Understanding Communication Research Methods

Stephen M. Croucher (Ph.D., University of Oklahoma) is a professor at Massey University, New Zealand. He researches immigrant cultural adaptation, religion and communication, quantitative methods, and conflict management/conceptualization. He is the recipient of numerous conference top paper awards, has authored dozens of journal articles and book chapters, authored/co-edited four books, and given keynote addresses in more than 15 countries. He has explored communication traits and behaviors on five continents. He has served as the editor of the Journal of Intercultural Communication Research and Speaker & Gavel. He is active in the International Communication Association, National Communication Association, and the World Communication Association. Daniel Cronn-Mills (Ph.D., University of Nebraska) is a professor of Communication Studies at Minnesota State University, Mankato. He has broad and ranging research interests in religion and communication, intercollegiate forensics, and rhetoric. He has authored numerous journal articles, book chapters, and books. He is a former editor of Speaker & Gavel and served on the review board of more than a dozen scholarly journals. He is active in the National Communication Association, the American Forensic Association, and the Communication and Theater Association of Minnesota.

I. Foundations of Research  1. Introduction  2. Research Ethics  3. The Positivist Approach  4. The Interpretive Paradigm  5. The Critical Paradigm  6. Data  7. Warrants  II. Applied Research  8. Interviewing  9. Focus Groups  10. Ethnography  11. Surveys  12. Experiments  13. Descriptive Statistics  14. Inferential Statistics  15. Content Analysis  16. Rhetorical Criticism 17. Critical/Cultural Studies