theology, and biblical hermeneutics.
The final chapters consider the effect of Post-modern thought on Christian theology. These chapters emphasize the works of Foucault, Wittgenstein, Derrida, MacIntyre, and Charles Taylor, and consider how these great thinkers have been creating waves in Christian theology. The summary of this book, as stated before, is to offer an overview of the main philosophical views that have affected the works of Christian theologians. This book accomplishes this purpose wonderfully. A historical fact that changed the face of philosophy and theology forever and seriously influenced such thinkers as Hume, Kant, and the philosophers engaged in the rationalist-empiricist debate.

Finally, it would be great to see this book used as a textbook in a course on this subject in theology programs. And of course, this will be a great resource for theologians and students of theology, as well as Christian apologists.



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Friday, 5 August 2016

Book Review: The Lie: Evolution by Ken Ham



Pages: 168, Year: 1987, ISBN: 0890511586

Kenneth Alfred "Ken" Ham (born 20 October 1951) is an Australian-born young Earth creationist and Christian fundamentalist living in the United States. Ham advocates Biblicaliberalism, taking the Book of Genesis as historical fact. His belief, based on a literal interpretation of the Bible that the universe is approximately 6,000 years old, is contradicted by the scientific consensus that the age of the universe and the age of the Earth are on the order of billions of years. Mr. Ham shows that Genesis is a reliable description of real events that are supported by concrete scientific proof. He shows how the questioning of this foundational book of the Bible, even by many Christians, has led to the deterioration of society so that the only moral norm it accepts are founded upon ‘survival of the fittest,’ “do your own thing,” and “if it feels good, do it.” There are no moral absolutes in this foundationless society. (Pg. 15)

Brief Outline of the book:

Chapter one; Christianity in under attack- (Christianity vs Humanism). Chapter two; Evolution is Religion- media and public educators tell us that creation can’t be taught in the schools. Chapter three; Creation is Religion- creation and evolution are equally scientific. Chapter four; The Root of the Problem- its because of creator people reject creationism. Chapter five; Crumbling Foundations- eliminating Genesis will collapse the structure of Christianity. Chapter six; Genesis does matter- events of Genesis are literal and significant for Christian doctrine. Chapter seven; Death a curse and a blessing-why death and suffering exist, evolution destroys the foundation of the message of the cross when it says death is millions of years old phenomena. Chapter eight; The Evils of Evolution-rejection of God, justifying abortion, communism, Nazism, Homosexuality etc. Chapter nine; Evangelism in Pagan World, Chapter ten; Wake up Shepherds, Chapter eleven; Creation, flood and coming fire. Christians who have faith in in any form of evolution such as the gap theory, day age, or just outright Darwinian evolution you should grasp this book and read it with an open mind, much prayer and seeking the Scriptures as well as seeking out Christian scientific studies. It's a good reference book and an overview to the evolution vs. creation argument. Dr. Ham makes it clear that confessing Christians cannot blend evolution with the creation description in Genesis. It's either one or the other. Christians can't subscribe to both because they are contrasting to each other. Ken Ham shows you how in eleven chapters. Then he has two sections in the appendix that go into even more detail! There is also a resource section that gives a few more titles from Master Books and Answers in Genesis.

I personally liked this book for more reasons than one. It is a thought stimulating and simple read making it easy for students to begin examining the theme, in-depth. It also has many other resources in its bibliography to develop the study to include the views of other authors, historians, and others writing on the other themes included such as abortion, biblical authority, and religion.

As a teacher, I teach the significance of coming to a deduction of your own and inspecting on your own, instead of blindly believing what you hear. This book lets you to do so as it presents all sides of the argument, making them bare to see and offers ample for you to think things through yourself. I have no uncertainty that if you are looking for a book discussing evolution vs. creation you will not be turned down.

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Tuesday, 2 August 2016

Book Review: A Brief History Of Time: From Big Bang To Black Holes



Author: Stephen Hawking
Pages: 226, Year: 1988, ISBN: 0553380168


A Brief History of Time can unquestionably be considered as the genre of popular science and accepted by the general audience. And that was chiefly because of the pure profoundness with which Hawking elucidated ideas that had hitherto been restricted to the common people and to many extent scientific community. The book tried to wrestle questions that are essential for every human in everyday lives. Where did we come from? How did the universe begin? Is the universe endless? Was there a beginning of time? What is our place in the universe?
Stephen Hawking is the former Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at the University of Cambridge and author of A Brief History of Time which was an international bestseller. Now the Dennis Stanton Avery and Sally Tsui Wong-Avery Director of Research at the Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics and Founder of the Centre for Theoretical Cosmology at Cambridge, his other books for the general reader include A Briefer History of Time, the essay collection Black Holes and Baby Universe and The Universe in a Nutshell.


A brief summary of the chapters;

In the first chapter; Our Picture of the Universe: A rudimentary knowledge of the history and expansion of cosmology starting from Ptolemy's Universe, Copernicus, Galileo to the recent notion. In the second chapter; Space & Time: Dr. Hawking presents, Einstein's Special Theory of Relativity, how Einstein recycled Maxwell's equations, the constancy for the speed of light to form it. Then comes the famous Michelson-Morley experiment. Here Prof. Hawking swiftly presents, Einstein's magnum opus: The General Theory of Relativity, which transformed our perspective of space time. In the third chapter; The Expanding Universe: Hubble's observation, Doppler Effect, The red shift, Friedmann model. Here he presenting the concept of singularity: the extreme prediction of General relativity and Black Hole. In the fourth chapter; The Uncertainty Principle: Enter the particle zoo. The crux of particle physics, Heinsenberg's uncertainty principle. Uncertainty principle, Wave particle duality, The double-slit. In the fifth chapter; Elementary Particle & The Forces of Nature: Understanding elementary particles, quarks (which makes up proton and neutron). Electron spin, what is a half spin.
In the sixth chapter; Black Holes. Chandrashekhar Limit, Tolman-Volkoff-Oppenheimer Limit, What is Schwarzschild radius, Clear out the misunderstanding between infinite density and infinite mass. In the seventh chapter; Black Holes are not So Black. Here Dr.Hawking searches more into black holes, event horizon. For the first time, Hawking presents his wonderful work which is called The Hawking radiation-entropy and the second law of thermodynamics. In the eighth chapter; The Origin and the fate of Universe: in this chapter author talks about the beginning and the ongoing process of the universe. In the ninth chapter; The Arrow of time: here author expounds about disorder, entropy, the thermodynamic arrow of time. In the tenth chapter; Wormhole and time travel: here authors talks about Grand unified theory (GUT) and his attempt to relate the three forces of nature. Author then talks about string theory, supper symmetry and many cutting-edge ideas.
Dr. Hawking ends the book with an optimists note: A complete, consistent, unified theory is only the first step; our goal is a complete understanding of the events around us, and of our own existence. 'If we find the answer to that, it would be the ultimate triumph of human reason for then we would know the mind of God.' (Ch. 11). "So long as the universe had a beginning, we could suppose it had a creator. But if the universe is really completely self-contained, having no boundary or edge, it would have neither beginning nor end: it would simply be. What place, then, for a creator?" (Ch 8). "These laws of physics may have originally been decreed by God, but it appears that he has since left the universe to evolve according to them and does not now intervene in it." (Ch 8) Though Hawking undeniably seeks to display some parameters on the role of the Creator or, more precisely, to eradicate the necessity of a Creator's intervention in the existence and expansion of the universe, he is not trying to remove Him altogether. He categorically discards the tag "atheist." He comes closer, possibly, to appropriate the description of a deist.
His denial of the God of the Bible also explains why Hawking is forced to discard the anthropic principle. (Ch 8) The anthropic principle is an opinion that the universe has all the essential and narrowly-defined features to make man and his continuous existence conceivable. Hawking seemingly finds it unbearable to trust that "this whole vast construction exists simply for our sake." As support he says that "there does not seem to be any need for all those other galaxies nor for the universe to be so uniform and similar in every direction on the large scale” (Ch 3), but here he overlooks a rising body of research. The uniformity, homogeneity, and mass density of the universe all must be exactly valued for human life to be potential at any time in the history of the universe. In the introductory paragraph of his final chapter, Hawking states the objectives of his life and work. "What is the nature of the universe? What is our place in it and where did it and we come from? Why is it the way it is?" Hawking's vision is to answer these questions through physics alone, which he would never be able to answer.

The question Hawking never answered was why those laws of physics exist? Even if it were possible, why would it be anticipated that such laws of physics would exist that universes to be created from nothing? Why wouldn't a true nothing consist of no laws of physics and no probability of anything popping into existence? Anyway it was a pleasure to read it, except a couple of chapters which really would be difficult for common reader, and it is going to enjoyment any reader who likes the genre of popular science.

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Thursday, 21 July 2016

Book Review: Darwin on Trial by Phillip E. Johnson

Regnery Gateway Publication 
Year-1991
Place –Washington (USA)
Pages -188, index

Phillip Johnson is a professor at the University of California's prestigious Boalt Hall School of Law. His book has attracted a lot of attention, reportedly selling 40,000 hard-back copies. Darwin on Trial is an antievolution book, not a scientific creationism book; this book certainly establishes his credentials. It complements the anti-evolutionism of the scientific creationists, and provides fuel for those who want to get evolution out of school classrooms.
The second chapter is talking about the natural selection through which the evolution has accrued. And third and fourth chapters are talking mutations and fossils. The fifth chapter is about evolution. Vertebrate sequence is talked in fifth chapter. The molecular evidence is discussed in chapter seven. Chapter eight is about pre -biological evolution. The rules of science and Darwinism are explained in the next chapters.
The author considers Evolution as naturalism.  Therefore Darwinism is fully naturalistic evolution, involving chance mechanisms guided by natural selection. In naturalistic evolution God’s intervention is excluded. He claims that Darwinian evolution is based not upon any incontrovertible empirical evidence, but upon a highly controversial philosophical presupposition”.  Johnson argues that naturalistic evolution is not scientific but is rather a dogmatic belief system held in place by the authority of a scientific realm
As for Darwin that the species came out naturally and from one species another came. But for john there is no evidence about what Darwin says. Because, over the whole millennia no new species have been born. The comparative study of sera, haemoglobins, blood proteins, and interfertility show that natural selection can never happen. There still is no satisfactory detailed mechanism for producing large enough, non-lethal variation of the DNA to produce a new species in a single attempt, and it remains an act of faith on the part of evolutionists that there is some way for it to have happened bit by bit.
 Johnson says that Evolution is a naturalistic theory that denies  any supernatural intervention.  The scientific  evidence  for evolution  is  weak but   the   philosophical    assumption   of  Naturalism   dogmatically   disallows consideration  of the Creationist's  alternative  explanation  of the  biological  world. Therefore,  if divine  interventions  were  not ruled out  of court,  Creationism  would win over evolution .Johnson  says that theory  of naturalistic  evolution,  which...  absolutely  rules  out  any  miraculous  or supernatural  intervention  at  any  point.  Everything  is  conclusively  presumed  to  have happened  through  purely  material   mechanisms  that  are  in  principle  accessible  to scientific investigation,  whether  they  have yet been  discovered or not .
First, Johnson defines evolution as if it were an ideology: evolutionism
Evolutionism to him is a philosophy that excludes the possibility of divine intervention occurring during evolution. Therefore evolution itself is an incorrect explanation of the history of the universe.
One of the main arguments that Johnson brings is fossil. According to the fossil collection that we have, there is no possibility of evolution. Because Macro-evolution suggests that it is very gradual and one species comes from other. But fossils that we have have no connection as the evolution describe. According to the evolution there must be connection between each fossil. Even when the old species disappear it is pretty same as they were. It is also true with the new species, which appears in well-formed form. So now the evolutionist should provide the fossils for their theory to be proved. Since it is not possible for them to provide the proof it is obvious that the evolution is not possible.so there must be a power which could have created the all the beings in its kind with purpose. Therefore we have the evidence to the creation according to the bible but not to the evolution.
His goal, of course, is to discredit his version of Darwinism, which stresses slow, gradual evolution Johnson wants to prove that Darwinism is not science but an outgrowth of materialist philosophy. He does not recognize theistic evolution as a common compromise between the facts of science and the desire to retain a religious perspective.
Darwin on Trial attacks evolution by natural selection in an attempt to bolster a theology based on a personal God who created humankind for a reason, and gave us a purpose. It does this by trying to convince the reader that evolution did not occur, and that Darwinism, as a mechanism, is inadequate to explain how descent with modification could have occurred. The arguments are recycled arguments from the discredited "scientific" creationists, although they are presented with great style and persuasiveness.
Johnson worries greatly that children will learn evolutionism rather than "just" evolution, and then lose their faith in there being a purpose for life. Johnson reflects the anguish expressed by many traditional Christians who fear impact of evolution when it will be proved as true,
Johnson thinks that Christian children are being taught evolutionism rather than just science. But there are no good data showings that the college or high school teacher goes along with the teaching of evolution occurred, and here's how it happened  with therefore you must give up your belief in God. My personal experience is that this is rare; Johnson's worry is that dominates.
Johnson is concerned with the implications of evolution. Although he states in his book that theistic evolution (evolution that is God-directed) is possible. He accepts that the earth is old, but rejects evolution, thus he is perhaps describable as an old-earth creationist. His concern with evolution is primarily religious: if evolution by natural selection (Darwinism) really happened, then it is not possible for life to have purpose and for the universe and Earth to have been designed by an omnipotent, personal God. He feels that life would have no meaning, and moral and ethical systems would have no foundation.
Thus his goal in Darwin on Trial is to demonstrate that Darwinian natural selection is impossible; therefore evolution didn't take place; therefore his theological views are preserved. He stresses that Darwinism is inherently an atheistic, naturalistic philosophy.


Sunday, 17 July 2016

Book Review: John W. Creswell. Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches (3rd ed)



John W. Creswell is a Professor of Educational Psychology and teaches courses and writes about qualitative methodology and mixed methods research. He has been at the University of Nebraska- Lincoln for 30 years and has authored 11 books many of which focus on research design, qualitative research, and mixed methods research and are translated into many languages and used around the world.

This is a brilliant instructional book written for students and experienced field researchers. If anyone has little or no understanding of choosing a research approach to probe into his/her topic, Creswell comes to rescue.

Overview of the chapters;

This book is divided into two parts. Part I consist of steps that researchers need to reflect on before they expand their proposals or plans for research. Part II discusses the various sections of a proposal.

A selection of a research Design: In this chapter, author begins by defining quantitative, qualitative and mixed methods as research designs. These designs are plans for a study, and they include three significant elements: philosophical assumptions, strategies of inquiry, and specific research methods.

Review of the Literature: It is vital to comprehensively review the literature on topic before one designs proposal. Thus one needs to start with a researchable topic and then investigate the literature using the steps developed in this chapter.

Writing Strategies and Ethical Considerations: Finally, in the first part, the author turns to ethical issues and discuss these not as abstract ideas, but as considerations that need to be anticipated in all segments of the research progression.

In Part II, I turn to the components of designing the research proposal. Chapters 5 through 10 address steps in this process.

The Introduction: This introduction comprises the notion identifying the research problem or issue, enclosing this problem within the existing literature, pointing out insufficiencies in the literature and aiming the study for a specific audience. This chapter offers an efficient method for designing a scholarly introduction to a proposal or study.

The Purpose Statement: In this chapter, researcher learns how to write this statement for quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods studies. Readers can find scripts that help in designing and writing these statements.

Research Questions and Hypotheses: In this chapter, the reader learns how to write both qualitative and quantitative research questions and hypotheses. And also discovers how to utilize both forms in writing mixed methods questions and hypotheses.

Quantitative Methods: Quantitative methods involve the procedure of collecting, analyzing, interpreting, and writing the outcome of a study. In this chapter, the reader learns the specific procedures for designing survey or experimental methods that need to go into a research proposal. Checklists provided in the chapter help to ensure that all vital steps are incorporated.

Qualitative Procedures: Purposeful sampling, collection of open-ended data, analysis of text or pictures, representation of information in figures and tables, and personal interpretation of the findings all inform qualitative procedures. This chapter advances steps in designing qualitative procedures into a research proposal. Moreover it also contains a checklist for making sure that you cover all essential procedures.

Mixed Methods: Six types of mixed methods designs are stressed along with a discussion about criteria for selecting one of them based on timing, weight, mixing, and the use of theory. Figures are offered that suggest visuals that the proposal developer can design and include in a proposal.

Researchers find a sort detail to learn mixed methods research as practiced today and the types of designs that might be used in a research proposal.

This book is an excellent introduction to research design for qualitative, quantitative and mixed- methods designs. It explains all the aspects of a research design and takes reader through each one, including the literature review, research question and hypotheses. Also, the first chapter goes through the multiple theoretical viewpoints from which research proceeds, therefore the readers come to know different paradigms. It also has lots of models, examples and exercises to work through.

This book can be effectively useful in many ways. The author goes to enormous lengths to offer illustrations from real studies to exemplify the concepts which are very useful; he also does a decent job promoting mixed methods research within the context of its recent history.

Interspersed throughout the pages are tables, suggested writing activities, examples, and informative step-by- step sidebars pertinent to specific topics. Each chapter is recapitulated and additional suggested readings to investigate are listed.

In short, it is strongly recommended for any student who is engaged in research work or anyone interested in putting together a good proposal, or an instructor who wants a well-written foundational text. In addition, this book is an excellent resource to field researchers who have experience in one research approach but not in the other two. Therefore, it is highly recommend for both inexperienced and experienced researchers.