I used "set clip" to crop a bitmap image to the size I require. Unfortunately, even though the rest of the image is now invisible, it's still there to be clicked on and as a result, I have a difficult time selecting the desired images because, even though the overlapping image is invisible, it gets selected instead of the object I see and want to select.

Are you sure you clipped a raster image and not a group that you are still inside?

Check the status bar at the bottom.

It says: Image 1280 x 960; embedded; clipped in layer Layer 1. Click selection to toggle scale/rotation handles.

I'm pretty sure the two objects involved are not grouped. I overlayed a rectangle without fill onto a raster image and selected 'set clip' from the context menu. If I click anywhere inside the bounds of the uncropped image, the cropped image is selected.

Edit: Nevermind, it's resolved in 0.91. Unfortunately my University still uses 0.48. I did ask them to install 0.91 on my machine but then there were two installations (0.48 didn't get uninstalled) and I got an error when I tried to run Inkscape. I ask for help and they just uninstalled 0.91. I'll just do this work on my laptop. Sorry for wasting your time.