Chapter 1: Foundations: The Ideas That Shape Our Research
Getting Started in Research: Assumptions and Decisions
Starting With Basic Beliefs and Perspectives
General Questions Behind Communication Research
Looking Ahead: Web Worlds, Fuzzy Boundaries and Artificial Intelligence
Examples and Insights: “Better Than Sex”
Chapter 2: Getting Started: From Inspiration to Implementation
The Relationship Between Theory and Observations
Starting With a Model or Theory
Starting With “5W+H” Questions
Operationalizing Constructs
Starting With the Work of Others
The Unavoidable Decisions
Examples and Insights: Facing a Meta/Facebook Furor With Further Findings
Chapter 3: Ethics: Our Responsibilities as Researchers
Introduction: Some Ethical Decisions
Ethics Issues in Communication Research
Some Classic Ethical Positions
Two Brief Histories—or Why We Care About Research Ethics
Contemporary Codes of Ethics
Peer Review and Institutional Review Boards
What Should I Call You? The Ethics of Involvement
The Internet and Research Ethics
Informed Consent and Debriefing on the Internet
Examples and Insights: Making Consent Forms Shorter
Chapter 4: Resources: Reading, Recording, and Reviewing Research
Library Research: Why Bother?
Search Strategies and Techniques
The Literature Review: Writing Your Search Results
Examples and Insights: Predatory Journals
Chapter 5: Measurement: Research Using Numbers
What Do Your Head Size, Attitudes, and Readability Have in Common?
To NOIR Is Not Enough: Reliability and Validity
Two Common Measurement Scales
Communication Research Measures as a Work in Progress
Examples and Insights: Off-the-Shelf Communication Research Measures
Social Media, Big Data, and Measurement
Chapter 6: Sampling: Who, What, and How Many?
How Big Does My Sample Have to Be?
Selecting a Sampling Frame
Special Population Sampling
Examples and Insights: Student Participation
Social Media, Big Data, and Sampling
Chapter 7: Statistics: Choosing and Using Quantitative Tools
But First—Data Cleanup and Categorization
Describing Data: Descriptive Statistics
Accept or Reject My Findings?
Examples and Insights: Evaluating Quantitative Studies
Chapter 8: Surveys: Putting Numbers on Opinions
Introduction: Advantages and Disadvantages of Surveys
Writing, Introducing, and Formatting Survey Questions
Survey Wording: “If It Can Be Misinterpreted, It Will Be”
Web and Mobile Survey Design
Improving Survey Response Rates
Using Other People’s Surveys
Examples and Insights: Assessing Survey Credibility
Chapter 9: Experiments: Researching Cause and Effect
Introduction: Advantages and Disadvantages of Experiments
Field Experiments and Ex Post Facto Designs
Between-Subjects and Within-Subjects Design
Validity and Experimental Design
Examples and Insights: Researching Selfies
Big Data and Online Experiments
Chapter 10: Content Analysis I: Quantitative Understanding of Words and Images
Introduction: Advantages and Disadvantages of Content Analysis
Content Analysis of Human Interaction
Coding and Latent Content
Content Analysis as Quantitative and Qualitative
Computer Analysis of Content
Examples and Insights: Predictions From Social Media
Big Data and Content Analysis
Chapter 11: Content Analysis II: Qualitative Understandings of Words and Images
Introduction: Advantages and Disadvantages of Qualitative Analyses of Content
Narrative, Fantasy, Discourse, and Conversation Analyses
Visual Rhetorical Analyses
Examples and Insights: Qualitative Content Analysis and Qualitative Content Analysis
Social Media, Big Data, and Multimodal Analysis
Chapter 12: Observation: Qualitative Understandings of Behaviors and Attitudes
Introduction: Advantages and Disadvantages of Qualitative Methods
Qualitative and Quantitative: Similarities and Differences
Researcher–Participant Relationships
Watching and Listening Methods
Making Sense of Qualitative Data
Examples and Insights: Reflexivity and Social Media Research
Social Media, Big Data, and Qualitative Research
Chapter 13: Now What? Reporting and Presenting Research Results
Disseminating Research Findings
Visualizing Research Results
Examples and Insights: Researching the Impact of Presentation Media and Audience Interaction
Social Media, Big Data, Visualization, and Artificial Intelligence