Meltzoff applies an innovative approach to what many students consider a difficult, tedious subject and produces a readable, even entertaining, text on the basics of understanding, interpreting, and critiquing research design and methodology…Meltzoff addresses the need to be an astute consumer of research through a book that provides the reader with research knowledge and then opportunities to apply that knowledge using their critical thinking skills as they do research-critiquing exercises…the text is well planned and written in an interesting, entertaining style that may be useful in motivating students who are timorous about learning research and statistics. By combing fundamental content, contained in the first section of the book, with process exercises, the practice articles in the second part for developing research-critiquing skills, the text holds promise to produce good results. And, if Meltzoff's hypothesis is correct, the increase in research-critiquing skills should translate into increased critical thinking ability.
—Rehabilitation Education: Official Journal of The National Council on Rehabilitation Education, Vol. 13, No. 2
A lively writing style and highly relevant material combine to make this book a winner. Dedicated completion of its contents will result in you becoming an excellent consumer of psychological research. If sufficient individuals are motivated to take this work seriously, the result should be a general increase in research quality.
—Eye on Psi Chi, Winter 1998
This is truly a masterful piece of work. It is scholarly, broad ranging, and well thought through as a didactic effort. The research examples at the end are ingenious and creative.
—Jerome L. Singer, Department of Psychology, Yale University
This is an excellent book for teaching college students—or anyone else, for that matter—how to be smart when it comes to interpreting other people's research. It is well thought out and filled with useful examples that illustrate how fuzzy thinking can lead to incorrect conclusions.
—Lawrence Kutner, Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School and columnist, Parents Magazine
Meltzoff challenges consumers, researchers, and reviewers to engage in an interactive dialogue with scientific literature. His book is a manual for developing critical thinking skills transferable to all arenas of professional psychology. Students and psychologists at all levels will benefit from reinforcing their critical mindset and applying these critiquing tools.
—Shane J. Lopez, Chair of the APA Graduate Students subcommittee on Internship and Training Issues
This book can be used independently or as an adjunct to a methods course for any "individual who reads and assesses research" (p. xii)…The book is engagingly written by an experienced researcher and teacher.
—Perceptual and Motor Skills, 1998, Vol 86, p. 351
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