Understanding Communication Research Methods ─ A Theoretical and Practical Approach

"Understanding Communication Research Methods helps students better grasp the theoretical and practical uses of method. While many texts describe methods only from a theoretical perspective, this book clearly illustrates practical applications and offersstudents an engaging how-to approach that draws from scholarship, real-life, and popular culture. The book defines all the main research traditions, illustrates key methods used in communication research, and provides level-appropriate applications of the methods through theoretical and practical examples and exercises. Each methods chapter includes a sample research paper written by an undergraduate student, accompanied by detailed explanations of the what, how, and why of the decisions that went into the research methods of the paper. These actual examples of student research provide a unique and approachable guide: students are given the opportunity to model their own work on their peers, while also reviewing the different decisions that might have influenced the direction and nature of the research. Comprehensive, innovative, and focused on the student, this book provides a valuable resource for instructors teaching an undergraduate course in research methods. Easy to follow and written directly for the undergraduate student, the book offers students practical reasons why they should care about research methods and a guide to actually conduct research themselves"--

Stephen M. Croucher (Ph.D., University of Oklahoma) is a professor of Intercultural Communication at the University of Jyvaskyla in Finland. 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.