Some say that this book is not a guide to methods, or that it is certainly no model of sophistication. As such, I was skeptical about reading it, but once I did, I realized that Van Evera never does say that he will make the book for such a purpose. "I make no effort to cover the methodological waterfront." (p.1) As such, I think many reviews it receives are unmerited. Instead, I found this book very useful, even as a graduate student who has done many research methods already. Beauty of Van Evera's approach is that he offers an ESSENTIAL guide to those starting social science (I wish I had read this book when starting university), but even for older students, they can find practical advice on different issues, and clarification on topics that others don't explain as clearly (particularity in my previous class we had a big problem over defining 'method of agreement' vs. 'method of difference'). The book puts many complex topics in simplistic terms which helps keep thoughts organized. As such it is a necessary but not sufficient guide to methods for students of political science.