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:
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.
Introduction: Methodology: Process of Science
Part I: Process of Science Application Link
Chapter 1 Science Concepts, Definition & Theory
Chapter 2 Measurement, Reliability & Validity
Chapter 3 Measuring and Describing Groups
Chapter 4 Probability, Sampling Theory & Hypothesis Testing
Part II: Methodologies
Chapter 5 Developing Questions
Chapter 6 Qualitative Approaches
Chapter 7 Research Design
Chapter 8 Descriptive: Content Analysis
Chapter 9 Group Comparisons: Experiments
Chapter 10 Continuous Relationships: Surveys
Part III: Analysis
Chapter 11 Analysis
Chapter 12 Quantitative Approaches
Chapter 13 Means; ts ; ANOVA Fs
Chapter 14 Correlation, Regression; Multiple Regression
Chapter 15 Human Subjects/Institutional Review Boards and Ethics