Principles of Research in Communication

Abstract

Preface. 1. Epistemology and Science. Characteristics of science. Assumptions of the scientific method. Schools of communication inquiry. Fundamental scientific activities. Evaluation of theory. A model of the scientific method. 2. Problem Development. Research problem statements. Elements of a research problem. 3. Access to the Community. Meeting the community. Access to the community. Integrating the community. Credit to the community. 4. Developing Valid Measurements. Measurement. Assessing measurement validity. 5. Sampling Theory. Probability sampling. Non-probability sampling. 6. Research Ethics. Ethical responsibility to human subjects. 7. Design Considerations. Research methodology. Design validity. 8. Experimental Designs. Requirements of causality. Factors influencing control. Categorizing by research setting. Categorizing by control. Categorizing by number of independent variables. Planning the experiment. 9. Survey & Interview Designs. Advantages to the survey method. Disadvantages to the survey method. Survey designs. Designing the survey instrument. Nine rules to effective question development. Common survey items. Instrument design. Pilot testing. Administration techniques. Evaluating response rates. Planning the survey. 10. Content & Interaction Analysis. Content analysis. Interaction analysis. 11. Qualitative Methods. Qualitative methods. 12. Statistical Analysis. Descriptive Statistics. Inferential statistics. Glossary. References.

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