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Lecture notes Research Methodology I Introducing Communication Research, ISBN: 9781483379425
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Worldview I and IIWorld View I - •Human communication is predictable, objectively measurable, generalizable, and can
be summarized in rules.
“Nomothetic” approach
World View II - •Human communication is subjective, individualistic, unpredictable, and must be
described as such.
“Idiographic” approach.
More nuance: Four more worldviews
•Postpositive: world is governed by laws/theories that can be tested/verified.Testing theory, using
quantitative methods.
•Constructivist: individuals construct their own views.From observation to theory (induction), using
qualitative methods.
•Transformative: mixes research with politics.Studying the marginalized and disenfranchised, using a
variety of research interests, including action research and critical analyses.
•Pragmatism: focuses on solutions to problems.Practice oriented, using all possible approaches
(mixed-method approach) to understand a problem.
Different traditions of communication research: Metatheory
-Rhetorical: practical art of discourse
-Semiotic: interpretations of signs and symbols
-Phenomenological: experience of others
-Cybernetic: communication as information systems
-Socio-psychological: individuals influencing each other
-Socio-cultural: producing/reproducing social order
-Critical: power, oppression, emancipation
Linking theory and observation
• Induction – reasoning from observations to a theory that explains the observations
What theory can explain this behaviour?
• Deduction – reasoning from a theory to observations that will test the theory
Will the beheviour fit with my theory?
• Abduction – reasoning from an observation or effect to possible causes
This is unusual; can I explain it?
Starting with a Purpose: Why do Research?Possible goals
•Exploration –broad questions
•Description –informative but not explanatory
•Explanation –why? More specific questions, possibly hypotheses
,•Prediction-using theory to relate two or more variables (deduction)
•Control-manipulating physical processes (e.g. buying behaviour)
•Interpretation-open-ended questions, leading to understanding
•Criticism-power in groups, organisations, societies
Research questions
Open ended (non-directional) – to what extent is there a relationship between X and Y?
Closed-ended (directional) – to what extent does academic performance decline as involvement in
video gaming increases?
Constructs should be defined in a way that they can be measured and other researchers can replicate
your study
Construct – Operationalization
Involvement in gaming – time/money spent on gaming; number of online personas
Many empirical studies look for relation between one (set of) variable(s) and another (set of)
variable(s)
Hypotheses
Statements about expected relationships between variables
•Two-tailed (non-directional) “There is a relationship between A and B.”
•One-tailed (directional) “As A increases, B decreases”
“As A decreases, B increases”
“As A increases, B increases”
“As A decreases, B decreases”
•Null (H0) “There is no relationship between A and B.
Ethics: Key Concepts
•Communication research could harm participants.
•Classic ethical positions provide bases for decisions about treating participants.
•Codes of practice provide practical guidelines about treating participants.
•Formal review is often required where research on humans is proposed.
Ethical Issues in Research
•Honesty
•Anonymity/confidentiality
•Making generalizations
•Debriefing
, •Literature review
•Acknowledging others
•Appropriate language when communicating with research participants
•Plagiarism
The Internet Research Ethics Dilemma
Tool/process
•Human participants are being studied.
•Consent of participants is therefore required.
VersusTopic/content
•The web sites are published content.
•Research is essentially content analysis.
•Consent of participants is therefore not required.
Levels of measurement
“NOIR“
• Discrete/categorical
- nominal (labels; can be binary) EX: pigs, cows, dogs
- ordinal (rank order) EX: freshmen, sophomore, junior
• Continuous
- interval – numeric scale EX: age: 0-4 5-9
- ratio – numeric scale with a zero point EX: age in years __
•Reliability – perform consistently; if weight scale shows different number every time you want to
weigh yourself, it is not reliable. Reliability can be assessed with
•Test -retest.
•Established measures
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