Police managers are taken step-by-step through the research process; the types of decisions a police manager must make when conducting or implementing research are discussed. Distinctions are made between descriptive and evaluative police research, and the ways in which research is useful (for example, to describe new ways to handle problems) are not. The five stages in the research process are summarized: defining the problem, designing the research, collecting the data, analyzing the data, and reporting the findings. The interdependence of these stages is highlighted, and the need for the research to be managed is emphasized. Eight types of resources used to conduct applied police research are identified: time, personnel, expertise, equipment and software, cases, money, power, and imagination. Suggestions for determining whether research is appropriate are offered. The need for a problem to be divided into its component issues and for a model describing the problem's causes and consequences to be developed before research is begun is cited. Two principles of research designs, comparison and control, are discussed; examples illustrate experimental designs, quasi-experimental designs, and passive statistical designs. Planning the data collection strategy is explained, and types of data sources, including observations and official records, are considered. Data analysis techniques, such as tests of significance and statistical techniques, are described, interpretation of the results is discussed. Finally, attention focuses on evaluating others' research and on judging proposed research. Sixty-six references, 13 information sources, approximately 20 tables, and 5 figures are provided.