Chapter Overview

Chapter 16

• The purpose of this chapter is not to train students to be competent researchers. Its goal is to provide in summary a framework that will enable them to understand how research is conducted and to provide ways in which they can assess the methods and conclusions of particular research reports that they read.
• Research can be defined as a set of systematic procedures for gathering reliable information under controlled conditions of observation. The process is designed and conducted in such a way that objective conclusions can be reached with a minimum of error.
• The perspective used in communication research rests on a set of broad postulates or assumptions. It is assumed that human communication exists in an orderly universe and that there are cause-effect relationships between independent and dependent conditions. It is assumed that the system for scrutinizing research reports supports the belief in experto credite.
• There are six general steps in the research process: (1) specify the goals of the research and the variables to be studied; (2) review prior relevant research on the topic; (3) make the necessary observations; (4) analyze the data; (5) reach appropriate conclusions; and (6) publish the results.
• A number of formal research designs are available to communication researchers, including laboratory experiments, large-scale field experiments and quasi-experiments, surveys, field observations, and content analyses. Whatever the design used, observations must be measured and recorded in one of four ways: nominal, ordinal, interval, or ratio levels of measurement.
• The quality of any given measure is judged by its validity and reliability. A measure is valid when it accurately assesses the variable under study. It is reliable when the same results are obtained repeatedly with the same subject.
• Ethical considerations are critical in communication research. Scientific integrity demands that findings be reported truthfully. Other ethical considerations concern the protection of human subjects.