This introduction to communication research methods takes the student from the conceptual beginnings of a research project through the design and analysis. Emphasizing the correct questions to ask and how to approach the answers, authors Gary Petty, Cheryl Campanella Bracken, and Elizabeth Babin approach social science methods as a language to be learned, requiring multiple sessions and reinforcement through practice. They explain the basics of conducting communication research, facilitating students’ understanding of the operation and roles of research so that they can better critique and consume the materials in their classes and in the media. The book takes an applied methods approach, introducing students to the conceptual elements of communication science and then presenting these elements in a single study throughout the text, articulating the similarities and differences of individual methods along the way. The study is presented as a communication campaign, involving multiple methodologies. The approach highlights how one method can build upon another and emphasizes the fact that, given the nature of methodology, no single study can give complete answers to our research questions. Unique features of the text: It introduces students to research methods through a conceptual approach, and the authors demonstrate that the statistics are a tool of the concepts. It employs an accessible approach and casual voice to personalize the experience for the readers, leading them through the various stages and steps. The presentation of a communication campaign demonstrates each method discussed in the text. This campaign includes goals and objectives that will accompany the chapters, demonstrates each individual methodology, and includes research questions related to the communication campaign. The tools gained herein will enable students to review, use, understand, and critique research, including the various aspects of appropriateness, sophistication and utility of research they encounter.

Product Description: Originally published in 1988. Step-by-step, this book leads students from problem identification, through the mazes of surveys, experimentation, historical/qualitative studies, statistical analysis, and computer data processing to the final submission and publication in scientific or popular publications...read more

Product Description: The collection proposes inventive research strategies for the study of the affective and fluctuating dimensions of cultural life. It presents studies of nightclubs, YouTube memes, political provocations, heritage sites, blogging, education development, and haunting memories.

Product Description: Designed for advanced undergraduate and graduate courses, Research from the Inside Out is an insider's guide to conducting empirically-based research. Showcasing eight research projects resulting in academic and professional papers, this practical supplementary text is an indispensable resource for those intending to further their academic studies in communication or other related social science disciplines...read more

Product Description: Comprehensive, innovative, and focused on the undergraduate student, this textbook prepares students to read and conduct research. Using an engaging how-to approach that draws from scholarship, real-life, and popular culture, the book offers students practical reasons why they should care about research methods and a guide to actually conduct research themselves...read more

Product Description: Christine Davis offers readers an insider’s view of the practices of ten leading qualitative communication scholars, showing how they make critical decisions in the process of conducting research. Through interviews and reflective assessment of their key articles, these researchers make visible how they deal with theory, data collection, analysis, and writing up a study...read more

Product Description: This volume provides a comprehensive and in-depth handbook of qualitative research in the field of communication disorders. It introduces and illustrates the wide range of qualitative paradigms that have been used in recent years to investigate various aspects of communication disorders...read more

Product Description: Media and Communication Research Methods provides a clear and authoritative introduction to qualitative and quantitative methods for studying media and communication. Written by two highly experienced researchers, the book draws on a wide range of media and communication research to introduce students to the relative strengths of the different research approaches...read more

Product Description: This book is the only guide dedicated to qualitative research methods in communication. It introduces readers to every step of the qualitative research process, from developing research topics and questions, through writing a final report...read more