An Integrated Approach to Communication Theory and Research

This volume provides an overview of communication study, offering theoretical coverage of the broad scope of communication study as well as integrating theory with research. To explicate the integration process, the chapter contributors -- experts in their respective areas -- offer samples in the form of hypothetical studies, published studies, or unpublished research, showing how theory and research are integrated in their particular fields. The book will appeal to graduate students and faculty members who want a thorough overview of not only the field, but also sample research stemming from its various component parts.

Don W. Stacks (Ph.D., University of Florida, 1978) is Professor of Communication and Director of the Public Relations Program at the School of Communication, University of Miami. He is the author of six books on communication topics, a member of the Arthur W. Page Society, and serves as a Trustee or Board member for the Institute for Public Relations, Association for Education in Journalism & Mass Communication, and International Public Relations Association. He has received numerous awards and was recently voted as a Research Fellow by the Eastern Communication Association, as well as the Jackson, Jackson & Wagner Behavioral Science Prize winner and named as a winner of the Provost’s Award for Scholarly Activity.
Michael B. Salwen (Ph.D., Michigan State University, 1985) was Professor of Communication at the University of Miami, Coral Gables, FL. His research focused on the social effects of mass communication and international communication. He’s worked as a reporter for several local newspapers in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. He developed a keen interest in the third-person effect and sought to identify and predict the underlying factors of this perceptual process with different mass media issues. He was a prolific scholar, authoring and editing several books, and was an associate editor for Journalism and Mass Communication Quarterly.

Part I: Studying "Theory" — Doing "Research 1
1 Integrating Theory and Research: Starting With Questions
Don W. Stacks & Michael B. Salwen
2 Thinking About Theory
Steven H. Chaffee
3 Thinking Quantitatively
Michael J. Beatty
4 Thinking Qualitatively: Hermeneutics in Science
James A. Anderson
Part II: Mass Communication Approaches and Concerns
5 Mass Communication Theory and Research: Concepts and Models
Bradley S. Greenberg & Michael B. Salwen
6 Media Gatekeeping
Pamela J. Shoemaker & Tim P. Vos
7 The Agenda-Setting Role of the News Media
Sebastián Valenzuela & Maxwell McCombs
8 Cultivation Analysis: Research and Practice
Nancy Signorielli & Michael Morgan
9 Theories and Methods in Knowledge Gap Research
Cecilie Gaziano & Emanuel Gaziano
10 Uses and Gratifications
Zizi Papacharissi
11 Spiral of Silence: Communication and Public Opinion as Social Control
Charles T. Salmon & Carroll J. Glynn
12 International Communication
Robert L. Stevenson
13 Violence and Sex in the Media
Jennings Bryant & R. Glenn Cummins
14 Social Science Theories of Traditional and Internet Advertising
Shelly Rogers & Esther Thorson
Part III: Human Communication Approaches and Concerns
15 Human Communication Theory and Research: Traditions and Models
Virginia P. Richmond & James C. McCroskey
16 The Rhetorical Perspective: Doing, Being, Seeing, and Beyond
J. David Cisneros, Kristen L. McCauliff, & Vanessa B. Beasely
17 Persuasion
Michael D. Miller & Timothy R. Levene
18 Interpersonal Communication
Charles R. Berger
19 Modeling Cultures: Toward Grounded Paradigms in Organizations and Mass Culture
Mark Hickson, III, Jean Bodon, & Theresa Bodon
20 Intercultural Communication
Thomas M. Steinfatt & Diane M. Millette
21 Intrapersonal Communication and Imagined Interaction
James M. Honeycutt, Khaled A. Nasser, Christopher M. Mapp, & Joyceia M. Banner
22 Nonverbal Communication
Amy S. Ebesu Hubbard & Judee K. Burgoon
23 Small Group Communication
Joseph A. Bonito, Gwen M. Wittenbaum, & Randy Y. Hirokawa
24 Watch Your Neighbor Watching You: Applying Concertive Control in ChangingOrganizational Climates
Philip K. Tompkins, Yvonne J. Montoya, & Carey B. Candrian
Part IV: Integrated Approaches to Communication
25 Internet Communication
Marcus Messner & Bruce Garrison
26 Organizational Legitimacy: Lessons Learned from Financial Scandals
Marcia Watson DiStaso & Terri A. Scandura
27 Diffusion of Innovations
Everett M. Rogers, Arvind Singhal, & Margaret M. Quinlan
28 Credibility
Charles C. Self
29 Political Communication
Lynda Lee Kaid
30 Public Relations and Integrated Communications
Doug Newsom
31 Health Communication
Charles Atkin & Kami Silk
32 Feminist Theory and Research
Katharine Sarikakis, Ramona R. Rush, Autumn Grubb, & Christina Lane
33 Communication Ethics
Donald K. Wright
Part V: Future of Theory and Research
34 Communication Theory and Research: The Quest for Increased Credibilityin the Social Sciences
Tony Atwater
35 The Future of Communication Theory and Research
Harmut B. Mokros & Gustav W. Friedrich

About the Authors