Understanding Communication Research Methods

Stephen M. Croucher is a Professor and the Head of the School of Communication, Journalism, and Marketing at Massey University, New Zealand. He serves on the editorial boards of more than ten journals, and served as the editor of the Journal of Intercultural Communication Research (2010–2019) and Speaker & Gavel (2010–2015). He has held and holds various leaderships position in the National Communication Association, International Communication Association, the World Communication, and holds Professorships at the University of Jyväskylä, Universidade Aberta, and the Universidade de Coimbra.　 Daniel Cronn-Mills is a Professor and Distinguished Faculty Scholar at Minnesota State University, Mankato, USA. Dan has authored and co-authored three books, five book chapters, and a stack of journal articles. He served for more than a decade as the editor of Speaker & Gavel (1997–2010) and has served on the editorial board of 11 scholarly journals. Dan has served in numerous leadership roles from local to national levels including the National Communication Association, the American Forensic Association, and the Communication and Theatre Association of Minnesota.

Introduction to Research and Research Paradigms


Chapter 1 – Introduction & Ethics　


Chapter 2 – Social Scientific Paradigm


Chapter 3 – Interpretive Paradigm


Chapter 4 - Critical Paradigm





Research Design


Chapter 5 – Data


Chapter 6 – Evaluating Research


Chapter 7 – Hypotheses and Research Questions





Research Methods


Chapter 8 – Ethnography


Chapter 9 – Interviewing


Chapter 10 – Focus Groups


Chapter 11-Social Media


Chapter 12 – Content Analysis – Qualitative


Chapter 13 – Content Analysis – Quantitative


Chapter 14 – Discourse Analysis


Chapter 15 – Surveys


Chapter 16 –　Descriptive Statistics


Chapter 17 – Inferential Statistics


Chapter 18 – Mixed Methods


Chapter 19 – Rhetorical Criticism


Chapter 20 – Critical Cultural Methods