Quantitatative, qualitative, positivism, postpositivism, post-modern, naturalistic, interpretivism, constructionism, participatory, grounded theory, ethnography, phenomenology, hermeneutics, conversation analysis, and narrative: a plethora of research approaches that may leave the novice researcher feeling rather daunted. This paper aims to provide a map through this forest of theoretical concepts and will also address the practical issues that the researcher needs to consider before starting out on their project.