Communication Research in the Philippines: Issues and Methods by Elena Pernia is a useful and practical resource on research for a novice or an expert on the field. It can serve as a step by step guide to a neophyte who is still trying to learn the ropes, be it in communication or in research. It can be a reference to the skilled researcher when he needs to think outside the box or simply state a fact. Finally, it can be a good read to people who are just interested on communication as well as research. Although the book was written under the formal writing style owing it to its academic category, at the beginning of each chapter are literary quotations from famous writers/personalities. Thus the inclusion of these excerpts grant the book a light artistic side. Furthermore, these references provide the reader a general overview of the chapter by sparking the reader’s interest on the relationship of the passage on the chapter that he is about to read. The creativity invested by the author on connecting a literary citation to an academic content is laudable. For instance, Robert Browning’s “Ah, but a man’s reach should exceed his grasp, or what’s heaven for?” in Chapter 1 is a translation of why exactly this book was written. It is an allusion of the author’s message to its audience. The book does not only intend to discuss communication research per se but all the other controversies encompassing it. What makes this book distinct from any other communication research book is that its ability to be an ingenious work. Its flexibility on being an academic reference at one point, a handbook on another and finally a literary piece is exemplary. The sequence goes from simple to complicated which takes into account the type of reader, be it a browser who is just looking for something, a proofreader looking for mistakes, or a scholar looking for a specific information. Its deductive pattern is especially commendable because it opted not to discuss the methods immediately but instead introduced the history and foundations first. This made the reader well rounded and adapted on the succeeding chapters which will discuss the methods and issues. For someone to understand a distinguishing subject matter, he needs to be oriented on the basics which this book achieved. A nutrition communication student would benefit by keeping this book on hand. This will be her tool if she would have to visit the history of communication and different theoretical perspectives which have become more sophisticated and progressive. This will be her reminder if she needs to recall the various foundations of research which shaped the research that we know today. This will be her handbook and guide to specific communication research methods, like content and reception analyses, field research, organizational culture and climate, and web page analyses. This will serve as her device when she yearns for an epiphany of a research agenda which aims to probe deeper into the interaction between the medium, audience, and user. Ultimately, this will be her mirror which reflects developments in communications technologies and how these have resulted in changes in the workplace as well as in lifestyles. Tom Hank’s casual remark on man walking on the moon: “It’s not a miracle, we just decided to go.” is an allegory of the nature of research and communication, it will keep on developing, it will continually be redefined and conclusively, we would have to evolve with it.