R. Barker Bausell, Professor of Research at the University of Maryland School of Nursing, has been a research methodologist in three different fields. He has been editor-in-chief (as well as founding editor) of Evaluation and the Health Professions for 14 years and has written six previous books, including A Practical Guide to Conducting Empirical Research (Harper & Row, 1986). The results of his empirical research have appeared in over 25 different professional journals.