Research Methods For Media And Communication

Qualitative Research Methods for Media Studies

This book introduces the essential qualitative methods used in media research, with an emphasis on integrating theory with practice. Each method is introduced through step-by-step instruction on conducting research and interpreting research findings, alongside in-depth discussions of the historical, cultural, and theoretical context of the particular method and case studies drawn from published scholarship. This text is a comprehensive and accessible introduction to qualitative methods, ideal for media and mass communication research courses.

Research Methods and the New Media

The "new media" -- interactive videodiscs, telecommunications, computers, VCRs, teletext systems, and more -- present researchers with new challenges when it comes to studying practical applications or theoretical effects. This valuable volume aids researchers in first recognizing the special qualities of interactivity, demassification, and asynchroneity that the new media have created and to instruct professional researchers and students in alternative research methods, multiple methods, and the triangulation of results. For the first time, a variety of methods are examined as they apply to new media research, including mathematical modeling, controlled experiments, quasiexperiments, surveys, longitudinal studies, field studies, archival and secondary research, futures research and forecasting, content analysis, case studies, and focus groups. Whether the problem to be researched is as focused as considering the cost-benefit for a school wishing to adopt computers in the classroom or as wide-ranging as determining the effects of video games on child socialization, this up-to-date and thorough guide alerts researchers to the pitfalls of traditional methodology and offers a firm foundation upon which they can build reliable, accurate projects able to produce sound results.

Research Methods for Media and Communication