Research Methods in Communication

Catalog description

Credits 3. 3 Lecture Hours. COURSE OVERVIEW. Explores major approaches to studying communication through empirical methods, with an emphasis on hands-on learning and research-by-doing. Focuses on how researchers formulate questions, select appropriate methods and collect and analyze data. Examines quantitative and qualitative approaches to studying messages, media, audiences and social interaction. Builds foundations in the application of specific research methods commonly used in the communication discipline such as surveys, experiments, content analysis, in-depth interviews, focus groups and rhetorical analysis. Incorporates consideration of research design, sampling, measurement, ethics, basic data analysis and interpretation across communication contexts. Emphasizes how different methods generate different types of insight and evidence. RELEVANCE AND APPLICATION. Connects directly to fields that rely on evidence-based communication research, including media studies, public relations, organizational communication, health communication, audience analytics and strategic messaging. Involves practices used in academic research, market research, program evaluation and professional data analysis. Builds competencies valued in communication industries and graduate study, including research literacy, analytical reasoning, data interpretation and methodological decision-making. DEEPENING UNDERSTANDINGS. Clarifies how research in communication differs from everyday opinion, anecdote and assumptions. Considers how different research methods generate different kinds of evidence and how those differences shape interpretation and conclusion. Encourages reflection on the limits, possibilities and ethics of studying communication in human and mediated contexts. TOPICS AND THEMES. May include study of research questions and hypotheses; analysis of quantitative methods such as surveys, experiments or content analysis; consideration of qualitative and interpretive approaches such as interviews, focus groups or ethnography; exploration of sampling, measurement, validity, reliability, data collection and interpretation. Applications may draw from interpersonal, organizational, media, digital, political and/or critical/cultural communication contexts. Prerequisites: 6 hours of MATH 140 , MATH 142 , MATH 151 , MATH 152 , PHIL 240 or STAT 201 .