Communication Research
CHAPTER ONE
Introduction to Communication Research
Chapter Checklist
After reading this chapter, you should be able to: 1. Identify instances in which you could use or conduct communication research as a student, use or conduct communication research as a professional, and use the results of communication research in your personal life. 2. Explain the goals of research. 3. Explain the relationship of research and theory. 4. Explain communication research as a social science. 5. Describe how communication research from a social science perspective is different from other forms of communication research and other forms of social science research. 6. Differentiate among the characteristics of science. 7. Distinguish between research question and hypothesis. 8. Describe the differences among questions of fact, variable relations, value, and policy. 9. Identify questions about communication that you believe are worth pursuing.
2
CHAPTER 1 / INTRODUCTION TO COMMUNICATION RESEARCH
As a student in a research methods course, you have two roles. In one role, you are a consumer of communication research. You read summaries of research in your textbooks. In some courses, your instructors may require you to read and analyze research articles published in the discipline’s journals. In the other role, you are a researcher collecting and interpreting data to answer research questions and hypotheses. These activities may be part of the course for which you are reading this book, an independent study, an upperdivision course, or your senior project. The information in this book can help you succeed in both roles. But before you identify yourself with either or both roles, turn your attention to answering the question “What is research?”
WHAT IS RESEARCH?
In its most basic form, research is the process of asking questions and finding answers. You have likely conducted research of your own, even if it wasn’t in the formal sense. For example, as you chose which
Introduction to Communication Research
Chapter Checklist
After reading this chapter, you should be able to: 1. Identify instances in which you could use or conduct communication research as a student, use or conduct communication research as a professional, and use the results of communication research in your personal life. 2. Explain the goals of research. 3. Explain the relationship of research and theory. 4. Explain communication research as a social science. 5. Describe how communication research from a social science perspective is different from other forms of communication research and other forms of social science research. 6. Differentiate among the characteristics of science. 7. Distinguish between research question and hypothesis. 8. Describe the differences among questions of fact, variable relations, value, and policy. 9. Identify questions about communication that you believe are worth pursuing.
2
CHAPTER 1 / INTRODUCTION TO COMMUNICATION RESEARCH
As a student in a research methods course, you have two roles. In one role, you are a consumer of communication research. You read summaries of research in your textbooks. In some courses, your instructors may require you to read and analyze research articles published in the discipline’s journals. In the other role, you are a researcher collecting and interpreting data to answer research questions and hypotheses. These activities may be part of the course for which you are reading this book, an independent study, an upperdivision course, or your senior project. The information in this book can help you succeed in both roles. But before you identify yourself with either or both roles, turn your attention to answering the question “What is research?”
WHAT IS RESEARCH?
In its most basic form, research is the process of asking questions and finding answers. You have likely conducted research of your own, even if it wasn’t in the formal sense. For example, as you chose which