Approaches to Creating Personas
http://www.boxesandarrows.com/files/banda/long-live-the-user/Mulder_TheUserIsAlwaysRight_Ch3.pdf

Mulder, Steve
InformationDesign
2007

Abstract:

You do research to better understand your users, but exactly what is it that you want to find out about them? That's the first question you need to ask, and its answer dictates which research methods you should use, since specific methods are tailored to finding specific types of information.