[7] The research began with an attempt at participant observation: Wallis enrolled in a "Communications Course" in Scientology's facility at Saint Hill Manor, but left after two days because he was not willing to lie about his reaction to the course content.
[3] The Road to Total Freedom begins with a history of Scientology, then explores it within a context of a belief system, organizational structure, and form of social control.
[5] Wallis then describes how Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard "asserted the originality of the entire theory and practice and acknowledges having been influenced only in a most general way by other writers".
[11] He next compares the Scientology practice of Auditing to that of abreaction therapy – a process where repressed memories are unearthed, usually through hypnosis, to aid improving the mental well-being of a patient.
"[12] Scientologists who participated in a questionnaire for Wallis' research identified areas of their life that they hoped Scientology would improve, including: loneliness, financial difficulties, marital issues, other interpersonal relationships, psychological problems, and physical illness.
[11] Wallis points out that Hubbard instructed members of Scientology not to immediately tell new followers about methodologies that might be less familiar to some, such as belief in the existence of prior lives.
[11] Wallis then continues his argument regarding the transitional period the organization underwent, and describes how Scientology has transformed from a cult to a sect, and explains patterns of membership and leaving the group.
[14] Wallis describes a process referred to as "deviance amplification", and analyzes how individuals maintain perceptions of reality within a deviant belief system.
Simmons invites the reader to compare The Road to Total Freedom against Hubbard's Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health, asking which is more "alive and hopeful and scientifically objective".
[16] Alan E. Aldridge notes in his book Religion in the Contemporary World: A Sociological Introduction, "Roy Wallis gave graphic accounts of attempts by members of the Church of Scientology to discredit him personally and professionally, and to subvert or suppress his research findings.
[16] In his book The Social Dimensions of Sectarianism: Sects and New Religious Movements in Contemporary Society, Wallis' former mentor Bryan R. Wilson described The Road to Total Freedom as "A thorough study of the early development and organization of Scientology".
[18] The Encyclopedia of Religion and Society noted that Wallis "displayed characteristic skill in assimilating and simplifying a large amount of diverse material into a parsimonious reworking of the classic church-sect typology".
[3] Writing in The Future of Religion: Secularization, Revival and Cult Formation, authors Rodney Stark and William Sims Bainbridge characterized the book as "the first major scholarly study of Scientology".
"[4] Library Journal compared the book to Scientology by author George Malko, but commented that The Road to Total Freedom is "a much more scholarly, documented work".
[20] Writing in Quill, published by the Society of Professional Journalists, Robert Vaughn Young commented, "Perhaps because this is a sociological study of Scientology, this is a cold, calm, academic dissection of the subject and Hubbard.