Guided by the precept that to understand any phenomenon well, it is necessary to start by looking at it in broad, nonspecialized terms, Robert A Stebbins takes the reader through the process of exploratory research in an easy-to-read style providing the student or researcher with a complete reference for carrying out this type of research.

Robert A. Stebbins, FRSC, is Faculty Professor in the Department of Sociology at the
University of Calgary. He received his Ph.D. in 1964 from the University of Minnesota.
Author of 30 books and monographs as well as over 150 articles and chapters in several
areas of social science, his most recent works include: New Directions in the Theory and
Research of Serious Leisure (Edwin Mellen, 2001), Exploratory Research in the Social
Sciences (Sage, 2001), and The Organizational Basis of Leisure Participation: A
Motivational Exploration (Venture Publications, 2002). Between Work and Leisure
(Transaction Publishers) appeared in 2004 and Challenging Mountain Nature (Detselig),
a study of three mountain hobbyist sports, will be published in fall, 2005. He is presently
writing for Indiana University Press (with David Horton Smith and Michael Dover) A
Dictionary of Nonprofit Terms and Concepts. Stebbins was elected Fellow of the
Academy of Leisure Sciences in 1996 and, in 1999, elected Fellow of the Royal Society
of Canada.

Introduction
What Is Exploration?
Exploring
Exploration Illustrated
Writing Up Exploratory Research
The Explorer
Exploration
Its Future in the Information Age