The study used questionnaire data from a national magazine's sample of 1000 currently and previously battered wives and interview results from 146 battered wives in southeastern Wisconsin. The analysis estimated the differences in effectiveness of personal strategies like counterviolence and promising, the use of informal help sources like family and friends, and the use of formal help sources like law enforcement and medical professionals. The four methodologies produced different configurations of factors that were effective. Women's direct ratings of effectiveness indicated the most effective help sources to be women's groups, battered women's shelters, lawyers, and social service/counseling agencies. The single most dominating factor in women's opinions about what worked best was separation and divorce. Women asked for advice for other battered wives recommended two formal help sources (lawyers and social service/counseling agencies) and three personal strategies (separation and divorce, seeking help immediately, and raising self-esteem while increasing independence). Finally, the three help sources most strongly correlated with cessation of violence were women's groups, battered women's shelters, and lawyers. The close relationship between the results and the way the question was asked shows the close link between methodology and conclusion in applied social science. Tables and 16 references.