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Exercise Programming for Older Adults edited by Janie Clark. Haworth Press Inc, 10 Alice Street, Binghamton, New York

805 X). Illus. 85 pages. $24.95.

This American publication is an amalgamation of several papers by different authors dealing with exercising for older adults. I t successfully addresses ‘the imple- mentation of safe and effective physical exercise training for elderly populations typically characterised by multiple physical disabilities and chronic medical disorders’.

The first paper is an overview covering topics such as the benefit of exercise, forms of exercise, safety and effectiveness. Paper 2 deals with aerobic exercise beginning with a useful page on the physiolog- ical changes of ageing, progressing to changes in function, fitness and health, and ranging through the components and progression of

13904-1580, USA, 1996 (ISBN I 56024

A flexibility exercise for the upper body.

Aboue: Ear towards shoulder. Below: Assistance in resuming upright head position

exercise sessions to consider safety issues again.

One particularly valuable paper titled ‘Enhancing physical therapy results through effective carryover

by activities leaders’ is written not t o suggest an alternative to phys- iotherapy intervention for CVA patients but instead t o explain how other team members including assistants can ideally carry on this work by, for example, good positioning and enhancing weight bearing once a formal session is over. Reassuringly, emphasis is placed on checking with therapists any specifics required for individual patients.

This book is suitable for a wide audience working in the field of elderly care. However, the illustra- tions are disappointing, especially the black-and-white photographs used t o show strength training, positioning and techniques for CVA patients.

Despite this, the book is logically divided, easily readable and would be a useful asset t o many physio- therapy departments.

Pamela Anderson MCSP

Research Methods for Therapists by Avril Drummond. Chapman and Hall, London, 1996 (ISBN 0 4 12 45950 7). Illus. 172 pages. f 14.99.

This book provides an introduction to research methods for students and practitioners in the therapy professions. Its chapters follow the steps of the research process, from preliminary literature searching to data analysis and writing up, and emphasise the importance of systematic planning and attention to detail in the conduct of an inves- tigation.

The orientation of the book is predominantly towards the use of quantitative methods, largely in the context of hypothesis-testing research; there is minimal space devoted t o ethnographic or other qualitative approaches. In view of the current move towards qual- itative methods in both occupat- ional therapy and physiotherapy research, this may disappoint some readers.

The material presented in most chapters is a t a level suitable for first-year undergraduate students. However, much of the guidance given on writing up, presenting and publishing research is pitched a t a more advanced level (eg writing theses and dissertations. and

submitting papers to professional journals). There seems to be rather a mismatch here. In the chapter on data analysis, there is a good balance between descriptive and inferential statistics, and the accent on non-parametric rather than parametric techniques is probably appropriate in view of the sort of data most undergraduate students will typically gather.

The text is written in a very clear, down-to-earth style, without exces- sive use of technical jargon, and is lightened by cartoons. Much of the advice given to the reader concerns the basic practicalities of research - apparently simple steps which are so often crucial t o a successful project. By such means, the author dispels much of the mystique that often surrounds research. This is a valuable feature of this text, as the unfamiliar concepts and termi- nology of research methods and statistics often cause students considerable anxiety. The author conveys the message that research is an activity which can be success- fully carried out by all therapists, not just a few Blite students or practitioners.

There is, however, a major draw- back to this book. There are a very large number of inaccurate or misleading statements. Some of

these are fairly trivial, such as a reference to the Social Science Research Council (p 251, which has not existed under this name since 1983. Others are more serious. For example: confusion between a negative and a null (ie absent) relationship (p 4); incorrect defini- tion of double-blinding (p 44); incorrect example of a double- barrelled question (p 5 5 ) ; use of a histogram (rather than a bar chart) to display data on a nominal level of measurement (p 107); conversion of a bar chart (rather than a histo- gram) to a frequency polygon (p 108); incorrect formula for a sample mean (p 113); incorrect distinction between parametric and non-para- metric statistical tests in terms of levels of measurement (p 124); confusion between correlation and agreement between two sets of scores (p 127). It is regrettable that these and other examples were not corrected before the book went into production.

Although the style and approach of this book are appropriate for students facing research for the first time, until such time as certain aspects of its contents have been revised or corrected, I regret that I could not recommend it as a student text.

Julius Sim PhD MSc MCSP

Physiotherapy, March 1997, vol83, no 3