We conduct wildlife studies in the pursuit of knowledge. Therefore, an understanding of what knowledge is and how it is acquired is foundational to wildlife science. Adequately addressing this topic is a daunting challenge for a single text because wildlife science is a synthetic discipline that encompasses aspects of a vast array of other academic disciplines. For example, many vibrant wildlife science programs include faculty who study molecular biology, animal physiology, biometrics, systems analysis, plant ecology, animal ecology, conservation biology, and environmental sociology, humanities, education, economics, policy, and law. The primary emphasis of this text is the design of wildlife-related field studies. Those addressing other aspects of wildlife science should find the text useful, but will undoubtedly require additional sources on design.