This step-by-step introduction to conducting media and communication research offers practical insights along with the author’s signature light-hearted style to make discussion of qualitative and quantitative methods easy to comprehend.

Preface to the Fifth Edition Acknowledgements Introduction Round Up the Usual Suspects Applying the Focal Points Model to Media How I Became a Man without Quantities Date Man versus Date-Free Man Kinds of Questions Researchers Ask Conclusions of a Man without Quantities, Who Is also a Practicing Theoretician Introduction: Applications and Exercises I. GETTING STARTED 1. What Is Research? We All Do Research, All the Time Scholarly Research Is Different From Everyday Research Cultural Studies and Research Nietzsche on Interpretation Problem of Certainty Diachronic and Synchronic Research The Way the Human Mind Works Overt and Covert Oppositions Thinking Fast and Slow Quantity and Quality in Media Research Media and Communication Why a Book That Teaches Both Methodologies? Considering Research Topics What Is Research? Applications and Exercises Conclusions Further Reading 2. The Research Process Search Strategies Sources of Information How to Read Analytically Critical Thinking Critical Thinking as Defined by the National Council for Excellence in Critical Thinking, 1987 Doing a Literature Review Primary and Secondary Research Sources Searching on the Internet (or “Find the Info if You Can!”) Using the Internet to Conduct Research Analyzing Methodology in Research Articles The Research Process: Applications and Exercises Conclusions Further Reading II. METHODS OF TEXTUAL ANALYSIS 3. Semiotic Analysis Saussure’s Division of Signs into Signifiers and Signifieds Semiotics of Blondeness Semiotics and Society Peirce’s Trichotomy: Icon, Index, And Symbol Allied Concepts Foucault on Codes and Cultural Change Marcel Danesi on Codes and Culture Clotaire Rapaille on Culture Codes Semiotics in Society: A Reprise Syntagmatic Analysis of Texts Paradigmatic Analysis of Texts Applications of Semiotic Theory Paul Ekman on Facial Expression Semiotics: Applications and Exercises Conclusions Further Reading 4. Rhetorical Analysis Aristotle on Rhetoric Rhetoric and the Mass Media A Brief Note on the Communication Process Certeau on Subversions by Readers and Viewers Applied Rhetorical Analysis A Miniglossary of Common Rhetorical Devices Other Considerations When Making Rhetorical Analyses A Sample Rhetorical Analysis: A La Mer Advertisement Rhetorical Analysis of the Visual Image Images in Narrative Texts Gangsta Rap and American Popular Culture Rhetorical Analysis: Applications and Exercises Conclusions Further Reading 5. Ideological Criticism Mannheim’s Ideology and Utopia Defining Ideology Marxist Criticism Roland Barthes on Mythologies The Problem of Hegemony The Base and the Superstructure, False Consciousness, and the “Self-Made Man and Woman” Post-Soviet Marxist Criticism Society of the Spectacle Basic Ideas in Marxist Criticism A Marxist Interpretation of the Fidji “Snake” Advertisement John Berger on Glamour Identity Politics Feminist Criticism of Media and Communication The Social Conception of Knowledge Phallocentric Theory: The Physical Basis of Male Domination Political Cultures, the Media, and Communication Pop Cultural and Media Preferences of the Four Political Cultures Marxist Perspectives on Social Media A Preview of Critical Discourse Analysis Ideological Criticism: Applications and Exercises Conclusions Further Reading 6. Psychoanalytic Criticism Freud’s Contribution Smartphones and the Psyche: Applying the Theories of Erik Erikson Smartphones and the Self Neuropsychoanalysis: Freud and Neuroscience Jungian Theory Psychoanalytic Criticism: Applications and Exercises Conclusions Further Reading 7. Discourse Analysis Defining Discourse Analysis Teun A. Van Dijk on Discourse Analysis Spoken and Written Discourse Styles and Written Discourse Political Ideologies and Discourse Analysis Critical Discourse Analysis Advertising and Critical Discourse Analysis Multimodal Discourse Analysis Multimodal Critical Discourse Analysis Fashion and Discourse Analysis A Multimodal Critical Discourse Analysis of an Advertisement Discourse Analysis: Applications and Exercises Conclusions Further Reading III. QUALITATIVE RESEARCH METHODS 8. Interviews The Prisoner Interviews Number Two What Is an Interview? Four Kinds of Research Interviews Why We Use Interviews How to Interview People Kinds of Questions Questions Investigative Reporters Ask The Structure of Conversations and Interviews Transcribing Recorded Interviews Making Sense of Transcribed Interviews Coding Problems with Interview Material Interviews: Applications and Exercises Conclusions Further Reading 9. Historical Analysis What Is History? History as Metadiscipline or Specialized Subject Is History Objective, Subjective, Or A Combination Of The Two? The Importance of Fernand Braudel Kinds of Historical Research The Problem of Writing History The Problem of Meaning Historical Periods Baudrillard and Jameson on Postmodernism Postmodernism and Historiography The Historical and the Comparative Approach History Is an Art, Not a Science Doing Historical Research Historical Analysis: Applications and Exercises Conclusions Further Reading 10. Ethnomethodological Research Defining Ethnomethodology Garfinkel’s Ingenious and Mischievous Research Norbert Wiley’s Interesting Perspective on Harold Garfinkel Using Ethnomethodology in Media and Communication Research Metaphors and Motivation Love Is a Game Humorists as Code Violators Techniques of Humor Ethnomethodology and the Communication Process Ethnomethodological Research: Applications and Exercises Conclusions Further Reading 11. Participant Observation Defining Participant Observation Significant Considerations When Doing Participant Observation A Case Study of Participant Observation: Readers of Romance Novels Problems with Participant Observation Benefits of Participant Observation Studies Making Sense of Your Findings Writing up A Participant Observation Study An Ethical Dilemma Ethics and Research Involving Humans Participant Observation: Applications and Exercises Conclusions Further Reading IV. QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH METHODS 12. Content Analysis Defining Content Analysis Why We Make Content Analyses Methodological Aspects of Content Analysis Aspects of Violence Advantages of Content Analysis as a Research Method Difficulties in Making Content Analyses Content Analysis Step-By-Step Content Analysis: Applications and Exercises A Cautionary Note from Denis McQuail Conclusions Further Reading 13. Surveys Defining Surveys Kinds of Surveys: Descriptive and Analytic The VALS Typology Survey Methods of Data Collection Advantages of Survey Research Problems with Surveys Surveys and the 2012 Presidential Election Surveys and the 2016 Presidential Election A Note on Media Usage Surveys: Shares and Ratings Open-Ended and Closed-Ended Survey Questions Writing Survey Questions Making Pilot Studies to Pretest Surveys Conducting Online Surveys Samples Obtaining Random Samples Evaluating Survey Accuracy Surveys: Applications and Exercises Conclusions Further Reading 14. Experiments Everyday Experimentation Defining Experiments The Structure of an Experiment The Hawthorne Effect Advantages of Experiments Disadvantages of Experiments The “Black Rats” Case and Experimental Fraud A Checklist on Experimental Design What’s An Experiment and What Isn’t? Ethics and the Facebook Experiment Experiments: Applications and Exercises Conclusions Further Reading 15. A Primer on Descriptive Statistics Levels of Measurement Descriptive Statistics Measures of Central Tendency Measures of Dispersion The Normal or Bell-Shaped Curve The Problem with Ratings A Cautionary Note on Statistics Using Statistics to Support a Claim Statistics and Comparisons Data on Media Use in America Smartphones The Problem of Interpretation Statistics and Problems Caused by Definitions Statistics: Applications and Exercises Conclusions Further Reading V. PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER 16. Nineteen Common Thinking Errors Common Fallacies Conclusions Further Reading 17. Writing Research Reports Keeping a Journal A Trick for Organizing Reports Outlines, First Drafts, and Revisions Writing Research Reports The IMRD Structure of Quantitative Research Reports Writing Correctly: Avoiding Some Common Problems Academic Writing Styles A Checklist for Planning Research and Writing Reports Conclusions Further Reading Glossary References Author Index Subject Index About the Author