qualitative methods in media and communication cm2006 | ibcom ba year II - term II (2020-2021) [by gycc]
QUALITATIVE METHODS IN MEDIA AND COMMUNICATION
(summary + reading notes)
book; QUALITATIVE RESEARCH METHODS FOR
MEDIA STUDIES by Brennen, B.
(+ multiple articles by multiple authors)
WEEK ONE | 09.11.2020 - Introducing Qualitative Methods
CHAPTER ONE: Getting Started (by Brennen)
QUALITATIVE RESEARCH (QL):
● is challenging, time-consuming and difficult to get right
● does not provide us with easy answers, simple truths or precise measurements
● can be controversial, contradictory and ambiguous
● but also, insightful, enlightening, emancipating and fascinating
This book provides specific instructions to undertake research using a variety of different common
qualitative methods that are relevant to answering media-related communication research questions
(RQs). Each method is grounded theoretically, culturally and historically.
This book is based on the personal experiences of the author and it specifically draws on Raymond
William’s definition of THEORY → the systematic explanations of real-world everyday practices.
The cultural approach of this book to communication understands the COMMUNICATION
PROCESS as a means of production that is based on the discourse of individuals and groups and is
produced within a specific cultural, historical and political context.
Although some researchers belief that qualitative research can be done without using an explicit
theoretical framework or that it’s easy to mix qualitative and quantitative methods, Brennen argues
that there are important differences between both research methods which are related to philosophical
orientation, cultural traditions, research values and priorities as well as specific worldviews or
ideological positions. While it’s possible to combine qualitative and quantitative methodologies, the
use should be driven by the RQs, and it must be theoretically and philosophically grounded.
Quantitative vs. Qualitative Research
QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH (QN):
● strives to be systematic, precise and accurate
● tries to determine validity, reliability, objectivity and truth
● attempts to isolate specific elements, and it uses numbers and numerical correlations within
value-free environments to measure and analyse the ‘causal relationships between variables’
● uses numbers to quantify data, which eventually makes it to be considered more authentic,
important and scientific
In contrast, using language to understand concepts based on people’s experiences, qualitative research
creates a sense of the larger realm of human relationships, and interprets meaningful correlations. It
considers alternative notions of knowledge and understands that reality is socially constructed.
As the connection between a socially constructed reality and the qualitative research process is
considered, it’s important to understand the notion of TRANSPARENCY → openly describing the
1
, qualitative methods in media and communication cm2006 | ibcom ba year II - term II (2020-2021) [by gycc]
theoretical foundations and research strategies, along with the basis for the decisions, intentions and
motivations - allows the audience to be aware of the potential uses & implications of the research.
Researchers base their choice of qualitative method on:
● the questions they wish to ask
● the specific historical context that relates to their RQs
● as well as the theoretical framework they plan to use for their research
Sometimes, qualitative researchers would combine two or more methods, better known as
incorporating the notion of TRIANGULATION → the use of multiple methods to increase the rigor
of their analyses and the develop in-depth understandings of social experience.
In the realm of media studies; (research about news, journalism, advertising, new media, etc.)
❖ Quantitative researchers tend to see communication as a behavioural science
➢ measuring the different types of communication on various groups in society
➢ for instance, the effects of TV violence on children or the influences of political
advertising on voters
❖ Qualitative researchers consider the diversity of meanings and values created in media
➢ attempting to understand the many relationships that exist within media and society
➢ for instance, how children are represented in online communities or how breaking
news is framed in daily news photos
The Development of Qualitative Research
The use of qualitative methods in media studies emerged during the second half of the 20th century,
challenging/rejecting the social-scientific quantitative research ideas, procedures and protocols.
Preoccupied with the functional aspects and the social effects of mass communication, researchers
constructed scientific definitions and models, legitimating the research as a social science endeavour.
This encouraged an emphasis on methodological concerns, which tend to overshadow considerations
of theoretical issues regarding the role of media and communication within society.
Researchers who questioned the dominant social science perspective of mass communication often
envisioned communication as a cultural practice, through which issues of power, class, social and
cultural identity could be negotiated. They argued that quantitative methods could not help them
answer central questions regarding the role of ‘communication as the social production of meaning’.
In the 21st century, qualitative research is an integral part of the field of media studies. Moreover, in
the current digital age, students and media researchers often have a fascination with data, which is
seen as facts, statistics and/or information that can be collected to calculate, analyse and plan things.
DATA is envisioned as neutral, objective, authentic and/or truthful and exists independent of
observation and outside of human interpretation. However, the use of data such as all other evidence
requires human intervention to be understood. Therefore, researchers are integrated into the research
process, offering insights, observations and evaluations, which is why at the most fundamental level,
all research methods may be seen as qualitative.
Conceptual Orientations
2
, qualitative methods in media and communication cm2006 | ibcom ba year II - term II (2020-2021) [by gycc]
Researchers use theory to make sense of their findings and to orient their work within a larger
CONCEPTUAL ORIENTATION. Both research methods draw on intellectual maps and models,
often referred to as (research) PARADIGMS, which provide a set of views and beliefs that can
represent the researchers' philosophical worldviews.
There are three different (basic) research paradigms (conceptual elements):
I. Epistemology → ‘How do we know the world? What is the relationship between the inquirer
and the known?’
II. Ontology → raises basic questions about the nature of reality
III. Methodology → focuses on how we gain knowledge about the world
For qualitative researchers, each of these elements influences the methods that they choose to use in
distinct and significant ways. Moreover, they prefer to see qualitative research not as a paradigm but
instead as an interdisciplinary theoretical response to and reaction against quantitative research.
Guba and Lincoln (1998) claimed that qualitative research is influenced by several distinct paradigms:
❖ POSITIVISM → considers reality to exist and scientific truth to be knowable and findable
through rigorous testing that is free from human bias
➢ the dominant paradigm of the physical and social sciences
➢ inquiry: focuses on explanation, prediction and control, relies on empirical evidence
➢ knowledge: accumulates as factual building blocks in the form of ‘generalizations or
cause-effect linkages’
➢ the value of research is determined/evaluated through:
■ INTERNAL VALIDITY - how findings correspond the issue being studied
■ EXTERNAL VALIDITY - the extent findings can be generalized and
related to similar studies / external contexts
■ RELIABILITY - the extent to which findings can be reproduced or
replicated
■ OBJECTIVITY or lack of bias
❖ POST-POSITIVISM → while reality is thought to exist, it considers that because people are
flawed, they may not be able to actually understand it
➢ similar to the above-mentioned method, but responds to recent criticisms
➢ while positivists seek to verify their hypotheses, post-positivists use a variety of
experimental methods to falsify their hypotheses
➢ also draw upon the same concepts as positivism to evaluate the quality of the research
The incorporation of various non-Positivists alternative worldviews, blending research issues and
theoretical positions, blurring disciplinary boundaries and drawing upon qualitative methods;
❖ CRITICAL THEORIES → consider reality and truth to be shaped by specific historical,
cultural, racial, gender, political and economic conditions, values and structures
➢ critique racism, sexism, oppression and inequality, and they press for fundamental
and transformative social change
❖ CONSTRUCTIVISM → leaning towards an anti-foundational understanding of truth,
rejecting any permanent ‘standards by which truth can be universally known’
➢ represent a theoretical shift regarding the concept of reality from realism to relativism
3
, qualitative methods in media and communication cm2006 | ibcom ba year II - term II (2020-2021) [by gycc]
➢ aim: to build consensus and to favour negotiated agreements that are made by
community members
➢ constructivists replace positivists concepts of external and internal validity with
notions of authenticity and trustworthiness
➢ inquiry: relies on social interaction (reality is socially constructed)
❖ PARTICIPATORY/COOPERATIVE INQUIRY → a transformative perspective that
emphasizes the subjectivity of practical knowledge and the collaborative nature of research
NOTE:
Positivists and Post-Positivists maintain a belief in a singular, big ‘T’ understanding of truth as well
as a notion of one unified reality. They see researchers as neutral observers who primarily rely on
quantitative methods to test, verify, falsify or reject their research hypotheses.
The alternative worldviews of Critical Theories, Constructivism and Participatory/Cooperative
Inquiry, all believe in multiple interpretations of a little ‘t’ understanding of truth and envision
many constructed and competing notions of reality. They see researchers’ subjectivity as integral
to the research process and they draw primarily upon qualitative methods to answer their research
questions.
How to select an appropriate theoretical framework, worldview or research paradigm?
→ after some trial and error, you will discover a paradigm/ conceptual perspective that fits you!
CHAPTER TWO: Doing Qualitative Research (by Brennen)
Two very different understandings of the communication process emerged during the 20th century:
I. TRANSMISSION VIEW → communication as a process of sending, transmitting or
delivering information in order to control others
4
