This book is for professionals or future professionals. It is for those who have a good idea and want to start their own (even if small, but their own) research project. For those who do not yet have either money for this project or an army of assistants who would take on the routine part of the work. The book sets out in vivid, figurative language professional rules and procedures that must be followed throughout the full project cycle. At the same time, the reader’s attention is focused on typical difficulties and mistakes that arise on the path of a student or an already experienced researcher. Instead of the usual listing of abstract recipes, the book summarizes the author's personal experience, offering a look behind the façade of the professional community and learning the craft from the inside. For undergraduate students, graduate students, teachers and researchers in the social and economic sciences, as well as for representatives of other disciplines.